Avengers: End Game - My Twelve Favorite Things

So in traditional click-bait fashion, I wanted to do my personal favorite moments/things from Avengers End Game. This will be FULL of spoilers, so buyer beware. Also, your opinion of me may change after you see the roller coaster of emotions this movie took me on! Let's count it down with #12!

12. Iron Man's Death - Let's go ahead and acknowledge that Tony Stark had become almost borderline unlikable. You can say that Captain America is self righteous, but at least you feel like he comes from a place of good. Iron Man always felt like he was looking out for himself. You do understand some of his frustration, but the movie does a good job humanizing him before he makes the ultimate sacrifice. Pepper telling him he can finally rest did me in. He also had a truly touching moment with Peter Parker before all this. There is also a great panning shot of all the characters at his funeral. It's fitting that the guy that started this universe is the one that saves them in the end. I think it was a good choice for this movie and clearly closes this phase of movies.

11. Rocket Raccoon - I'm glad we got to spend time with Rocket outside of the other Guardians. We got to see him interact with the heroes that he hasn't associated with. He also held his own as he's also a guy that can create stuff, giving Iron Man a run for his money. He is a big time brat and I can relate to that. When he is in Asgard with Thor, I love the moment when he is running from the Asgardians and they scream out, "Stop that Rabbit", a clear running joke in his interactions with Thor. Does Asgard not know what Raccoons are?!

10. The evolution of Nebula - The past couple of movies have done their best to make her turn good and this movie cemented it. After everything that has happened to her, there was no reason for her NOT to turn on Thanos. However, to see her interact with all our heroes was great. I loved the time she spent with Tony and then Rhodey especially. Finally, her moments with Gamora sealed the deal for me. She grew as a person over the last few movies.

9. Thor - Look, I don't care what anyone says. Thor Ragnarok changed Thor for the better. So to see how he is in this movie is kind of heartbreaking. Of all the characters, he seemed to go through it the most. He is clearly suffering from PTSD, but to me, it felt more real than how Tony Stark was acting in Iron Man 3. Thor's actions at the end of Infinity War and the beginning of this movie when he takes out Thanos clearly sat with him. It physically manifested itself in the worst way. His moment with his mom was another touching moment that hit me in the feels. He has to go on a journey to find himself and to hear him say, "I'm still worthy" when he gets a past version of Mjolnir was a nice touch. He was great in this movie.

8. The all female super heroes moment - I can see that this may have been a groan inducing moment for some (Joe Average comic book fan), but I really loved this moment where all the ladies line up for some action. It really illustrated how many strong female characters we have gotten out of these movies. I thought it was great to showcase that to the audience and remind them.

7. Ant-man - Again, not a moment so much as a bunch of moments because every scene he is in, he kept things light. He was serious when it needed to be, but he was some much needed comic relief in a movie that was definitely kind of dark. Paul Rudd holds his own here and definitely added to this movie, not subtracted from it. He also had some sweet moments with his daughter. I love how he goes from having all this nervous energy to finally feeling like he belongs. If you think about it, he was the most important person in the movie! I should really be putting that mouse here that let him out of the quantum realm.

6. Smart Hulk! - Look, this isn't a moment so much as just a character evolution that I loved. Personally, smart Hulk has always been my favorite version of the Hulk. When I started reading comic books, he was the current version of the Hulk at the time. Also, this rendition is pure Ruffalo. He also becomes a jokester, but it was fun to watch him finally be at peace with himself and even be ashamed when they go back in time and he sees how he used to be. His scene with some fans and when he gives some spare tacos to Ant-man were great.

5. All the heroes showing up, with Falcon saying, "On your left" - Another call back in a movie full of them. I loved this simple moment because it was an inside joke between Cap and Falcon and the smile on Cap's phase when he hears that phrase says it all. Then this is followed by scenes of all our heroes returned from the dead before the big battle begins.

4. America's Ass - This movie had a LOT of callbacks and I loved them. However, this joke that Captain America makes to call back to an earlier joke and it definitely landed with me. I don't think I need to say more than that. If you saw this movie, you know the moment I'm talking about. It also showed how Cap's humor has blossomed over all these movies. I guess you can't be around a bunch of jokesters without becoming one yourself.

3. Cap giving his shield to Falcon - There were a couple of moments that got me misty eyed. Somehow, this was the moment that made me choke up. I feel like I need to really unpack my feelings as to why I feel this way. Diversity in comic books and by extension, these movies have come a really long way. Sam Wilson has been a proud representation of this. It's never been acknowledged and he's never been treated less than. By Cap choosing him over his best friend, Bucky, really cements that Cap sees Sam as someone worthy of the mantle. Seeing a black Captain American can do wonders for young kids and young Kevin would have loved to have had this moment. Based on their friendship the past few movies, it didn't feel forced either. So yeah, I was all up in my feelings on this one.

