Well, we tend to have a separate thread for spoilers and the like on certain movies or shows, so here's one for the latest Spidey flick.
Before getting into spoilers? I liked it. I've enjoyed the "Home" series of Spider-Man movies, though I wouldn't rank any of them particularly high on the MCU list. Of the Spider-Man movies, I'll have to think about it more, but I'd probably put it in fourth place, below the first two Raimi movies, with Spider-Verse still on top.
This one also felt the most "Spider-Man" of the "Home" series. Maybe because the situations felt more personally connected this time? Maybe because the villain(s) don't exist because they have a grudge against Tony Stark? I don't know. I can't really describe it.
But the action was great, especially the finale. I was surprised by two things, actually. One, they held onto the quiet moments a lot longer than I expected. It takes longer than I expected to actually get to the meat of the story. Which I'm fine with. I was invested. Second, this isn't really spoiler, but the villains get more screentime than I expected. At best, I thought they'd be 1-minute cameos. But no, they're a core element of the movie.
The movie has some pacing issues and some weird edits (like why Spidey has to change suits). There's a lot ad-libbing that, honestly, drags the plot's pacing to a halt. Especially in the third act. While watching, I was like "Okay, this is cute, guys, but GET ON WITH IT." There's also one character who apparently doesn't exist at all in the MCU and it REALLY bugs me. More about that behind the spoilers.
Before getting into spoilers? I liked it. I've enjoyed the "Home" series of Spider-Man movies, though I wouldn't rank any of them particularly high on the MCU list. Of the Spider-Man movies, I'll have to think about it more, but I'd probably put it in fourth place, below the first two Raimi movies, with Spider-Verse still on top.
This one also felt the most "Spider-Man" of the "Home" series. Maybe because the situations felt more personally connected this time? Maybe because the villain(s) don't exist because they have a grudge against Tony Stark? I don't know. I can't really describe it.
But the action was great, especially the finale. I was surprised by two things, actually. One, they held onto the quiet moments a lot longer than I expected. It takes longer than I expected to actually get to the meat of the story. Which I'm fine with. I was invested. Second, this isn't really spoiler, but the villains get more screentime than I expected. At best, I thought they'd be 1-minute cameos. But no, they're a core element of the movie.
The movie has some pacing issues and some weird edits (like why Spidey has to change suits). There's a lot ad-libbing that, honestly, drags the plot's pacing to a halt. Especially in the third act. While watching, I was like "Okay, this is cute, guys, but GET ON WITH IT." There's also one character who apparently doesn't exist at all in the MCU and it REALLY bugs me. More about that behind the spoilers.
It was a lot of fun seeing the three Spider-Men interact. The whole debate over Tobey's organic webshooters was especially funny. But a lot of their interactions, while fun, dragged on way too much, to the detriment of the plot. Like, there was a part where they were in the middle of fighting the villains, and all three suddenly stopped to chat. It created the gameplan to win, but then there was jokey ad-libbing on top of it that dragged the scene on longer than it needed to be.
Maybe it was just me, but did it seem like there was more emphasis on Andrew Garfield than Tobey Maguire? Unlike Tobey, Andrew got his own little character arc about saving MJ. Which, honestly, I saw coming a mile after seeing the trailers, but still. Tobey didn't really do much compared to his counterparts. It was kind of a wooden performance, honestly. Garfield, though, you could tell he was elated to just have one more chance in the suit. It came through in his performance and I'm glad because I didn't think he was bad, though his movies certainly weren't that great. I did like the one touching moment between Tobey and Alfred Molina, though.
Molina, himself, was an absolute delight any time he was on screen. Like Garfield, you could tell he was having a blast being back in the role.
The only one odd to me was Thomas Haden Church. I didn't understand why Sandman walked around in sand form the whole time. It not only didn't make sense for his character, but I feel like they could've saved a little bit on special effects if he didn't. Was he just not available for filming or something? It was an odd choice.
