Madame Web

 

5/10

In Sony's continued quest to mine whatever Spider-Man characters they own the rights to, we get a tale about the psychic Madame Web which serves as a Spider-Man prequel (but doesn't appear to take place in any specific movie timeline). EMT Cassandra Web (Fifty Shades of Grey's Dakota Johnson) discovers she can see the future and tries to save the lives of three teens (all three to become different spider heroines) from being assassinated by the spider-powered Ezekial Sims (The Mauritarian's Tahar Rahim).

Little surprised they went with MW as the first female lead and used some of the less prominent Spidey women (no offense to Julia Carpenter and Anya Corazon fans). Black Cat, Silver Sable and the first Spider-Woman should've been the logical choices. Oh well. Just musings. Not an attack on utilizing the character. I think anyone can properly be utilized if given the right direction. (The Riddler had only two appearances before in the comics before he was used in the 60's Batman show and look what that did to his popularity).

Here's an actual criticism. Again, this is a Sony Spidey film that feels like it was from the 2000s. (An excellent film to compare this to is Elektra). I don't know why Sony keeps taking this basic serious route when the fun ones, the Tom Holland and Spider-Verse films, are doing so well. The MCU films may be too quippy and DCEU films too dark and serious but at least they had a solid identity. 

The is very uneven. There are a few good comedy bits but there is also a lot of dialogue that just doesn't work. I give the movie credit for naturally introducing multiple characters. However, the movie drops the ball in the third act completely. It feels choppy with odd choices just there to advance the plot. 

I give credit for giving each of the teens a backstory, but the kids-with-sad-lives tropes feels really worn out by now. (Didn't need it in Stargirl and didn't need it here.) Also, I don't feel like any of the trio completed a character arc.

We got a good cast who just can't make the bad script work. There are a couple exceptions, especially Park and Rec/Severance's Adam Scott, who deserve an award for sounding natural, but most can't. Johnson is pretty good in the funny parts but that's the best she can do. 

Credit should be given to the movie for at least basically knowing what it is and having an identity compared to recent superhero films that are messy or feel derivative. Web doesn't have super strength or other offensive powers, only her psychic abilities which makes for a very different dynamic when going against a villain.

Faring the worst is Rahim. He has the worst lines and you can tell he was poorly ADRed at times. To be honest, Sims feels like an odd choice to use as a villain. He wasn't really an antagonist in the comics. (You'd think that they would've learned from the outrage of Psylocke being made a villain in not one but two X-Men films). The sad thing is that Sims in this had the DNA to make a decent baddie. You understand his motive and was pretty competent in his strategy if only he was better written.

Going back to the 2000's feel this has a bland white lighting scheme. However, the action and the look of Webb's vision powers are actually pretty good.

Not particularly recommended or not recommended. This is messy and this is definitely not a must-see. However, I don't think this is bad as some say. It's distinct in its way, and I don't regret watching it. Have no plans to rewatch but would stay in the room if someone else had it on.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

9.5/10

In this sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales/Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore) reunites with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and becomes involved with a trans-dimensional task force populated to the gills with various Spider-Men and -Women from across the multiverse.

This really carries the ball passed on from the first film: being a combination of heart, humor, and story. The interpersonal relations are so excellently done here. Whereas the last movie focused on Miles' father Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry), this film gives more screen time to Miles' mother Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and her relationship with her son. We also get a lot more screentime with Gwen Stacy than I expected. She's really as much the lead of this film as Miles, and we really get to see more about her life and what makes her tick.

The movie manages to balance the heavier aspects with a lot of fun jokes, more per capita than the last film. This movie lets the writers play as fast and loose with the Spider world as they want due to endless dimensions. They truly have an immense sandbox to play in. There are fair amount of Spider meta jokes to be found; this was clearly made by fans.

The story is pretty ambitious and you probably won't be able to guess where it goes; really, a very creative and well written script. This is darker than the last movie and manages to mine the Spider-Man history of personal drama and tragedy really well. This is one of those two-parter movies, so don't expect everything to be wrapped up here. But, man oh man, does this end on an enticing note.

It may have surprised a lot of people that the main villain in this is The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a mid/lower ranking Spidey villain. He was considered as a bit of a joke by fans when he first appeared in the 80's due to his silly name and appearance, but he's made more appearances in recent years with writers realizing how powerful his skill set is (he can create multiple small portals) and have been making him more of a threat. This movie runs with the characters' history in the fandom and comics and portrays the character as both humorous and threatening.

Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099 is one of the primary characters in this and the only Spider-Man who's super serious and never throws around quips. His goals don't align with Miles' and serves as as a pretty solid anti-hero in this.

If you liked the other Spider-People in the last film, don't expect to see a lot of them here. The story just didn't seem to have room.

'Course what everyone remembers the most about the first one was the distinct and quality animation. This movie really manages to surpass that. The animation again is so vibrant and visually creative. Besides, having the world look like it was in the comic book pages, some of the characters from various worlds may have very different animation styles based on said worlds. If you had headaches and eye strain from the fact that the last film was a little like looking at a blue/red 3D image without the glasses, they cut down on that. It's still there somewhat, but it's not as distracting.

