A Love Letter for Avengers: Endgame from a Non-Marvel Fan
Written by Kurnia Cahya Putra
As there are people who've made disliking mainstream things a personality, it should come across as common sense that it's almost arrogant and pretentious to consider oneself as a "non-Marvel fan". Furthermore, proclaiming that is also maybe a tad too extreme even if one just uses it as a hook of an article, but truth to be told, I've never been particularly eager to see a Marvel movie in the cinema. Most of the time--well, actually all of the time--I went to see it as I went to try Es Kepal Milo: because everyone else was doing it. It's a very elementary-school thing. You don't want to be left out when people are talking about the newest episode of Akademi Fantasi Indosiar in the class the next morning. The reason for this is that I found Marvel movies to be, for lack of a better word, bland. Good directors color between the lines, great directors elevate the art piece and give it personality (shitty analogy, I agree). All Marvel movies look, feel, and are telling the same thing for me. A superhero is trying to save the planet from a supervillain who drops things from the sky, packaged with generic cinematography and generic music (God, even the Avengers theme song is probably the blandest theme songs ever put for something as culturally-massive as this). The best ones are the ones that are most different, such as Thor: Ragnarok, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
This is not a bad thing. This is more of a taste thing. I'm not a comic book fan or even reader. I don't have an attachment to these characters and these stories outside of these movies. I understand those who love these cinematic iterations for the reasons that they have, but me? I love Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy because I've never seen anything like it before. But, Kur, isn't that the same thing? All of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies look exactly the same, so why can't Sam Raimi's Spider-Man universe be like that but the Marvel Cinematic Universe can't? Well, first of all, I will never say that they can't, because like I've mentioned, this is purely my taste, my opinion, and my preference. Second, it's because the MCU has a lot of superhero movies (22 so far to be exact), and I'm one of those who got that superhero fatigue thing going on. I'm just tired of seeing the same thing 20-something times. Third, it's because, of course, MCU employs dozens of directors. For me, it is such a waste to use them, but not give them a chance to put their own stamp onto the work. Only a few have managed to have done so, such as Taika Waititi with his beautiful technicolor of effortless comedy and the Russo Brothers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier for their eye for action choreography and hand-to-hand combat. Before I get attacked by Marvel fans (and I think fairly so), in the end, what I'm trying to arrive to is that Avengers: Endgame makes all that worthwhile. Pretty contrary, huh? I was pleasantly surprised myself, and because of it, am also completely satisfied.
When they tell you that Avengers: Endgame is unexpected, they are exactly on point, and in my case, not only in the way the story unfolds but also the way it defies what I thought I would've felt coming out of it. We're going into spoiler territory here, so those of you who haven't watched the film, go away or continue at your own risk. Long story (three hours worth of running time) short, Endgame is the aftermath of the devastating events in Infinity War where half of the universe's population was dusted by Thanos' (Brolin) snap. For the first time, our titular group has to live up to its name: avenge and undo what had been done. The way to do that, as has been predicted by everyone, is time-travel. Now, Endgame, more than anything, is a fan-service film. However, if we can deal with semantic for a moment here, I'd rather call this aspect a reward rather than fan-service. Isn't that the same thing? Partly yes, but for me, fan-service is such a broad term that it can have both a negative or a positive connotation. Harry having what might be a romantic moment with Hermione even though she is canonically in love with Ron is a negative fan-service because it comes as a response--a cater to what the fans have opined themselves, whereas the moments where the Avengers revisit the past events in their mission here come more organically and most importantly, with heart.
Fans who have invested 10 years or more of their lives will definitely get that tingle when Captain America (Evans) fights his old self from 2012, or when the new and improved Hulk (Ruffalo) has to act angry as to come across as the 2012 Hulk. It's a great reminder to see how far the MCU has come and yes, a reward for the true and patient fans. What about me? A self-proclaimed non-Marvel fan? Well, in my case, this is the first time that the lack of personality of the individual Marvel movies, something I've mentioned as my core reason for not being a Marvel fan, pays off for the MCU as a whole. Sure, I wish it had come sooner. I wish we don't have to wait for 21 movies until we get to see this thing as a complete work of art, but at least, it. pays. off. The reason why this movie is so satisfying is that before this, every time we see a Marvel movie, we always have this underlying feeling that it's building up to something, and for me, that is not a good feeling. We've never felt like we've given a full course because well, we haven't. But, with this, all that is out the window. It really is the end, and as if to apologize to us, it gives, and gives, and keeps on giving, and not just in the way of serving your 10 years knowledge, mind you, but also in providing the appropriate emotional pay off to its beloved characters. The death of Tony Stark is really the perfect closure that this film could have. This whole thing started with him and ends with him, and the best part is, everything about his death is earned. It is no wonder that he and Pepper are my favorite MCU couple.
For those of you who see the fan-service as a weakness, however, there is less for you to worry about here as the movie also pads its three-hour running time with scenes that have a strong emotional core. Is it a perfect movie? Well, no, no movie is. When you step back and look at it, the foundation of the story is pretty fragile (there are so many logic leaps that the movie takes for its time-travel. Case in point, what's gonna come of Loki after he gets that other hold of the Tesseract in 2012?), but that's almost forgiven for what it had managed to accomplish. My favorite part about this movie is not the time-travel or the epic finale, but it's when Steve is in a support group, talking about his day-to-day life after the snap with the other survivors. This movie is about this. A connection, a relation that we have to each other as a being in this universe who is just trying to get through the next day. I've said it before, and I've said it again that I love an underdog story, and the Avengers have never been more of an underdog than they had ever been at the start of this movie. Completely defeated, completely powerless. In these small moments, where we see them grief, where it seems that they always come up short, is when we can truly relate to them on a human level, and that's also when the movie is at its best. Truthfully, I don't think we'll ever see anything like Avengers: Endgame for a very long time. This is a cinematic experience of the culmination of a decade worth of emotional investment. It is an established connection that the filmmakers make with the audience. For that, Avengers: Endgame truly deserves its notoriety. 9.5/10.
