Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Review

“You need to understand, I will do anything to protect my family. I know you know what I'm talking about.”

   I remember back in 2002 I was overly excited that I got a seat at the sold out midnight showing of Spider-Man. I was blown away and happy that Spider-Man was finally on the big screen. Then two years later I was even more blown away by the sequel and I will always consider it the dark knight of the Marvel films. After Spider-Man 2 the later films just became bleh. Then Spider-man showed up in Civil War and the Spidey craze resurfaced. Afterwards they announced Spiderman: Homecoming. I was hesitant, but excited. Now Spiderman: Homecoming isn’t bad, but it isn’t fantastic either in my opinion.

   I’ll start with the good. Michael Keaton as Toomes AKA the Vulture was the best part of the film. He was a salvage operator trying to make money off cleaning the alien debris from the alien invasion that occurred in “The Avengers”. He’s the little guy trying to keep a roof over his family’s heads. A guy we can root for, but he’s tossed aside by none other than Tony Stark who created the Department of Damage Control. Toomes is a man that doesn’t have any other options left. He’s deep in debt because he put tons of money in this job that he no longer has.  So in a way society forced him into a life of crime and he will do everything he can to provide for his family. So I don’t think he’s a forgettable villain like most of Marvel’s villains. The Vulture is a well thought out character and his motivations are interesting. The other good thing about the film is the final fight between Vulture and Peter, but I noticed there wasn’t really a lot of hand-to-hand combat between the two.

  Now onto the bad bits. Spider-Man at times doesn’t feel like Spider-Man. The character felt downgraded to an Iron Man wannabe. Peter spent most of the film sucking up to Stark and Happy. Peter just seemed too needy and childish. Iron Man’s tech even dominates the film, I don’t really like the idea of a Jarvis type of Spider-man suit. I was also expecting some “Spidey-sense” to happen because I mean come on it’s a Spider-Man film. So he has no Spidey-sense because well now he has Karen to do everything for him.

  Then there are the minor characters. This is where I will say… “What the hell man?! That’s not Flash Thompson. That’s some wimp that simply says a few cruel things!” Lots of the audience walking out laughed about Tony Revolori playing Flash. Flash is supposed to be a bully and him repeatedly saying “Penis Parker” isn’t really intimidating. Don’t get me started Zendaya’s character. Some of the acting is horrendous and at times I thought I was watching a B movie version of a John Hughes film.

   I wanted to love this film like I did Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films and I’m surprised people say this version is better than Spider-Man 2 since that film had everything you look for in a superhero film. Spider-Man: Homecoming doesn’t even come close to Spider-Man 2. It’s full of forced jokes, bad dialogue, decent acting, and way too much Stark tech. Just feels like Marvel Studios sees Spider-Man as a replacement for Iron Man since Robert Downey Jr. can’t stay Iron Man forever. All-in-all the film is decent.

3.9 out of 5

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

(VERY MINOR SPOILERS)

“When you’re ugly and people love you, you know they love you for who you are.  Beautiful people don’t know who to trust.”

    Marvel Studios has a mixed record for its sequels. “Iron Man” was a great, but then the sequels were such a downgrade. “Thor” was a decent film and then its sequel was just plain awful. “Avengers” brought together the best of the best then the sequel was simply a generic copycat. Then there’s the Captain America trilogy, which kept getting better with each film. Many regard “The Winter Soldier” and “Civil War” as the best Marvel films. So where does “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” land on the sequel spectrum… well let’s find out.

    “Guardians of the Galaxy” was one of those movies people thought from the trailer wasn’t going to be a box office hit, but it was indeed a hit. Many people regard it as the biggest surprise hit Marvel ever had. It was a breath of fresh air compared to all the seriousness of the superhero films. It brought nostalgia to some and many laughs to all. The characters were lovable from Groot to Drax. So people knew what to expect with the sequel.

   As soon as the film’s opening credits played people began laughing hard at the ever-adorable baby Groot dancing in the middle of the guardians battling an inter-dimensional monster. All the characters have their moments, but the characters that truly stood out in the film for me were baby Groot (of course), Drax, and Yondu (who is my favorite in the film). Baby Groot steals every scene he’s in, Drax has more funny one liners (especially when he talks to Mantis), and Yondu has a more emotional part in the film that I will get into later.

   The film is split up in three acts. The first and third acts are great, but the second act is somewhat drawn out and quite disjointed. The second act was the main problem for me. It felt like a mess and sometimes misplaced sight of its characters and their chemistry. The characters split up and went into two groups. Peter, Gamora, and Drax go with Peter’s father, while Rocket and Baby Groot stay behind to repair the ship and keep an eye on Nebula. Now they all do come together again for an emotional third act. I do think that it is probably one of the most emotional endings Marvel has done to date, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the second act was rather boring.