I'm impressed with the sheer amount of detail in this. All the worlds feel so lived in. This is the sort of animation a college instructor will use as an example in class.

If there are any weak spots to this, it's its length, running at 2 hours and 20 minutes. There are so many reveals and plot points that the whole thing might get a little exhausting by the end. Also, this movie carries the Spider-Man tradition of struggling with life's setbacks and hardships and the weight of being a hero as often demonstrated by broad quasi-philosophical monologues. It's part of the Spidey routine by now, but there's so much of it that it may weigh the film down for some.

Highly recommended. This is one of the most engaging and creative movies of the year and one of the best looking animated films ever. I think the first film was a little better mostly due to it being a more compact story. But the difference isn't by too much. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home

10/10

(NOTE: I'm not including any spoilers per se. I will be talking about stuff that's already in the trailer. However, if you haven't seen the trailer, I won't deny that this may be one of those films where it may be beneficial if you watched it completely clean. Also, I will be briefly mentioning the outcome of the last Spider-Man movie if you don't want to know about it.)

In this, Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland), wants the world to forget he's Spider-Man. He turns to Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to make everyone forget. The spell goes wrong and a transdimensional crisis occurs.

Wonderful script. Very creative, surprisingly heartfelt and dramatic (this is definitely the darkest of the MCU SM trilogy), while successfully blending in the comedy without taking away from the serious aspects. If you felt the Tom Holland SM strayed too far from the traditional concept of the hero struggling in a world against him, this is more of a return to form. (Though, I understand if you didn't want that and felt the concept overused). The ending hits home, I mean man oh man does it leave an impression. However, it might not be the ending everyone wanted.

Running at two hours and twenty-eight minutes, the length does raise its head during the last act. However, I can't decide what should've been cut. That's how good all the material is. Also, there are some plot points and character choices that don't make complete sense if you stop to think about them.

Excellent character work. Director Jon Watts and the script does an excellent job with even minor cast members. (The world feels really populated.) Parker, MJ (Zendaya), and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) are the perfect trio in this. (The latter two are utilized a lot more in this than the last two films.) They work so well off of each other and each brings something to the table. The more knowledgeable Dr. Strange works really with the more inexperienced, younger Peter Parker. (It's also just fun in general seeing the main three dealing with the world of magic in general.)

The idea to bring in the Spider-Man villains from the last two SP franchises was an idea of genius. (We would think this movie would feel repetitive given that Into the Spider-Verse did the multiverse not too long ago, but this feels surprisingly fresh.) First, we finally get to see the Sinister Six brought to screen. (Well, it's five here. Good enough for me; there's already a lot of characters in this, anyway. To be honest, they didn't need Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church) and the Lizard (Rhys Ifans) in this.) Second, we get the privilege of seeing the talented Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx act alongside each other. The writers realized the weak points of Foxx's Electro from Amazing Spider-Man 2, who was a fairly  cliched nerdy guy who goes bad trope, and managed to strengthen the character's dialogue. The creators of this realized that the majority of SP villains started as good people who had something horrible happen to them, and they use this fact to bring something important to the table. 

The effects look great with the usual MCU budget. Action scenes are really well done. The fact that there are so many villains with so many different powers leads to a lot of impressive moments. 

Highly recommended. Definitely the best of the Holland trilogy, one of the best Spider-Man movies in general, and the best MCU movie of the year. This is just one of those films that pull you in and are highly entertaining.

Retroactive review: Spider-Man: Homecoming

9/10

I really like this movie.

At the time of its release, Spider-Man Homecoming was my favorite Spider-Man movie. (Now it's Spider-Verse). It is such a fun film with a good combo of humor and action. Now, fans of Spidey's more tragic and angsty side may not like the fact that this is more of a generally crowd-pleasing, popcorn film. However, after five movies that were big on tragic events, I was okay with this being more lighthearted. 

This is one of the most natural feeling of the SM movies. I liked the original trilogy, but it did have a retro feel and the Amazing films lacked a concrete identity. After five films, this movie does a surprisingly good job of re-inventing Spidey. There is a lot more of a focus on Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as a regular teenager in a regular teenager environment. The movie also manages to provide drama in Pete's life without resorting to the picked-on-nerd cliche. Now, he's in a school for science and technology instead of a regular high school and it's an interesting place to watch. Another nice twist is changing Flash Thompson (Grand Budapest Hotel's Tony Revoleri) from a jock/physical bully to a preppie/verbal bully. 

Holland does a great job as an earnest, very well-meaning Spider-Man. However, the film's one flaw lies with the main character. Peter Parker is supposed to be an awkward, not-quite-mature teen, but he can be so impetuous and delusional here that it can get annoying. Not a deal breaker, but that side of Parker could've been toned down.

The Vulture (Michael Keaton) is a great villain. I liked that he was a more practical, down-to-Earth antagonist. There were no big plans of revenge or mass destruction plots, he's just a guy running a business, albeit a very crooked one. The character is multi-faceted, at times charming, sympathetic, and intimidating. I also feel that his villain outfit is such an inspired and eye-catching adaptation of the comic one.

The whole movie looks great from the well-lit look that shows a bright side of New York to some wonderful action scenes and effects.

I highly recommend this to any superhero movie fans.