My mind is all over the place about whether I want to write this now and what I want to write. It’s next on my chronological viewing queue,, but I also kinda wanna wait until I get in a second viewing tomorrow so I’ve got a more solid handle on all the feels I’m still processing. It’d also be good to wait to post this in a couple days, not that I’m gonna spoil anything, but I don’t wanna contribute too much information, but timing wise it makes sense to do one of my three tonight. Then how much do I talk about? I saw this on Thur (duh) and all day Friday if anyone would ask me anything, I’d just give a big doofy grin and a cheery “Uh huh” I took pride in how tightlipped I was, going so far as to run into a conference room to have a spoilery talk with someone else who had seen it. Buuuuut this blog is for talking about movies, and odds are not many people are gonna stumble on this anyway. So if you’re here, you’ve been warned.
After 11 years and 22 movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has created its largest event film, looking to be a send off of some original stories and a launching pad for some new ones. I was thinking about this the othe rday, and I think I am more attached to the MCU than to Star Wars or the Wizarding World or any other major franchise that immediately came to mind. I have seen every single one of these in theaters and watched them do something more and more impossible at every turn. I love these characters, I love their stories, I love the actors, I love everything about them, even the lesser films. When one of these movies comes out, it’s an event, often an emotional rollercoaster. And this was gonna be the biggest of them all.
I wanted to walk into the theater knowing as little as possible. I’d seen the first trailer a couple of times because it was shown in theaters, but I refused to watch any others. I didn’t read any articles, especially as we came closer to the release date and critic types had seen the movie. For about 48 hours before the film, anytime I’d be online and saw a word that remotely looked like “Avengers” I’d quickly scroll or close the window. I wanted to fully experience the film in the moment. Sidebar: there was also a lot of bladder training in the weeks leading up. I wasn’t gonna risk missing a second of it.
Up until about three hours before the movie, I had two tickets at different theaters across town. I’d initially inteded to get an AMC ticket, preferably a fancy screen if possible. However, as many of you may know, the internet blew up on ticket sale day and AMC’s site was down. After much fighting with Fandango at home, I got into the office and was able to quickly get a Cinemark ticket. I later learned I coulda used my A-List on Fandango, but by that point the fancy screens were mostly sold out and I preferred to pay for a good seat (like I currently had) than A-List a bad seat (like my current options). A couple days later an additional screen was added to the AMC near work and I grabbed a good seat. I still didn’t wanna release the Cinemark ticket just in case something went wrong along the way.
So anyways, the movie. I absolutely LOVED it. I mean, I was absolutely gonna love it no matter what, yeah? I knew nothing of what to expect, barely let myself even speculate (and much of the little I’d speculated was wrong anyway) and just lived with these beloved characters for 3 hours and 2 minutes. Yes I even stayed thru the end credits even though I knew nothing was there. It felt disrespectful not to, after I’d done it for 21 other movies. It just had everything. Great character moments, an engaging story, fantastic action, smart humor, EVERYTHING. I don’t know how many times I screamed “YESSSS!!!!” or just screamed. I prolly annoyed the rando next to me, but he was annoying me with his leg shaking so we’re cosmically even.
I’d initially meant to wait a bit to go back for round 2. I wanted the crowds to die down so I could heard the lines of dialog I’d been cheering thru. Plus I wanted to keep this weekend chill with an NYC weekend coming up. I caved at about 10 AM on Fri and got another ticket for tomorrow. I just need to be back in the Endgame with my people
Avengers: Endgame – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/