Avengers: Endgame | Art of the Finale

I don't really know how to open this video I started this project months ago and well it feels like we're living through our own adventures endgame right about now maybe that's the reason why I need to do this video when I think of this movie I think about the power of community how the strongest bonds are built from the toughest times yes it's filled with tragedy and despair but it's also filled with optimism and love and it shows how these forces are often inseparable Marvel movies have been viewed as comfort food there's these fun things that can help us through tough times while I think this is true I also think that in these stories are the tools to navigate our own lives the tools to make our worlds just as exciting as theirs this is the final installment of the Marvel Studios retrospective and end game as a special movie to end this series on because not only is it a phenomenal Marvel movie but it's also the story about why we fell in love with this series in the first place [Music] [Music] Avengers endgame is many things a celebration of 11 years of Marvel blockbusters the last hurrah of phase one's core iconic characters but first and foremost it's a story about a group of people reconciling with their tragic past a story about saving the day after the end of the world of course one can't discuss endgame without first talking about infinity war the older sibling that is both its own standalone story yet when combined with endgame creates a beautiful five and a half hour epic infinity war was the main event the self-proclaimed biggest crossover in some history it's a film where all the characters you know and love come together to fight the big purple dude Marvel's been building up to for over half a decade it's the ultimate test for the Avengers initiative with the plot motion well before the film begins time is of the essence as characters form unexpected alliances and sprang into action in 2018 I did a video on infinity Wars action storytelling and how important it was for the characters to define themselves within their action scenes this characterization through action was so important because outside of these action scenes both of these characters had little to no screen time infinity war is a film about action or more specifically reacting to a galactic threat they do the typical assembly to protect the world but this time they couldn't prepare for what they were up against the ultimate magic trick infinity war pulled off is that a united all of marvel's heroes only to Center the film around its villain infinity war is Thanos this movie it goes deep inside his mind and philosophy and humanizes him through his relationship with Gamora narrative Lee the film structures itself around tannaz's struggles giving him the end of that to low point and the twist in the third act Marvel heroes typically fight through countless cannon fodder in their own movies but now they're the cannon fodder in Thanos movie the point of making the film about Thanos is to show the Avengers how much Thanos is better than them cool superpowers in the bonds of friendship can't stop thanasis unbreakable morals and unmatched cruelty 18 films of growth and development just aren't enough for the mad Titan Thanos becomes the ultimate force of regression for the Avengers because of his godlike status granted to him by the stones famous Rob's The Avengers of potential moments of development in defiance the best example of this is Thor's temper tantrum that cost the Avengers the fight on Titan any catharsis he may have had with losing Gamora is taken away from him which leads him to being emotionally unprepared to finally confront Thanos this is my favorite scene in the film how Thanos maintains control without ever having to lift a finger speaking of lifting fingers what makes thanasis final act so powerful is how it undoes all the progress the MCU has made up until this point if we view the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a series about friendships that make the world better the snap is a tragedy that traumatizes the world by taking away those friendships even though this act of genocide is meant to be dispassionate in random the writers took creative liberties in killing all the newer characters while the older ones watched their successors turn to dust it is among the most traumatizing things to occur in a mainstream movie children cried at one of my screenings it was great so many blockbusters Marvel films included will hang galactic sized threats over the audience that failed to engage them on an emotional level truth think back to the destruction of hosnian prime in the force awakens did you feel any sadness over the deaths of billions of people what separates infinity war is how it keeps things personal we don't see the galactic sides ramifications around this moment only the horror that the characters we care about go through this isn't about the end of the world this is about the end of their world all meaningful relationships all potential new franchises gone however not all hope is drained from our heroes as they see a chance to undo their recent failure which leads us here the Avengers Assemble they do their thing and it just doesn't work our heroes beat the villain into submission and kill him because they've failed there's nothing too out punch no plan to outwit it's over Avengers and game begins with the end of the MCU what is the purpose of a finale what should the third installment of a trilogy a series finale or the climax of a cinematic universe do besides finish a story I looked through as many finales as I could and the best answer I could come up with is a great finale should provide the hardest challenge to his theories values and ultimately change or come to a conclusion on its underlying premise let's take a look at one of the best shows and finales out there Breaking Bad tells the story of Walter White an overqualified