But the standout, of course, is William motherfucking DaFoe. He proved that it was absolutely a mistake to throw a Power Ranger-like helmet on him in Raimi's first movie. Because my god, the way he just gleefully hams it up in every single scene is a delight. And oddly enough, I thought he and Tom Holland had insane chemistry. I thought their fist fight in the apartment complex was the best action in the film, save for the Doc Ock bridge fight.
One thing that REALLY bugs me, though: Uncle Ben does not apparently exist at all in the MCU universe. Neither Peter nor May ever mentions him. She's not buried with him at the end. Holland doesn't act like he recognizes the name when Tobey or Andrew mention him. So, what made Holland's Spider-Man be Spidey in the first place? Because we skipped his origin, we never saw. Was he just a free-wheeling teenager out on Spider-joyrides when Tony Stark found him? He's only learning about "great power also means great responsibility" NOW? That...I don't know, I'm open to adaptations and interpretations, but that one really bothers me.
Everything between Zendaya and Holland was gold. Their chemistry is ALMOST better than Tobey Maguire & Emma Stone, but in terms of romantic Spider-Man chemistry, those two are still number one. I was kind of surprised by how much of the total movie runtime was used for the quiet moments between them, but they acted the HELL out of this thing.
Regarding the Venom mid-credits scene, it's not really that big a deal. It was cute and funny, but mostly harmless (MOSTLY because now we might get us an MCU Venom symbiote saga). I had more to say about that in another thread here.
And how about that Doctor Strange 2 teaser, eh? Looks like America Chavez is heavily featured, a character I know absolutely nothing about and might have to read up on before the movie drops.
Maybe it was just me, but did it seem like there was more emphasis on Andrew Garfield than Tobey Maguire? Unlike Tobey, Andrew got his own little character arc about saving MJ. Which, honestly, I saw coming a mile after seeing the trailers, but still. Tobey didn't really do much compared to his counterparts. It was kind of a wooden performance, honestly. Garfield, though, you could tell he was elated to just have one more chance in the suit. It came through in his performance and I'm glad because I didn't think he was bad, though his movies certainly weren't that great. I did like the one touching moment between Tobey and Alfred Molina, though.
Molina, himself, was an absolute delight any time he was on screen. Like Garfield, you could tell he was having a blast being back in the role.
The only one odd to me was Thomas Haden Church. I didn't understand why Sandman walked around in sand form the whole time. It not only didn't make sense for his character, but I feel like they could've saved a little bit on special effects if he didn't. Was he just not available for filming or something? It was an odd choice.
But the standout, of course, is William motherfucking DaFoe. He proved that it was absolutely a mistake to throw a Power Ranger-like helmet on him in Raimi's first movie. Because my god, the way he just gleefully hams it up in every single scene is a delight. And oddly enough, I thought he and Tom Holland had insane chemistry. I thought their fist fight in the apartment complex was the best action in the film, save for the Doc Ock bridge fight.
One thing that REALLY bugs me, though: Uncle Ben does not apparently exist at all in the MCU universe. Neither Peter nor May ever mentions him. She's not buried with him at the end. Holland doesn't act like he recognizes the name when Tobey or Andrew mention him. So, what made Holland's Spider-Man be Spidey in the first place? Because we skipped his origin, we never saw. Was he just a free-wheeling teenager out on Spider-joyrides when Tony Stark found him? He's only learning about "great power also means great responsibility" NOW? That...I don't know, I'm open to adaptations and interpretations, but that one really bothers me.
Everything between Zendaya and Holland was gold. Their chemistry is ALMOST better than Tobey Maguire & Emma Stone, but in terms of romantic Spider-Man chemistry, those two are still number one. I was kind of surprised by how much of the total movie runtime was used for the quiet moments between them, but they acted the HELL out of this thing.
Regarding the Venom mid-credits scene, it's not really that big a deal. It was cute and funny, but mostly harmless (MOSTLY because now we might get us an MCU Venom symbiote saga). I had more to say about that in another thread here.
And how about that Doctor Strange 2 teaser, eh? Looks like America Chavez is heavily featured, a character I know absolutely nothing about and might have to read up on before the movie drops.
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