2. "Avengers Assemble" - This may seem like a small moment, but I also may have lost it from this moment as well. In all the movies, we never heard Captain America say these words and in the movie where it mattered the most, their iconic phrase was finally said. This combined with the swell of the Avengers orchestrated theme. I was done. Let the battle begin!

1. Captain America duel wielding Mjolnir and his shield - This was the cherry on the top of the nerd sundae that was this movie. Even though I was at the Alamo, where you are supposed to be quiet, I definitely let out an audible "YESSSSSSS". I couldn't contain it. This moment is made better because they teased this potential in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Cap didn't really have his big moment in Infinity War, but he damn sure got it here. It lead to an awesome couple of minutes.

Avengers: End Game

Now that a couple of weeks have passed and I have seen this movie two times, I feel like I am in a place to finally talk about it. This will be as spoiler free as possible, but I'm only human. Also, it HAS been a month.

For those that know me, it should come as no surprise that I really liked this movie. The first time I saw it, the one word I used to sum this movie up was, "Satisfying". This movie is the culmination of over ten years of Marvel movies. It also serves as the end of an era.

First off, for anyone looking for the wall to wall, big time battles and spectacle that was Infinity War, you won't find that here. This movie is slower and more introspective than the last movie. I think it is a refreshing change because you get to spend time with a smaller cast of characters. Some of which might be the last time you see them. If you thought the last movie was a gut punch, this movie is even more devastating, if you can imagine that.

So as I was saying, one of the things I really liked about this movie is how we just get to see the different characters interact with each other. The last movie cleared the board so we get what's left. I don't think it's a spoiler to say we spend a lot of time with Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Rocket Raccoon, Hulk, Nebula, Iron Man, Ant Man and War Machine. This is not a pairing one would have expected to see and this is where this movie starts to feel just like a comic book.  You throw together a bunch of characters that normally don't interact because a big, cosmic threat has brought them together. They have all dealt with the events of Infinity War (and the beginning of this movie) in their own ways. To say most of them don't deal well is an understatement. You are seeing these bright, shining heroes at their absolute low point.

This comes after we get kind of a resolution to the last movie within the first thirty minutes. I am speaking in generalities because after this moment, you're like, "Now what?" and that's where the movie continues.

I mentioned earlier how this movie is slower than Infinity War and the middle of this movie is slow. For those that have complained about this movie, those complaints are valid. What this movie does is at this point they expect you to have seen all of the other movies so there are a lot of moments that are call backs to all of the Marvel movies. In this way, this movie is completely impenetrable for new viewers. This is especially evident where (SPOILER INCOMING) some time travel is involved. This walks us through a greatest hits of some of the previous movies.

I will admit that if I had one small problem, is that it can be kind of lazy to show scenes from earlier movies except from a different perspective. This movie leans into that very hard. Now those scenes are mined for comedic gold now, but doesn't that undercut and make those scenes feel even sillier in retrospect? I like the courage it takes to be self aware to say, "Okay, maybe all that kind of stuff WAS ridiculous", but you're doing it in anyway while also simultaneously doing something that is inherently ridiculous. I apologize for being extremely vague here, but I realize some people still have not seen this yet.

BUT, and there is a big BUT here. I liked the callbacks to those scenes in the movies. I just wanted to play devil's advocate for a bit. It lead to some very great one liners and comedy from the situations the characters end up. The thing about everyone being a quip machine is they have all spent enough time with each other that it feels natural that they would start reacting the way that they do.

This movie moves all the pieces around on the board to lead into a very epic climax where we get an all out battle scene that dwarfs what we saw in Infinity War. It is laden with many, many cool moments that had me geeking right out of my Spider-Man socks. I felt like all the characters get a few cool moments so it feels like no one is left out. We even get an "Avengers Assemble!" from Captain America! In a separate post, I will go through MY favorite moments, as if I was doing a buzzfeed list. Ya'll know what I'm talking about.

So, comic books. Years ago and even now, there are always these big, epic events that involves all the characters that promises to change things forever. As a comic fan, you just roll your eyes knowing that in a year, everything will be back to the status quo. This movie is that very thing, except there were real repercussions. Not everyone makes this out alive. The fight scenes were appropriately comic booky. The last minute saves, the sacrifices, everything. These moments are what I love about comics. You just have to be careful that you don't do this all the time and this movie was the perfect time for that. It will honestly be tough to top this, but I will be excited to see Marvel try.

My last thought on it. Let's just Marvel (see what I did there) at the fact that this movie even exists at all. The collective weight of ten plus years of cinema is in this movie. The fact that it came together as well as it did is a testament to the filmmakers.

This movie left the cinematic universe in an interesting place. With Disney now owning the rights to Fantastic Four and the X-Men, there are many new directions they can take with what has already been established that can successfully extend this universe for another ten years.

It's been five weeks and if you haven't seen this movie yet, go see it! Those theaters should be cleared up now.