|
Edit Coming 07/06/26  Okay, so I'm gonna start this one off with a bit of the film's development history. During the production of 'Homecoming', a third MCU 'Spidey' film was already being looked at. Sony and Marvel were negotiating to work on this film together, but by August, 2019, Marvel ultimately left the project. Fans found out how they can't play nice, and once again, we kinda sorta won with our voices - like that time we needed 'Deadpool' to have a hard R rating.
Just one month later, a new deal was struck, and they said "look, we have fans, and fans actually equal money, and we'd be stupid not to hear what they're saying." On top of that, they actually had a solid opportunity to deliver something really good, and make yet more cinematic history by combining their efforts. And with 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', it all seems to mean two things. One, the tug-of-war is finally over, and two, it leaves quite a bit of possibility open for the upcoming three new movies Holland has signed on for. It's my hope that he'll eventually pass the torch to a young Miles Morales, but we'll see. I'm going to keep this review spoiler free, as this is still quite fresh, and absolutely riddled with spoilers. By the way, do yourselves a favour if you haven't seen this yet and avoid doing any research on IMDb or Wiki, as a lot of these spoilers are revealed. It's like trying to navigate a minefield at this point, so I say, see it ASAP - but please be safe about it! Anyway, the short of the plot, you already know with the spoiler. In the last movie, MJ (Zendaya) found out that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is Spider-Man, but then by the end, so did everyone else because of J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) and his big mouth. This movie picks up immediately after that final scene. As a result of this, Parker locates Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and tries to get him to cast a spell that will make people forget that he's Spider-Man. However, during the casting of the spell, Parker causes a distraction, and causes Strange to accidentally open up the multiverse, sending in several characters from the "Raimi-verse" and the "Webb-verse". It's not long before Spidey finds himself facing off against some strange characters that he doesn't know, but they somehow know him. Can Parker take on a multiverse, hopefully with some help from Doctor Strange? There's plenty more to it, but again, the spoilers are so much that I've even left several names out of the "Character Appearances" list. But all you really need to know here is that this is probably the 'Spider-Man' movie that 'Spidey' fans have been waiting for. This one is another piece of MCU history, in which Sony and Marvel actually made peace and said "let's work together, because fans deserve more than our rivalry". I don't pretend to know what this means for the future, entirely, but by the end of the movie you get a pretty good idea. It's hard to believe, but we're up to MCU title #27 now - already fourth in the series that follows 'The Infinity Saga'. I will admit that 'Black Widow' and 'Eternals' were a bit underwhelming, and 'Shang-Chi' was really good, but still playing with an "unknown". As soon as any aspect of this leaked, it was about getting the other ones out of the way - especially 'Eternals'; speaking for myself, there was never any real draw for that. But as soon as a trailer dropped showing us Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), we were discussing all of the possibilities that could be in this movie. Excitement for an MCU flick hadn't hit me that hard since 'Endgame'. There's honestly so much more I want to say about this, but still want to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. So, I'll say a few little things I appreciated about it that round the film out into sheer awesomesauce were use of effects and camerawork that add to the excitement of a story that is, indeed, very on-par with 'Spider-Man' comics we all know and love. I also really have to give it to the performances here! Things end up getting pretty damn dramatic, and I really think that some of these characters are absolutely in love with their respective roles. And the costume design here? *chef's kiss* BEAUTIFULLY DONE! Anyway, instead of rambling on and on about everything I loved about it, what about some criticism? I think any real criticism I do have about this movie amounts to personal nitpicks, and things I might have done differently if I were in charge. But I honestly went into this figuring there would be things I might not like about it. Again, sheer nitpicks on my part. As far as I'm concerned, this movie took the past 20 years of 'Spider-Man' and made a small 'Endgame' out of them. I had an amazing time with this, and sort of consider it an early Christmas present for us holding onto hope in these hard times. I have to sit on it for a little while, but we have a potential new personal fave as far as MCU movies go... MID-CREDIT SCENE: We see Sonyverse's Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) having a drink and chatting with a bartender about the MCU's events involving Thanos. This is briefly before he's sent back to his home dimension - without leaving the bartender a tip. POST-CREDIT SCENE: First look at 'Multiverse of Madness' 5/5
0 Comments
Edit Coming 06/08/26  Following the events of Marvel's cinematic epic, 'Avengers: Endgame', 'Far from Home' provides us with a nice epilogue to this series, after its final chapter. It sets some things up for what's to come, it's provides us with a nice breather after such an epic event, and Stark is able to pass the torch to Spidey as Marvel's cinematic poster boy.
