Avengers: Endgame parents guide

Avengers: Endgame Parent Guide

A well paced, albeit lengthy, production that wraps up its bigger character arcs in an emotionally satisfying way.

Overall B

After Thanos snapped his fingers in "Infinity War", half of all life in the universe simply disappeared. It's down to the Avengers who have survived to band together and find a way, not only to defeat Thanos and take the Infinity Gauntlet from him, but to bring back everyone who was erased the first time Thanos won.

Release date April 26, 2019

Violence C-
Sexual Content A
Profanity C+
Substance Use C

Why is Avengers: Endgame rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Avengers: Endgame PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and some language

Run Time: 181 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

Starting a few weeks from where Infinity War left off, Endgame sees the Avengers in their most desperate straits yet. Reeling from the loss of some of their strongest allies and best friends, the survivors of Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) massacre band together to try and undo the damage. Led by Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Ant Man (Paul Rudd), the Avengers seek out the rest of their comrades and prepare for the fight of their lives.

I’ll be honest: I’ve never been the biggest fan of superhero movies. Marvel tends to make the better ones in that category, though, so I was cautiously optimistic that they could turn their monstrous three hour runtime into something interesting and entertaining, And, wonder of wonders, they did.

As with Infinity War, Marvel is banking on the fact that their audience has seen at least 90% of their other movies. If you haven’t, parts of this movie aren’t going to make a lot of sense. With a huge cast of characters and plot elements to weave together, Endgame doesn’t have much time to go back and explain the details. The payoff for seeing all of the previous films is in this production’s ability to wrap up at least a couple of its bigger character arcs in a surprisingly satisfying way. I’m not going to spoil anything here, but I will say that there was an equal amount of crying and clapping in the theatre for the last 20 minutes of the movie.

Surprisingly, the pacing isn’t as bad as it was in Infinity War, which spent so much time zipping between characters that it felt like a slideshow being played at triple speed. Endgame’s advantage, weirdly enough, is that it’s a bit longer. This, combined with the fact that half of the characters died in the last movie, means that the plot is a lot more cohesive, and individual characters feel more developed. Or they at least have enough lines to almost earn the massive multi-million-dollar paycheck they’re getting.

In order to rake in the maximum possible amount of cash from this movie, Marvel has been careful to keep it at a PG-13 rating. What this means for parents is that, even though the show might be more emotionally intense, it’s not going to be much you haven’t already seen in a superhero movie. The usual stylized violence and a smattering of profanity are about all the film is going to bring. That said, with that whopping three-hour runtime, younger kids might get restless. For adults, the biggest problem is going to be picking when it’s safe to run off to the bathroom after accidentally finishing that large drink just after the two-hour mark.

Endgame may not be Citizen Kane, but frankly, it’s not trying to be. As a remarkably emotional action flick, with a lot of big set-pieces and CGI explosions, it provides the return fans expect for their investment of time and patience. Even I’m half curious as to where Marvel is going to go from here. As the last piece in the “Infinity Saga”, Endgame is a fun and satisfying conclusion to years of more lighthearted filmmaking. Just remember- pace yourself on that 16oz fountain drink. You’ll invariably pick the wrong time for your bathroom break.

Directed by Anthony Russo, and Joe Russo. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr.,Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan. Running time: 181 minutes. Theatrical release April 26, 2019. Updated

Watch the trailer for Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame
Rating & Content Info

Why is Avengers: Endgame rated PG-13? Avengers: Endgame is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and some language

Violence: As you might imagine, there is a great deal of stylized violence, very little of which is in any way graphic. Individuals are shot, stabbed, blown up, pummeled, stepped on, and killed in basically any other way you can think of. That said, on only a few instances does this involve any blood or obvious physical effect. An individual is twice shown being decapitated, with some blood spurting. An individual’s hand is cut off, again with some blood. A character’s throat is cut during a swordfight, and is shown bleeding. Several individuals are beaten severely in a fistfight and are shown bleeding slightly around the nose and mouth. A person falls off a cliff to their death.
Sexual Content:   None.
Profanity: By my count, there are nine uses of moderate profanity, primarily scatological. There are perhaps another dozen uses of profanity in the mild and terms of deity categories.
Alcohol / Drug Use: A primary character is shown moderately intoxicated several times and is shown drinking copious amounts of beer. This is portrayed negatively (if somewhat comedically) as a sign of the character’s downwards spiral.

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Avengers: Endgame Parents' Guide

The Avengers face seemingly impossible odds in Endgame. How do you keep going when opposition mounts? How can individuals improve their resilience when life gets difficult?

Tony and Steve’s relationship has had a few ups and downs in these movies. How do they work together in this movie? Do you think one of them is “in the right”? How would you respond if you were Tony? If you were Steve?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

For stories of friends and allies who persist against impossible odds, start with the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy also features a fellowship allied against an almost undefeatable evil figure.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Avengers: Endgame movie is August 13, 2019. Here are some details…

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Before you watch Avengers: Endgame, you must have watched Avengers: Infinity War. You can also go back to the first film in the Marvel Comic Universe: Iron Man. Other classics include: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: Ragnarok, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. If you’re looking for equally long films featuring a few stalwart heroes arrayed against a titanic and seemingly unbeatable villain, Peter Jackson’s adaptations of The Lord of the Rings are an excellent option.