AVENGERS: ENDGAME / CERT: 12 / DIRECTORS: ANTHONY RUSSO, JOE RUSSO / SCREENPLAY: CHRISTOPHER MARKUS, STEPHEN MCFEELY / STARRING: ROBERT DOWNEY JR, CHRIS EVANS, MARK RUFFALO, CHRIS HEMSWORTH, SCARLETT JOHANSSON, JEREMY RENNER / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2ND
It is finally here, the final chapter and the conclusion of Marvel’s Phase 3, arrives on Blu-ray. The collection is now complete. As referenced in San Diego Comic-Con in July, Phase 4 is going in a new direction, with more emphasis on television and diversity, it makes the conclusion of what could be termed the Iron Man and Captain America saga, feel that bit more final. The film itself stands up incredibly well, however, the disc is a disappointment and a missed opportunity.
After the emotionally draining but incredibly exciting Avengers: Infinity War, the hardest aspect to this sequel was always going to be: how do we follow half the population being erased? On a re-watch, the opening is actually the strongest part of the movie. This disc gives us an unnecessary introduction by the Russo brothers, then picks up with Hawkeye and what he has been up to, turning into a bad ass assassin called Ronin (although that name is used only in the comics so far) after his family disappear. Tony Stark is rescued and then the gang immediately crash Thanos’ retirement, relieving his head from his body! From this colourful and fast-paced start, we jump five years later, to a gloomy and grey New York, with Captain America in therapy (alongside co-director Joe Russo!). This is such a stark contrast between the two periods of time and perfectly balances the feeling of hope and hopelessness. What follows is great fan service, jumping into past movies, once Stark solves the riddles of time travel is his living room! It was an especially clever decision to revisit 2013’s Thor 2: The Dark World, as even though it is an enjoyable romp, is the lowest rated MCU film, and the one many decided was worth missing. The only main criticism of the film, is this section of it. It’s full of lovely ideas but very little action. As it turns out, retrieving the stones is surprisingly easy and doesn’t present the audience with much new material. It turns it around, however, with the epic final scene; one we were all craving, complete with comedy and tragedy.
The Blu-ray release represents a great opportunity for Disney to really unleash all the material we haven’t seen after making this epic, unheard of film experiment. Unfortunately, we just get the bare minimum here, we do get a nice Stan Lee tribute, showing him filming some of his cameos, which is followed by a five-minute documentary on Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, the Russo brothers, Thor, and female empowerment… well, why not? These just offer the standard back-slapping from cast members, with a few clips from past movies. We do get six deleted scenes, these are short but sweet, the funniest being Rocket asking why they didn’t blow up the mother ship when the Chitauri attacked New York. We get a very small gag reel and that’s it. You may have expected a detailed documentary about the process of planning this impressive undertaking, or how the filmmakers go about constructing a scene using cutting edge CGI, but you will be disappointed, perhaps Disney don’t want to give away any secrets, but they could of at least let us take a peek! None of this detracts from a great film that will be the final piece of the puzzle for many fans, we just deserved a bit more for the long journey we have all been on, see you all in Phase 4.