    It’s a known fact that Marvel films don’t have the best villains. For the most part they are very forgettable. Just name 3 villains that aren’t Loki or Iron Man from “Civil War”. Marvel just has many throwaway bad guys like the elf thing in Thor 2 or whoever the villain was supposed to be in Iron Man 3. DC will always dominate in that arena.  There’s simply no high stakes for the heroes to face in Marvel films. The stakes do seem higher in this film than most and there is actually somewhat a memorable villain in here too. Of course the villain plans on domination but there is a reason behind it, “I wanted more… I desired meaning”. The villain has a complete emptiness and craves to consume everything in order to do away with the emptiness. I can see the villain still be talked about in future films.

   The main theme for the film is family. It’s brought up throughout the whole film. Peter meets his biological father Ego who has been absent Peter’s whole life. During the second act Peter is questioning whether or not being with Ego will heal that emptiness he’s felt his whole life or if the guardians and Yondu have already healed the emptiness and he just doesn’t realize it yet. Yondu even tells him, “He may have been your father, Quill, but he wasn’t your daddy.” The reason why Yondu keeps Peter as a kid and has always had a soft spot for him is reason enough to make him your favorite character. Not to mention his big scene on his ship.

   All-and-all the film works, even though at times it’s a bit more disjointed than the original. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2” has more than just humor and great music it also has heart. It’s most definitely a solid follow-up. Chris Pratt sure has come a long way since his days on Everwood and Parks and Recreation.

4.6 out of 5

Split (2017) Review

“We trust in him. He’ll protect us. Look at what he can do. Let him show the world how powerful we can be.”

   M. Night Shyamalan was the man who once was called the next Steven Spielberg. He had some success early on with ‘The Sixth Sense’, ‘Unbreakable’, and ‘Signs’. Then for the rest of his career some terrible films like: ‘The Lady in the Water’, ‘The Village’, ‘The Last Airbender’, ‘After Earth’, and the killer trees film ‘The Happening’. His previous film ‘The Visit’ received a few positive reviews, which was a first for the director in a very long time. When I first saw the trailer for ‘Split’ I was intrigued and wondered if this was the film that would finally be his first good film since 2002. Then I was happy when I read from multiple reviews that it was Shyamalan’s comeback.  Well to be honest, I was somewhat rather disappointed when viewing the film.
   ‘Split’ is about Kevin who has a dissociative psychological disorder that was caused from a childhood trauma, which resulted in multiple personalities. So far he has 23 different personalities and some of them have committed a crime. Kevin abducted three teenage girls: Claire, Marcia, and the loner Casey. He locks them in a room together telling them that he selected them for the Beast’s arrival. The Beast being Kevin’s soon to be 24th personality. 
  Almost every film, especially horror, exploit something, It’s something one would expect from Hollywood. The main problem I have with this film is how Shyamalan deals with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and childhood abuse. Having a psychology degree and studied DID I was quite troubled with how it was portrayed. It’s hard enough to convince people that DID is a real disorder and now after this film people will assume that those who suffer from DID are violent. Although studies have shown that they are seldom violent and would far more do self-harm than hurt others. ‘Split’ exposes only the most extreme aspects of DID. Feels like Shyamalan is saying, “Oh he has DID that means he’s insane, which is why he does bad stuff”. Stereotyping those who are mentally ill as being dangerous just get’s me fired up. About 80% of films portray mental illness in a negative light. Then there is the way the film portrays childhood abuse. Throughout the film Kevin makes the girls undress and Casey wears the most layers out of the three. As the film progresses, the viewer learns that Casey was molested by her uncle at a very young age. When her father died of a heart attack and is then forced to live with her uncle. While it doesn’t show anything graphic it still makes the viewer quite uncomfortable. A good horror film makes its audience tense and uncomfortable, but ‘Split’ went overboard with making one feel uncomfortable. Then making the childhood abuse a plot point towards the end is just disgusting.
   The only things good about the film are the performances by James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. McAvoy blew me away when his characterizations of Barry, Patricia, and Hedwig. Barry being a gay dress designer, Patricia a mean nasty woman, and Hedwig a nine year old with a lisp. With his different facial expressions and tone of voice it’ll make you believe that he’s actually all of these characters. The drop dead gorgeous Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance is all in her eyes. She’ll have a good career ahead of her. 
     This may be Shyamalan’s best film in almost fifteen years, but then again that’s not really saying much. I think people will remember this film for it’s final thirty seconds more than anything else. 

2.5 out of 5

Fist Fight (2017) Review

“Teachers can’t fight!”

   When the trailer for Fist Fight came on in the cinema, I recall looking at my friend and shaking my head no. On one hand it looked extremely stupid and on the other it made me laugh thinking of my mother picking a fight with another teacher. The film looked a lot like a poorly done Comedy Central tv movie. I tried going into the movie with an open mind, but right off the bat I couldn’t help but to cringe. A comedy that didn’t once give me a laugh and even some of the worst comedies have managed to make me laugh or smile. Not this film.