chemistry teacher who undergoes a transformation into a meth kingpin following a terminal cancer diagnosis for five electric seasons the narrative threads between two central points of tension whether the dangerous of his job will collide with his family and just how far Walt will break bad season 5s iconic Ozymandias offers the answers to these show along questions yes and pretty far Ozymandias is the episode where Walt's lies come crashing down the episode begins with his DEA brother-in-law being murdered and most of his money being taken from him and then it falls Walt as his family turns on him and he becomes a wanted criminal all of his efforts were for nothing as he's forced to abandon his family and go into hiding narrative Lee this is the climax of the show this could have been a satisfying final episode and provided a necessary cautionary tale on the dangers of ego I bring Ozymandias up because I feel it has a lot in common dramatically with infinity war both begin with acts of murder that send our protagonists into action and both follow their protagonists as they fight to preserve the status quo of their series only for their efforts to be too late our characters become powerless and can only react to the end of the world however in both cases this is not the end of their story as they both leave one final episode to try to make things right the parallels between Breaking Bad Selina and adventures endgame are staggering both begin with large time jumps after the destruction of their worlds following their characters as they return to their former identities while both narratives have external villains the real fights these characters have are internal as in order to make things right they have to first identify why they went wrong in the first place I did it for me I liked it I was good at it this is where the change part comes in as the characters have to adapt their central mission in order to finish it Walt can't provide for his family and make things right without first confronting that he was providing for his ego of alarm once he admits this he can finally help his family through Elliott and Gretchen the people he should have turned to in the first place he serves his ego by killing the man who murdered Hank but also inadvertently saves his former partners life in the process his old destructive behavior is now a force for good it's the change in the show's mission that truly makes the finale to Breaking Bad so satisfying so now we turn the end game how does this film change the mission of the Avengers well it's in the title if we can't protect the Earth you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it there was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they can become something more this is the core of the Avengers yes there's a fight the battles we never could part but the character transformation through interaction is what drives these films for each character solo film we establish the core flaws they'll have to wrestle with over the course of their series then in the team-up films we see how these strengths and weaknesses pair off of other characters we care equally about regardless of popularity or box-office success each character's asked to give up their individual needs and become a part of something bigger there is a constant tension between the individual and the group strong personalities create strong disagreements and not everyone strengths and weaknesses will gel in order for all these characters to work together all of them have to go through a core transformation losing a part of their identity but gaining the strength in their new role these are films about the world's largest stars both in their universe and ours learning to share the spotlight not every conflict resolves this neatly but when it does we see how sharing the hero gig makes the Avengers better people they open themselves up to new relationships and experiences the traumatic losses from their past be commended by this new family one that argues and expands but is united by a common goal but then this happens they count a battle they couldn't fight in those core bonds built for the universal conflict are fundamentally ripped to shreds the bonds of the Avengers were there to mend their tragic pasts but now the Avengers itself is a new tragic past to inform their darker journeys this is what makes Thanos the ultimate villain why grow and open yourself up when it can all be taken from you in an instant loss and failure isn't just a risk it's inevitable and so most of the remaining characters regress to adapt to this failure some find productive transformation but only for the sake of healing not for future action but they're all still Avengers they still have that hero bug as even though those bonds are no longer the memories on their end Livan I used to have nothing and then I got this his family oh it's better because of it and even though they're gone I'm still trying to be better enter time travel now on the surface time travel is a bit of a cop-out to resolve this conflict though it is given weight by the five-year gap that ensures the overall loss sinks in but if all these characters did was go back in time and collected a couple of rocks to fix everything this would be a criminally unsatisfying story as we've learned all too well narratives that only focus on convoluted plot mechanics seldom worked out know the reason why the time travel narrative works is because all these characters are haunted by their past and so this mechanic creates the opportunity to not only undo their mistakes but also the chance to rediscover and redefine their heroic spirit each stone based mission is a cover for the filmmakers to explore each character's past all of them have lost or are in need of something in this trip down memory lane is their way of finally becoming whole there isn't a threat to reacting against and so every change they make is entirely on their terms