Huge spoilers.
The bloke beside me was easily in his 40s. I'd worked with him years before but couldn't remember his name as we talked about the film we were about to watch. He told me his wife had refused point blank to see the film with him but was pissed off he'd gone without her. As the film ended with a couple enjoyed a well earned slow dance in the living room of their house he turned to me, tears pissing down his face and laughed "Now do you understand why she wouldn't come."
The film was Avengers : Endgame and it was the best cinematic experience of the year for me. Not the best film of course, no, far from it, but watching it on its opening day with an audience who, like me, had been with these characters through 20 odd films just felt rather special.
The buzz in the air was mighty. Would the film live up to the expectations weighing down on it? Were we all Marvel'd out after seeing Captain Marvel only weeks before? Could the film please everyone? Would every character get their deserved screentime? Of course everyone wouldn't be happy but it did enough right to entertain the hell out of the audience in the Maxx Omniplex screen that rainy April afternoon.
Giddy children laughing at Tony Stark one liners they couldn't possibly understand. Grown adults surging forward in their chairs and screaming with joy as Captain America finally got his hands on Thor's might hammer (fnarr). The pantomime like moment when someone shouted "Kill the bastard" just as Thanos gets decapitated early on. The glee at Loki becoming a thing again. The disbelief at Black Widow's massive offering to mankind. The big laugh at Thor channelling The Dude Lebowski. The woman in the row behind me saying "cool" quietly to herself when the heroines of the day teamed up to massacre the bad guys. The FUCK YEAH! moment when all the Avengers killed in Infinity war emerged ready to battle. Kids bouncing off the ceiling at Peter Parker's triumphant return. Sniffles of sadness around the auditorium as Tony is put to rest after his huge sacrifice and then sniffles of happiness as Captain America gets to go back and live the life he deserved with the woman he loved. And of course the sense of satisfaction as the credits rolled. The weight of expectation and the hype had been met. Phew.
People get sniffy about blockbuster movies in the cinema but nothing brings a crowd together like them. An arty Ecuadorean B&W (of course) film about deaf rice growers might be what does it for you but it's not going to make for a great communal experience and at the end of the day that's what the cinema has always been, a communal experience. Gowls with mobile phones are an issue but when a film works this well for a big crowd it's easy to ignore the muppets.
I loved that screening. I mightn't ever watch the film again but jesus that was an enjoyable 180 minutes.
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