This is not a bad thing. This is more of a taste thing. I'm not a comic book fan or even reader. I don't have an attachment to these characters and these stories outside of these movies. I understand those who love these cinematic iterations for the reasons that they have, but me? I love Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy because I've never seen anything like it before. But, Kur, isn't that the same thing? All of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies look exactly the same, so why can't Sam Raimi's Spider-Man universe be like that but the Marvel Cinematic Universe can't? Well, first of all, I will never say that they can't, because like I've mentioned, this is purely my taste, my opinion, and my preference. Second, it's because the MCU has a lot of superhero movies (22 so far to be exact), and I'm one of those who got that superhero fatigue thing going on. I'm just tired of seeing the same thing 20-something times. Third, it's because, of course, MCU employs dozens of directors. For me, it is such a waste to use them, but not give them a chance to put their own stamp onto the work. Only a few have managed to have done so, such as Taika Waititi with his beautiful technicolor of effortless comedy and the Russo Brothers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier for their eye for action choreography and hand-to-hand combat. Before I get attacked by Marvel fans (and I think fairly so), in the end, what I'm trying to arrive to is that Avengers: Endgame makes all that worthwhile. Pretty contrary, huh? I was pleasantly surprised myself, and because of it, am also completely satisfied.
When they tell you that Avengers: Endgame is unexpected, they are exactly on point, and in my case, not only in the way the story unfolds but also the way it defies what I thought I would've felt coming out of it. We're going into spoiler territory here, so those of you who haven't watched the film, go away or continue at your own risk. Long story (three hours worth of running time) short, Endgame is the aftermath of the devastating events in Infinity War where half of the universe's population was dusted by Thanos' (Brolin) snap. For the first time, our titular group has to live up to its name: avenge and undo what had been done. The way to do that, as has been predicted by everyone, is time-travel. Now, Endgame, more than anything, is a fan-service film. However, if we can deal with semantic for a moment here, I'd rather call this aspect a reward rather than fan-service. Isn't that the same thing? Partly yes, but for me, fan-service is such a broad term that it can have both a negative or a positive connotation. Harry having what might be a romantic moment with Hermione even though she is canonically in love with Ron is a negative fan-service because it comes as a response--a cater to what the fans have opined themselves, whereas the moments where the Avengers revisit the past events in their mission here come more organically and most importantly, with heart.
Fans who have invested 10 years or more of their lives will definitely get that tingle when Captain America (Evans) fights his old self from 2012, or when the new and improved Hulk (Ruffalo) has to act angry as to come across as the 2012 Hulk. It's a great reminder to see how far the MCU has come and yes, a reward for the true and patient fans. What about me? A self-proclaimed non-Marvel fan? Well, in my case, this is the first time that the lack of personality of the individual Marvel movies, something I've mentioned as my core reason for not being a Marvel fan, pays off for the MCU as a whole. Sure, I wish it had come sooner. I wish we don't have to wait for 21 movies until we get to see this thing as a complete work of art, but at least, it. pays. off. The reason why this movie is so satisfying is that before this, every time we see a Marvel movie, we always have this underlying feeling that it's building up to something, and for me, that is not a good feeling. We've never felt like we've given a full course because well, we haven't. But, with this, all that is out the window. It really is the end, and as if to apologize to us, it gives, and gives, and keeps on giving, and not just in the way of serving your 10 years knowledge, mind you, but also in providing the appropriate emotional pay off to its beloved characters. The death of Tony Stark is really the perfect closure that this film could have. This whole thing started with him and ends with him, and the best part is, everything about his death is earned. It is no wonder that he and Pepper are my favorite MCU couple.
For those of you who see the fan-service as a weakness, however, there is less for you to worry about here as the movie also pads its three-hour running time with scenes that have a strong emotional core. Is it a perfect movie? Well, no, no movie is. When you step back and look at it, the foundation of the story is pretty fragile (there are so many logic leaps that the movie takes for its time-travel. Case in point, what's gonna come of Loki after he gets that other hold of the Tesseract in 2012?), but that's almost forgiven for what it had managed to accomplish. My favorite part about this movie is not the time-travel or the epic finale, but it's when Steve is in a support group, talking about his day-to-day life after the snap with the other survivors. This movie is about this. A connection, a relation that we have to each other as a being in this universe who is just trying to get through the next day. I've said it before, and I've said it again that I love an underdog story, and the Avengers have never been more of an underdog than they had ever been at the start of this movie. Completely defeated, completely powerless. In these small moments, where we see them grief, where it seems that they always come up short, is when we can truly relate to them on a human level, and that's also when the movie is at its best. Truthfully, I don't think we'll ever see anything like Avengers: Endgame for a very long time. This is a cinematic experience of the culmination of a decade worth of emotional investment. It is an established connection that the filmmakers make with the audience. For that, Avengers: Endgame truly deserves its notoriety. 9.5/10.
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