Taking place after "The Snap", which had much of Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) high school fade away for a full five years (although to anyone who got dusted, it felt more like five minutes), Parker is getting ready for a school trip. After everything that went down between 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame', he's ready to take it easy, and head to Venice, Italy with his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), love interest whom he plans to romance, MJ (Zendaya), and of course, Flash Thomspon (Tony Revolori). The trip is headed by comic relief teachers, Mr. Harrington (Martin Starr) and Mr. Dell (JB Smoove). While the trip is happening, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) frantically tries to get a hold of Peter for a mission. Feeling out of his element, Peter "ghosts" Fury for a bit, until he's caught "ghosting" in Venice. He's then brought in to work alongside newcomer, Quentin Beck, a.k.a "Mysterio" (Jake Gyllenhaal) to try to put a stop what are apparently interdimensional elementals before they destroy the world. After the events of the past two films, we're told that an interdimensional portal opened, making Quentin a newfound superhero who came out of it, along with these elementals. However, if we know anything about Mysterio from comics or TV in the past, it's that he's not to be trusted, as a master trickster. As far as that goes, I won't get too deep into it, but it gets interesting. Anyway, Peter is more or less pulled from his vacation, hanging out with his best friend and trying to charm MJ to do some Avengers work, which provides us with a further look into how an average teenager might handle the responsibilities of being an Avenger. He's there to do his job, but expressively doesn't wanna be there doing it as opposed to taking it easy. But as we all know by now, "with great power comes great responsibility". The film serves as a sort of pivot point for the MCU. It marks the very end of everything we've seen since May of 2008 - a long time for anything to keep going unless it's 80's horror. There's a couple of good stingers here, and both of them open up a whole bunch of possibilities for what's to come for the MCU. It's my understanding that things are to split into "cosmic" (Captain Marvel, Guardians, Thor) and "urban" (Spidey, Doctor Strange, Blade) storylines. I believe Spider-Man is to more or less head the urban story while Captain Marvel does the cosmic side of things, giving us our new (spoiler alert but not really, at this point) Iron Man and Captain America for what's to come. I very much look forward to whatever else is gonna be coming out of the MCU over the next span of ten years. Marvel has already announced a few intriguing titles for the first few. Once again, I can't help but admire this incarnation of Spider-Man. He's by far the Peter Parker I've always wanted to see, combining perfectly with the Spider-Man I've always wanted to see (as far as character). The catch is that they needed to do something new with him, while keeping everything we know and love about him in there, but subtly. To me, Stark becoming Parker's mentor makes perfect sense for this particular incarnation. Tony was always the mastermind scientist among them, Parker's brilliant, but he's still a teenager, so Stark makes all his suits, gizmos and gadgets for him. I'm only speaking for myself here, but it's juts a bit more exciting for him to have a super-intelligent suit as opposed to just something with web shooters. Stark's inventions also give way to the idea that Spidey can have a variety of suits, and not just his ever-popular blue and red. Anyway, much like with 'Homecoming', I came out of this loving it, thinking they are making all the right moves with this series within a series. There's even one particular move this makes with one of its stingers that one might not see coming from a mile away. Someone comes back, and someone comes back in a way that just might make you cheer a bit. Not a major character, but no one can play this character quite like this guy. Curious? Get over to the theater and check it out! 5/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: J. Jonah Jameson (once again played by J.K. Smmons) is revealed on a big screen, revealing the identity of Spider-Man as Peter Parker to the city of New York. POST-CREDIT SCENE: Nick Fury and Mariah Hill are revealed to be Talos and Soren (Skrulls from 'Captain Marvel') in disguise, taking orders from the real Fury, seen commanding a Skrull ship. Edit Coming 04/20/26  May this film serve as a perpetual reminder to "never say never" when it comes to Hollywood. Not only did Marvel get the rights to Spidey's name, but they rebooted the character for the second time, making his third time a hugely successful charm.