this initiation becomes harder for some characters as the team versus individual conflict remains Tony Stark is a vendor most crucial for this mission to work and also the character with the most to lose as these replaced the loss of a surrogate family with a real one but still the ghosts of the past prevail as the first act spends most of its time convincing these characters to overcome their demons once and for all so that's the foundation of this conflict traveling back into these characters past to rediscover their identity at the same time the film is also travelling back into the MCU is past to celebrate this 22 film journey now some of these references are there to please the audience and nothing more but for the most part every single callback becomes a moment for these characters to reflect on the larger story of the MCU this is a crucial element to making a great finale revisiting core characters and objects and injecting them with a last-minute dose of meaning I want to highlight two objects that go through core transformations in Avengers endgame the only ER and caps shield both of these weapons are the defining symbols for these characters forged by crucial relationships in their youth on top of being their signature powers these weapons are also symbolic of this core relationship a constant reminder of where their stories began in each of their third films these weapons are taken away from them signaling a rift in the relationships these symbols defined at the core this is a negative transformation the bonds that built the series fall apart and neither character truly recovers before the test that is infinity war and so in order to make things right they have to travel back into their past with these special objects making their way back to them on this journey for Steve this reunion cements the forgiveness between him and Tony setting the tone of making amends and cooperation that the rest of the film builds on for Thor while his transformation is both the most hilarious and the most depressing the character destined for greatness now soaks in his own misery he goes from thinking he's owed everything to thinking he is worth nothing and this transformation is directly tied to the losses he's endured and his failure to prevent them the key for these journeys is reaffirmation with Thor finding counsel and closure from his hardest loss through his mother forefronts peace with where he comes from and more importantly where he is now only then does Milner come back to him with war for the first time being surprised by its return I'm still worthy and that's the core for all of these journeys each character gets reintroduced with something or someone they've lost realizing that bond and growth has always been there these bonds don't just make them stronger they're the core to their strength in the first place and now their strength reaches its final transformation on top of being a hell of a payoff for cap this moment is also built into the meaning embedded into mill mayor and the Avengers as a whole for Thor it's him letting go of his ego and sharing his power these bonds make our heroes stronger literally in this outmatched battle the hammer calls to the Avengers aid turning the tide of the fight however the most important part of this moment is that it's not enough Thanos the ultimate force of regression prevails tossing the hammer aside and hacking a caps shield until it splits in half now this image is very important in age of Ultron it becomes shorthand for the Avengers defeat in a way you can say it symbolizes half the Avengers dying in the snap The Avengers transformed they fought the good fight and it wasn't enough Thanos declares checkmate while the Avengers are stuck on the floor and still cat catsup we see and peace himself back together and return to the fight it's a microcosm of this film's entire conflict what's most crucial for this moment is how it organically builds it takes a while for cat to get back on his feet as he feels the weight of the army facing him earning that final moment of defiance it is then and only then that we finally get this assemble now I could talk for hours about the beauty of this final fight scene how through the action we see the older characters pass off the baton to the newer ones how the battle creates the craziest power combinations or how it sprinkles tiny payoffs for all the characters throughout but this final battle doesn't succeed because of them it's not a sweeping team shots that make it soar but the strong singular moments that anchor them it's the decision to have Iron Man stand alone against Thanos countering his inevitability with his defining identity the truth about endgame is that it isn't about the Avengers it's about the individual struggles of a select few characters that make the Avengers think back to that iconic Assemble moment and how it centers itself around Steve's conviction the team the payoffs they're all friend through the lens of these individuals and how they transform their stories I want to go back to that initial Avengers motto these characters have to change transform and risk their lives to fight these battles for us for these other characters we also care deeply about it's a hard and punishing gig one that takes its toll and the lives of many of its core characters these people can't keep fighting this fight forever so it offers them something that all other finales must closure yes the franchise known for extending and delaying conflicts indefinitely managed to find closure and it didn't do it through solving all the problems in this vast expansive universe but by offering an out to those who create because all alone this was never a story about a vast team or an expanded universe it was about individual characters and that's all the great finale can do provide a satisfying or meaningful end to the characters we've cared about since the beginning for Steve that means getting the life he