Avengers: Endgame,
directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo
(PG-13, 3 hours, 1 minute)
If you can stay in your seat for the over three-hour running time of Marvel Studios' monumental conclusion to 22 films about all manner of superheroes, you'll be rewarded with a genuinely entertaining, emotional, and engrossing wrap-up to the series' Infinity Saga that began with 2008's Iron Man and ended with 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home.
That being said, three hours is a big chunk of time. It's long enough to play a fast round of golf. Watch most of a minor-league baseball game. Cook a brisket. Go to another movie and get something to eat afterward.
Anyway.
The story begins where 2018's less-loved Avengers: Infinity War leaves off, as surviving Avengers prepare for a new mission following the Thanos debacle. Tony Stark, aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), distressed at the death of Peter Parker in the previous film, doesn't want to play. But the group realizes it needs time-travel technology to undo Thanos' work, they plead with him to contribute his inventing genius to the cause.
From that point, the battle commences.
With Chris Evans (Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Gwyneth Paltrow, and about a zillion more characters; in those rare moments when the action wanes, viewers can use the time to try to sort them out.
Shadow (not rated, 1 hour, 56 minutes) Powerful, action-packed, multi-faceted and visually arresting -- as are all of director Yimou Zhang's films (including House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Red Sorghum, and Raise the Red Lantern), no matter how violent -- this superbly stylized period adventure, set during the Three Kingdom era of China (AD 220-280) chronicles the life of a mighty king and his people, who battle to reclaim the homeland they've been forced to leave. With Chao Deng, Jun Hu, Li Sun. Subtitled.
Unplanned (R, 1 hour, 46 minutes) A cast made up of talking heads obediently delivers the spiritual and political attitudes of the filmmakers in this highly targeted yet none-too-skillfully produced drama concerning Abby Johnson, one of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors in the nation, whose defense of a woman's right to choose abruptly changes. With Ashley Bratcher, Emme Elle Roberts, Sarah Hernandez; directed by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon.
Finding Steve McQueen (R, 1 hour, 31 minutes) An energetic and pleasantly diverting action comedy set in 1972 in which a passel of thieves from Youngstown, Ohio, attempt to steal $30 million in illegal contributions and blackmail money from President Richard Nixon's secret fund. With Travis Fimmel, Rachael Taylor, William Fichtner, Forest Whitaker; directed by Mark Steven Johnson.
Vault (R, 1 hour, 39 minutes) A lack of energy and overuse of cliches diminish the chances of success for this well-cast Mafia movie concerning two bottom-feeding thieves who manage to make off with $30 million in mob money. With Don Johnson, Chazz Palminteri, William Forsythe, Vincent Pastore; directed by Tom DeNucci.
MovieStyle on 08/16/2019