  I have never been so bored by a film and I’ve sat through the Transformers films.  It’s a shame Charlie Day, Ice Cube, Christina Hendricks, and Tracy Morgan were involved in such a terrible film. Charlie Day is a comedic genius especially in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Ice Cube is a good musician and has shown acting promise with Boyz N the Hood and Friday. Christina Hendricks was one of the best things about Mad Men. Then there is Tracy Morgan who was so good in 30 Rock and Scare Tactics. It’s just such a shame that they were all in this movie and I was questioning why I was even in the theater myself. The writing felt like a child who is still in kindergarten wrote it. Instead of watching this trash you should watch Three O’ Clock High, which the film is loosely based on.  Just save your money and don’t see the film.

0 out of 5

LOGAN (2017) Review

THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS

“This is what life looks like: people who love each other… a home. You should take a moment, feel it. You still have time.”

   I’ve only given two Marvel films perfect scores: ‘X-Men 2’ and ‘Spiderman 2’. After the multiple X-men films hardly any came close to the flawlessness of X2. Days of Future Past was the closest, but was barely as perfect. After viewing 2009’s dreadful X Men Origins I would have never thought that a Wolverine film could make me tear up. Then the ‘Logan’ trailer came one day and we knew it was going to be an emotionally heavy film, but nothing truly prepared me for the beautiful sendoff of ‘Logan’. Even though I knew we’d say goodbye to two iconic X-Men characters that we’ve seen on the screen for almost two decades. Professor Xavier and Wolverine have always had the father and son relationship and the core of ‘Logan’ is about family. Jackman and Stewart gave some of their best performances in this film.

  Logan isn’t really a typical superhero film… it’s more drama than action. From the very first scene Logan tells you it’s not your typical X-Men film. Logan wakes up in the back of his car to the realization that he’s being robbed. Logan is old and worn-down. He even struggles to take them out. When he was in his prime he would have taken them all out in under a minute, but he is beaten up in the process almost like he wants to feel the pain. The viewer learns that Logan is a driver in order to make enough money to pay for Xavier’s medication and to get a boat to leave with Xavier. Xavier, who is now 90, is becoming senile and has seizures that cause psychic outbursts. Logan keeps Xavier in an abandoned warehouse in Mexico with Caliban who is also one of the last mutants left.

   Soon Donald, who is a mercenary, comes to Logan looking for someone of great importance to him. Logan tells him to go and Donald threatens him with knowing Xavier is still alive. Later, a mysterious easily angered girl named Laura crosses paths with Logan. She even has the same abilities as Logan himself. Once she’s there Donald and his group of mercenaries invades Logan’s hideout. After barely escaping Logan is tasked with transporting Laura to a safe haven and keeping a close eye on Xavier while still being pursued by Donald.

    I love how ‘Logan’ tackles the issue of how almost all of the mutants are gone now. Logan has been hiding the reason from ever increasing confused Xavier. Fleeing from Vegas after Xavier has an intense seizure, showing what his decreasing mind is capable of, they stay with a family on their farm. He suddenly remembers everything asking whom he thinks is Logan, “I don’t deserve it, do I? I did something unspeakable. I remembered what happened in Westchester. This in not the first time that I’ve hurt people. Until today, I didn’t know. You didn’t tell me, so we kept on running away from it. I think I finally understand you.” He remembers that his outburst was the reason for the death of several, if not almost all the X-Men, what is even more heartbreaking is that he’s confessing this to Logan’s clone who then murders him. It’s ironic, Xavier brought together so many mutants together in order to protect them and in the end he’s the one that has destroyed them.

    From the first moment that Laura appears on the screen the viewer just knows that she’s the daughter of Logan. ‘Logan’ is at its core about family. Logan walks in on Laura and Xavier watching the film ‘Shane’. Where Shane says, “A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can’t break the mould. I tried it and it didn’t work for me.” This is how Logan is through most of the film. “I suck at this,” he tells Laura. He tries to do his best in his own unique way. Laura and Logan are so much alike that they butt heads a lot. For example, their argument in the car Laura stole. She wants to go to Eden, but he doesn’t want to go. She starts get hot tempered. Logan being stubborn and tired then Laura being stubborn and angry. At the end, Logan discovers what a child’s love is. Logan places his hand on Laura finally taking a moment to feel what it is to love and be loved. “This is what it is,” he says when he finally realizes it. She simply replies, “daddy.” I promise your eyes will get watery.

   This is the Wolverine film that fans have been asking for. The previous X-Men films made Logan and Xavier to be clever, humorous, and overall fairly put together. It’s not like it in ‘Logan’. They are worn out from their many adventures. They are both physically and emotionally tired. Dafne Keen was absolutely fantastic as Laura. Lastly, hats off to director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma). I actually believe it has a good chance for an Oscar nomination. Yes, that’s how good it is.

5 out of 5