Immediately following the events of 'The Avengers', we meet Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) who is part of a clean-up crew, gathering alien parts from the Battle of New York. When the task is taken over by Stark's Department of Damage Control, he is put out of work. Enraged by this, he persuades his employees to keep whatever they have collected in order to make some high tech weaponry to sell on the black market. Eight years later, we are introduced to Peter Parker by way of phone video, recapping his cameo in 'Civil War'. When Tony Stark drops him off at his aunt May's apartment in Queens afterward, Peter becomes very excited about potentially becoming an Avenger. However, Stark and his assistant, Happy, are very insistent that he's not quite ready for the "big leagues" yet, and he should stick to being a "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" for the time being. Eventually, Peter learns of the high tech weaponry being sold on the black market, and tries to take matters into his own hands, especially after he learns that a major heist is to take place during the move from Avengers Tower to a more secluded facility. To say that this is the greatest 'Spider-Man' film to date, all depends on what you're after. I would say if you want the origin story done well, stick to the first 'Spider-Man' starring Tobey Maguire. All the right pieces are there, and it's better than 'The Amazing Spider-Man' in my opinion. BUT if you're looking for a new, fresh take on the character without the need for a full origin story, I'd have to say this is the film for you. This IS still an origin film, to be sure, but it's about how Spidey gets to be an Avenger as opposed to how he becomes Spider-Man in the first place. Anyway, back to THIS movie. For some of the big fans out there, some alterations were made to the character so he could fit into this universe a little better. A few examples include the lack of the portrayal of his "Spidey Sense", his Stark technology suit that talks to him much like a Jarvis (he calls it "Karen"), and even a few character changes might be irksome to some (Flash Thompson is portrayed as more of a jerky teen than the classic muscle-bound bully). But I have to say, personally speaking, I came to let these things slide very easily. It's important to remember that up until this point, a handful of very powerful heroes has emerged, including Iron Man, Cap, Hulk and Thor (to name a few). Some have literally just gone through the events of 'Civil War', which gave the Avengers a lot to think about when it comes to great power and great responsibility. This, in turn, effects Parker, as Stark is very adamant about him using his powers lightly and when necessary, hence the scene from the trailer where Stark talks to Pete, saying "if you're nothing without the suit, you shouldn't have it at all". I like this, 'cause it's the "with great power comes great responsibility" concept without having to be those exact words from Uncle Ben. It's a neat, more subtle way to do portray that aspect of Spider-Man. Going back to the details of the Spidey suit tech along with his lack of abilities, I have my own theories as to why they did this. It's my opinion that the movie is trying to make Parker feel like a total superhero rookie. With everyone else, they got their powers, and they could just be heroes right away. With Peter Parker, this is still a 15-year-old boy in high school, and with that should come a bit of irresponsibility (trust me, I know how that sounds) as well. But we're never shown Uncle Ben giving him that famous quote we all know and love, so for all we know, in this adaptation, this is just a kid who found out he could do some awesome stuff. He's super thrilled about it like any teenager discovering he or she had super powers SHOULD be, and with that comes the lesson that he should be more responsible with his abilities, and this goes back to Stark sort of being his mentor, and what he tells him about the suit. As I said before, whether you enjoy this incarnation of the character or not will largely depend on what you're after. I personally find that this is the best way they could have gone about it for this particular universe. Despite anything changed or lacking, I can honestly say none of it hurt my feelings, being a huge Spider-Fan. The portrayal of the character himself was far more than what I could have hoped for from either Maguire or Garfield (each in their late 20s at the time of their respective portrayals). Here we have an honest-to-God teenager playing a teenager, and he's totally solid as both identities. This was only my second viewing of this, but I still loved every minute of it, not changing my mind on a thing. I wondered if the whole lack of Spidey-sense would get me this time around, but not really. You kinda have to look for it, but it's seemingly there at several points. Plus, we ought to know he has them by default, even if they aren't shown, because in 'Civil War' he tells Stark "it's like my senses have been cranked to eleven". Combine that with the 'Infinity War' trailer that literally shows it, and we have a problem patched up, in my opinion. 5/5 MID-CREDIT SCENE: Toomes is approached by one of his former buyers in prison, who Spidey caught earlier. He questions Toomes about Spider-Man's real identity, but he denies that he knows anything. POST-CREDIT SCENE: A Captain America video comes on, and it turns out to be a gag about being patient only to have what you're waiting for lead to a disappointment - a self-jab at Marvel's post-credit sequences. |
RSS Feed