Spider-man is probably my favourite superhero and the original Spider-man 2 is probably still my favourite superhero movie. The Amazing Spider-man movies didn't do much for me so I was very happy when Marvel announced they had done a deal with Sony to incorporate Spider-man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whilst he was great in Captain America Civil War it was hard not to be worried that Sony would find a way to mess up his solo movie. Thankfully it turned out that Homecoming is a great Spider-man movie. It skips the origin story but it is very much a story of a beginner superhero and trying to balance that with school, family and his social life. It has a great villain in Michael Keaton's Vulture who is definitely among the better villains in the MCU. Tom Holland makes a great Spider-man and Peter Parker and I definitely prefer him over Andrew Garfield. I only have a few personal criticisms. Firstly the problem is that it is yet another version of Spider-man so they have made the decision to make it different from what has come before. As a Spider-man fan its hard not to be disappointed that we didn't get a version that managed to include certain classic characters but actually get them right his time. And whilst it is nice to skip the origin story there seems to be a lack of any emotional fallout over Uncle Ben's death.
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| Loved this scene in the movie, it's like a panel straight out of a comic book |
The movie does a good job of setting up Peter's story going forward along with setting up potential future villains. However its hard not to be worried that Sony will again try to mess things up. They seem to be a bit greedy to milk the franchise (they still own the movie rights). They announced a Venom (Spider-man villain who you may remember from Spider-man 3) movie with Tom Hardy in the lead which will apparently be set in another universe from the MCU. They have also announced a Black Cat and Silver Sable movie which if rumours are true will include major Spider-man villains including one set up in Spider-man Homecoming but again be in a different universe to the MCU thus potentially causing confusion and fatigue among movie goers...
The first Thor was a decent movie but it could be said that the bits on Earth dragged it down. The second seems to be acknowledged as one of the weaker entries of the MCU. It's a decent enough movie but the villain isn't developed at all and ultimately it isn't that memorable of a movie. Thor Ragnarok is the third Thor movie and it is a bit different. It is directed by Taika Waititi best known for his vampire spoof film What We Do in the Shadows. Thankfully it skips the Anthony Hopkins exposition dump at the start and instead jumps right in, it also has a more interesting villain in Cate Blanchett's Hela. The director has definitely had an impact on the movie as there is lots of quirky humour, he also provides the voice and motion capture of an alien character who is very funny. Whilst it is a funny film I have to say I wasn't fussed on all of it and I could really do without some of the cruder comedy moments that I don't think are needed. Another criticism I have is that the movie is predictable at times. Ultimately it is funny, the action is exciting, it looks great not to mention that it has consequences for both the Thor movies as well as the whole MCU going forward.
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