Spider-man: Homecoming

This is the Spider-man movie I've been waiting for. The story was good, actors were great, and the comical elements were spot on. Tom Holland NAILS IT. Laura Harrier is amazingly gorgeous; I wasn't at all expecting the plot twist she's involved in. Another nice surprise was finding out Jennifer Connelly voiced Peter's spider suit AI. I think the overall thing that did it for me is that Peter is written and portrayed as such a "real" person who's trying to figure himself out in a big world. And that relatable to pretty much anyone. It's not perfect - some of the special effects CGI was a bit off at times, and I wasn't too keen on a couple of lines of "PC" dialogue (from Michelle and the teacher specifically.) Also don't feel it was right that Zandaya got billing over Laura since Liz's character is so much more important to the story than Michelle's. But these are minor quips - overall, this was an enjoyable film to watch, and I definitely want to see more of this version of Peter Parker and his "amazing" alter ego.


8 out of 10

 

Caught Alien: Covenant. It was pretty boring; the parts that actually got me moving in my seat were the ones wherein I questioned the characters' decision making. Personally, I think I would have trashed the automaton that was trying to make friendly with the beast which burst out my friend's back/mouth and then ripped another crew mate apart. Not followed it into an obvious alien den, when it was fairly obvious where the aliens of that world stood. The ending was pretty, insulting too, and made me feel like sitting through the movie was worth even less, considering all it really has going for it is gore (if you are into that kind of thing, which I am not.) 4/10.

 

I thought Happy being his "guardian" was also really well done and added some good comedic elements. Keaton was really good and his character seemed genuine. When he realizes that Peter is Spider-Man, it really drove home how important and fragile (?) Peter's secret identity is in protecting those he loves. Was it perfect? No. But it was highly entertaining and certainly the best spiderman aside from Spiderman 1 and 2.

 

Yup, totally agree with all this. I'm glad Keaton has been making a comeback as an actor, and he really shines in the scenes right before and during the car ride.

The tension there was exactly how you do it right.

 

The NeverEnding Story 7/10

 

You could definetly feel it and the look on Pete's face when he went into the Homecoming showed you just how scared he was. Great scene.

 

Yeah, everything with Keaton was excellent. His intensity blows everyone else off the screen in every scene he's in.

But I thought everything else about the movie was mediocre at best. Nothing about the movie was bad, but it wasn't great, either. I think with a better script, Holland could be the best Peter so far. He's a good actor. But the way he was written in Homecoming didn't feel like the comics character at all. In the costume, yeah, just like the comics. But as regular Peter, nothing alike. No guilt, no sense of responsibility, no worrying about his aunt, no worrying about money, nothing.

Keaton's performance was so interesting that I didn't care the movie Vulture had zero to do with and zero resemblance to the comics character (and it helps a lot that I never really cared about the Vulture before). But Peter really should be a little more based on the comics, imo.

 

I think all of it was there, but he was so preoccupied with trying to prove himself to Stark. We saw it get to him at certain points. He's going to be thinking mostly of his peers because of his age. Regular Spidey is maybe 8-10yrs older, isn't he?

 

Well, now he's whatever age he's supposed to be. But I mean in the early issues of the comics, when he was still in high school. He felt heavy guilt about his uncle's death and he was all about responsibility. I mean, that's where his famous saying about power/responsibility comes from. He worried about his aunt constantly and felt like he had to somehow help with the household expenses. There was none of that in this movie. In the movie, he was more like a regular teenager who only cares about himself without any thought about the people taking care of him or whatever. That's what kids his age are like, but it's not the character.

 

Maybe cut some slack for trying to avoid something seen in 2 previous Spider-Man move series. Hopefully for a sequel a Uncle Ben flashback can occur.

Besides in the MCU Spider-Man's not really a big player, in contrast to his solo films where it's him alone against supervillains. But that's a MCU trademark, of being part of a bigger world. Still, I thought they kept things acceptably standalone enough, especially where his enemy the Vulture uses his middle-class status to his advantage to stay under the radar.

 

I'm not talking about seeing Uncle Ben. I LOVED that they didn't rehash the origin. After Keaton's performance, easily the #2 thing I enjoyed about the movie was that they never even mentioned Ben by name. I'd be more than happy not to see the origin again ever. I'm talking about Peter's CORE PERSONALITY. The heart of the character. Totally missing in this movie.

edit: but if they do ever decide to show Uncle Ben, I really really really really hope they can get Joe Pesci out of retirement to play him opposite Tomei.

 

But that core personality is built upon his guilt over having caused Uncle Ben's death. You said so yourself:

Now, you don't need to actually have Uncle Ben appear in a film, but you do need to show that his death and Peter's role in it has to affect him, because that makes him Spider-Man after all.

But as also mentioned, he's very much a teenager in SPH, it was pretty much a high-school story with superheroes and supervillains on the side. It's not like he's moved on, but he's got all sorts of stuff on his plate. Aunt May even says he shouldn't act like the world is on his shoulders.

Or maybe Spidey's better off as a standalone hero, with the MCU having little/no impact on his world? I don't know.

 

His uncle's death was the cause of his guilt, but we don't have to see Uncle Ben for Peter to have a personality. Like we all know why Batman is all f^$%ed up. But he doesn't have to mention his dead parents every five minutes for us to understand that Batman has a very serious personality.

Peter's central defining trait came with his famous realization that with great power comes great responsibility. But Homecoming's Peter spent almost the entire movie being the opposite of responsible. He was in it for fun and self gratification.

If you don't read comics, maybe this is all a lot of nothing to you. Which is fine. If you and the general public enjoyed it, then the movie did its job. But as someone who grew up reading Spider-Man, I would have liked to have seen them try to capture the character's personality. That's all.

 

Get Out - 9/10

 

Death Wish- 9/10. I had a lot of fun watching this film. I went in the film expecting it to just be action, but I was greeted with a nice story, in my opinion. It may be a film that I'll actually want to watch again. I'd say give it a go if you're on the fence.  

 

Beyond the Reach: 7/10

Kinda like Falling Down 2, except Douglas has no real reason to blow a gasket. lol And that truck... wow.

 

Beerfest - 7/10

As someone who's against Beer, this was serviceable.

 

Took the kids out to see Peter Rabbit, 9/10, loads of fun and we all enjoyed the movie.


Logan Lucky, 8/10, good movie, interesting characters and great story.

 

Just rewatched the Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes movie again. Still one of my favorite takes on the character, and a tremendous paranormal mystery, which I wouldn't expect from a Homes story.

 

The Shape of Water - 9/10