Avengers: Endgame reviews are in: See it on the 'largest screen possible'
The critics have assembled. Here's a spoiler-free look at what they're saying.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Avengers: Endgame reviews are out.
Note: While the excerpts below are spoiler-free, if you click through to some of the reviews, you'll find mild spoilers.
The Avengers have assembled one last time (for now), and the reviews for Avengers: Endgame are out. Social media reactions came out Monday, and actual reviews hit the internet on Tuesday afternoon. To no one's surprise, reviewers found the much-anticipated movie to be super.
Three-hour
Marvel
thrill ride tops Infinity War
In a spoiler-free review, our CNET critic Mike Sorrentino says the three-hour film "flies by," and that unlike 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, it leaves viewers satisfied.
"Every single action sequence here deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible," Sorrentino writes. "In Infinity War, the Russos demonstrated their ability to take action from Earth to space and back, and each of Endgame's locations provides plenty of epic clashes and gorgeous vistas to relish."
Here's a look at what other critics are saying.
A perfect goodbye
"After beginning with a mournful tone, the film turns goofier and livelier as the team's wild gambit to save the world comes into focus; it's to (director Joe and Anthony) Russos' credit that they manage this transition with aplomb." -- David Sims, The Atlantic
The film event of our lifetime
"Avengers: Endgame arrives with expectations which could never be met. The culmination of more than 10 years and 22 films (including itself) from Marvel Studios, fans have so many hopes and wishes for the ensemble film tying up each of the narrative threads that it would be nearly impossible to send audiences home completely satisfied. The directors, writers, cast, and mastermind of it all Kevin Feige did their best with it though -- and manage to not only meet those expectations but also exceed them." -- Brandon Davis, ComicBook.com
One last sequel to set it right
"Nearly a year to the day (from Avengers: Infinity War), Endgame returns with the promise of many things: revenge, redemption, a runtime that defies the limits of most streetside parking meters. And the movie largely delivers, splashing its ambitious three-hour narrative across a sprawling canvas of characters, eras, and not-quite-insurmountable challenges." -- Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
For the fans
"Endgame is a film that feels like it was made by fans, for fans -- to the point where some scenes will undoubtedly be labeled as outright fan service. But it's hard to view those moments as cynical pandering so much as earned and effective homages to the moments, characters, and relationships we've grown so invested in over the past 11 years." -- Laura Prudom, IGN
A messy, satisfying conclusion
"Avengers: Endgame absolutely works as a blockbuster movie experience. If you're at all invested in the plight the remaining Avengers face after the events leading up to and including Infinity War, you will feel satisfied with this movie. The much-discussed three-hour runtime is no joke, but almost every minute of it is used well, barring some extended gag scenes that probably could have been left for the Blu-ray. Endgame manages to tie the entire
MCU
up with a beautiful, emotional, gut-wrenching, hopeful conclusion, which is an undeniable achievement." -- Michael Rougeau, GameSpot
Popcorn movie
"Avengers: Endgame has almost nothing on its mind but crossing the t's and dotting the i's of a far-flung superhero saga, but to anyone with even a minor emotional stake in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it has all the fleeting satisfaction of a shot of whipped cream delivered directly from the spray can. And that's not a bad thing. You want an arthouse superhero movie, go see Fast Color. (And you should.) Avengers: Endgame is a popcorn epic, of the extra salt-and-butter variety." -- Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
Avengers: Endgame, all three hours of it, opens April 24 in Australia, April 25 in the UK and April 26 in the US.
Originally published 4:18 p.m. PT.