lost ages ago after restoring the lives of the rest of the galaxy one of those beings Sam Wilson whom he gifts the Captain America mantle to after fighting these battles for us the next step is to prepare the next generation to take over so they can finally rest the flaws that haunted these characters have been restored meaning the Avengers initiative has fulfilled its purpose but there is one character that doesn't get their happily ever after and it's the dramatic punch that anchors this film so I want to end this video on the beautiful tragic arc of Tony Stark Ironman is perhaps the most important hero to the Avengers initiative as is its most self-centered and egotistical number his arc in the first Avengers is overcoming his selfishness as the Avengers need him more than he needs them he joins the team but he does so half-heartedly disrupting the project while outright rejecting a central mission we are not soldiers in the end he rises to the occasion putting his life and world on the line now that he has new pals to save him when he needs them to from this point on his world is forever changed a lot of Tony's strengths are tied to his selfishness his independence inventions improvisation all of them are born from his intense self-preservation the heart of this driving flaw is the tragic death of his parents at a very young age it forces him to grow up and take command of the family's legacy all of his fun character quirks take a darker turn in this context keeping his friends at a distance to not get too emotionally attached from the beginning he's been haunted by this loss only opening out about it after trauma and we're gonna show him but again I never got to say goodbye to my father Tony's journey is centered around reacting to and preventing tragedy putting his friends and the world an increasingly safer suits of armor this need for preservation is what brings out his lowest moments this is why endgame ultimately belongs to Tony it's the escalation of his constant survivor's guilt watch my friends died you think that'd be as bad as it gets for nothing nope wasn't the worst part the worst part that you didn't and of course on his path to avenge this tragedy he inevitably crosses paths with his first ghost not only is the scene the most important scene in the film but it's also my favorite it's the type of scene that time travel narratives are built for one that almost feels out of place in an Avengers movie there are no stakes when Howard enters the scene Tony has already achieved as infinity stone fetch quest in fact Tony almost forgets the gem entirely after getting caught up with meaning his dad which is like a metaphor for this entire film all that matters in this scene is that they talk Tony gets that final conversation with his dad he gets to finally say goodbye how he finally connects with his dad is his experience as a father he gives his own dad parenting advice without him knowing it it's perfect the ultimate irony of this scene is that Howard didn't succeed from Tony's perspective he wasn't the best dad he was cold he was calculating he never told me he loved me and never even told me he liked me but in this moment Tony sees him as someone who would do anything for his son it's in this scene that Tony realizes Howard left him because he was needed elsewhere others were lied on him more than his own child and with that Tony finally finds the value and their limited time together no amount of money ever bought a second of time and all of this of course leads us here Ironman has risked his life before in the first Avengers he also uses his technology to make the risky play he has a life to lose and he has an escape plan but in this moment he knows his odds stark you know that's a one-way trip this time there is no way out in the best setup and payoff in a saga this is the one there is no other way this is the ultimate personal sacrifice it's not a twist or subversion he even plays the exact same music cue from the first Avengers it's the decision he's been making repeatedly since the beginning only this time he finally pays for it [Music] what's different an end game is that he's giving up a complete life abandoning his daughter which the film took the perfect amount of time to make us care for this is why the time travel narrative mattered because Tony got the final reassurance from his dad if Tony can find closure with Howard then someday Morgan will find closure with Tony this entire film is bookended by Tony saying goodbye in Tony's first scene he records a farewell with his suit he sends this message not long after his tragic fight against Thanos still morally and physically broken by this battle in his farewell will he's unsure of the rest of the world or even if Pepper is alive to hear this message it is raw pure and a heartbreaking way to open this story after his final sacrifice we hear a similar goodbye a contingency he records after realizing the weight of his future mission despite the state of the world during this recording he sends it strong relaxed at peace with his decision and family and confident in the world that will return he'll be 3,000 in the next shot we see the world he saved the entire Marvel cast saluting their fallen soldier the team grieving the individual in one bold statement the filmmakers declare this world these bonds these stories they all exist because one man decided to build a heart [Music] and that's a wrap on the Marvel Studios retrospective if you're not cut up here's a playlist to watch it from the beginning I'll also be revamping my patreon with a bunch of new stuff so if you want to see more videos like this one make sure to support the channel stay safe and I'll see you next time

Channel: Films&Stuff

Views: 175,557

Keywords: Avengers Endgame Review, Avengers Endgame Analysis, Avengers Endgame Art of the fInale

Id: P-6UwZShQVY

Length: 27min 29sec (1649 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 15 2020