Avengers Endgame is one of my all time favorite movies ever made. From the acting, to the editing, MCU didn’t miss a thing. With how long the MCU has been around, they have gotten tons and tons of experience with editing. This especially shows in this film. The editing in all marvel films are great, but this one especially caught my attention. The producers and editors at MCU know exactly when and where to make each cut, what types of shots are perfect for the scene, and they have some of the best visual effects I have ever seen in any movie.
The beginning of the movie is slower than it is towards the end. However, that isn't
because the beginning is slow in general, but because the end is just so action packed and quick paced. The movie starts off 5 years after the movie infinity war ended, with those that were left of the avengers finding a way to get their friends back. Even with the slower pace of things, while the movie was picking up, it had the perfect types of shots for what was needed. They then travel to another planet to find Thanos and there you see the editing skills come into play as Thor
takes his axe and cuts then head off of Thanos.
The friends that are still together then get ready to go back in time to find each stone so that they can be used to bring back everyone that has disappeared. There is a scene in which the entire team is walking forward together in their suits. This cut really showed the audience that there was still hope in them saving the universe and could not have been filmed and edited better. Each avengers film has had its own iconic edit showing the whole team together and every time it just gets better and better.
Towards the end of the film is when the real edits come into play. There is a huge fight scene with everyone at the end of the film. It starts off with Thanos and his team following them back to the future. Thor, Ironman, and Captain America are fighting Thanos and his army alone. One by one Thanos takes out each of them. Standing over Thor, he is about to kill him with his own axe when you see Thor's hammer flying through the sky, hitting Thanos, and being caught by Captain America. This scene was one of the most iconic scenes in all of the marvel city universe. It goes back to the older movies when we see Captain America almost being able to lift the hammer. The editing in this scene was amazing. You see the camera following the hammer through the sky but the audience has no clue who is controlling it. Most people think it is Thor, since it is his hammer, but it flies by Thor and we see it land in Captain America's hand instead. After he catches it he gets into a one on one fight with Thanos, while wielding his shield, and the hammer. Back and forth the fighting goes. The editing in this scene really brought out the pace of it and showed the speed of the fight. Cuts were happening everywhere, shot after shot.
After basically losing the fight against Thanos, Captain America still stands up to him and an entire army, showing his true belief that he will never get up. We then see a portal open up behind him and hear his good friend saying “on your left,” which goes back to the older movies when Cap used to always say it to him while on runs. It then turns into an enormous fight between all of the avengers and Thanos’ army. The amount of brilliant editing during the fight scene was one of the craziest things I have ever seen in a film. So much was going on at once but because of the editing, I didn't miss a thing.
After the fight ends, we see that Ironman, otherwise known as Tony Stark is basically on his deathbed. You see the camera pan through everyone to show the amount of emotion felt during this scene. One of the most important characters in the entire franchise life was coming to an end and it couldn't have shown in a better way.
After taking this class on film and editing, and rewatching this film, I can appreciate the amount of time and effort put into it a lot more. I know how time consuming it can be and the editing team at the MCU are some of the best I have ever seen. One of my favorite things about the film is the editing. The movie is so filled with action, especially towards the end, and every moment is captured so perfectly. As a longtime fan of Marvel, I have watched every single movie as they have come out. In doing so, I have noticed the improvement as we have advancements in technology and such. Looking back at the very first Marvel City Universe movie ever made, Iron Man, and comparing it to Avengers Endgame, anyone can see the vast improvement in editing, along with everything else. Everyone on the MCU team did an amazing job with this film.