Spider-Man: Far From Home Review

Spider-Man: Far from Home

Dir:Jon Watts

Starring:Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, and Jake Gyllenhaal

Growing up is complicated. It involves shifting attitudes and desires, becoming comfortable and capable with new responsibilities, and often times the destruction and development through awkward phases where self-confidence and self-awareness builds and crumbles with every encounter within every situation. If that sounds terrible, it is!!

Think about all these multifaceted aspects of emotional and physical development and add to all of this an extra special ability, something not provided to the rest of your peers. With this great power comes the great responsibility of having the abilities to save a life, to end a life. Suddenly the algebra test, the big dance, the pep rally, don’t have the same level of importance. 

Director Jon Watts returns to further the adventures of Peter Parker with “Spider-Man: Far from Home”. Taking the story to new territory, this time away from the school hallways and into foreign countries on a class trip, the journeys of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man grow more dangerous with added hero duties but also more personal as Peter’s two lives converge with greater risks. For a film coming off the heels of a pop culture event like “Avengers: Endgame”, “Spider-Man: Far from Home” succeeds by looking towards the future and offering a glimpse of what the continued Marvel Universe might have in store.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) continues to go through the trials and tribulations of adolescence, however, the world isn’t the same anymore after the near cataclysmic “snap” from Thanos that altered lives and caused a 5-year pause of life for millions of people…including Peter Parker and many of his classmates. 

Now, the world is trying to return to some state of normalcy, but for Peter, the world will never be the same. Spider-Man is an Avenger, went to another planet in space, helped save the world from Thanos, and, most affecting, lost a mentor/father figure in the process of it all; for Peter, life continues to grow vastly complicated. And, just when things seem to settle down, when Peter has a moment to plan his pursuit of MJ (Zendaya) during his class trip abroad, another terror arrives destroying cities across the globe while a new ally named Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) enters Earth from a parallel dimension. Complications abound.

Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers do a nice job of tying together the major events that have passed since “Avengers: Endgame”, utilizing Peter’s interactions, like a touching discussion with Happy Hogan (John Favreau) or humorous banter with bestie Ned (Jacob Batalon), and general world interruptions, like a funny school news report or foreign television correspondence, to move the story forward. However, amongst all of these world establishing elements is something much stronger, an emotional component that directly addresses the missing piece of Tony Stark whose memorialized visage is a constant reminder for Peter of the responsibility and ultimate sacrifice heroes must make. Most of these reminders are subtle designs, like graffitied walls or physical objects like a pair of sunglasses left for Peter from Tony.

While these components all push the story in some really interesting directions, it does take some overly deliberate time to get these pieces into operational places. For the first 45 minutes of the film, the pacing is a complete mess. Side stories like a romance between Ned and classmate Betty (Angourie Rice) and encounters between Happy and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) are introduced quickly without much consequence towards the primary focus of everything. Amongst the complications that have overtaken Peter’s life, some of the side stories seem inconsequential in perspective of everything that has happened. Perhaps that’s the purpose, however, that the minor distractions in Peter’s life are easier to handle than the burden of the greater components. That focusing on minor issues that Peter understands how to grasp is better than trying to figure out why threats are constantly trying to tear the world to pieces. It feels like this was the direction being proposed in the early moments of everything in the film, but it’s not so clear.

When Mysterio, a really charming yet offbeat Jake Gyllenhaal, enters the equation, “Far from Home” finds exceptional traction because of some inventive narrative choices but also because it focuses specifically on Peter Parker and the enormous emotional swings that have been affecting his life. In the second part of the film, it becomes obvious that Peter Parker can no longer just be the “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”, that the world has changed so much for Peter that his motivation and identity will forever be connected to a red mask of a superhero.

“Spider-Man: Far from Home” is connecting a wealth of story ideas to make its ultimate point. In the process, the film struggles initially to find its balance of all these themes, but by the end, the different storylines, whether delicately or forcefully placed, work in establishing a new world and direction for Spider-Man to venture.  

Monte’s Rating

3.00 out of 5.00

Avengers: Endgame Review

Avengers: Endgame

Director:Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Starring:Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Brie Larson, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Tessa Thompson, Paul Rudd, and Josh Brolin

How do you say goodbye? It’s not a question we often think about in our everyday lives, but in cinema it’s a theme that is often explored, sometimes with intense emotion and depth of character. Remember Andy saying goodbye to his toys in “Toy Story 3”, the cowboy riding into the sunset in “Shane”, or the Paris scene in “Casablanca”; saying goodbye is hard, emotional, and sometimes complicated.

Almost one year ago, comic book movie fans were left stunned as 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe converged and ended with a question mark for the fates of their favorite superheroes in “Avengers: Infinity War”. It was a cinematic event, one of those pop culture happenings that people will recount in the future when asked when and where they watched the movie. 

Now, the culmination of a film world, which took 11 years and spawned 22 films, prepares for a goodbye of sorts with “Avengers: Endgame”, an epic cinematic event that does it best to wrap up one long story with charming humor, an emotional heart, and cheer-worthy heroics. 

The Avengers have been wounded. With one snap of his titanic fingers, Thanos (Josh Brolin) destroyed half of all humanity. Very soon after this catastrophic event, Captain America (Chris Evans), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) are left scrambling for answers and on a quest to find Thanos to exact some revenge. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are stranded in the depths of space, left starving and running out of air. The how and why of everything else after this introduction will be left spoiler-free. 

The term “fan service” is often thrown around in conversations concerning influential films in pop culture. For those who may be worried about Marvel not committing towards giving fans everything they want with “Avengers: Endgame”, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. “Endgame” delivers 11 years’ worth of fan service throughout the course of the massive 3-hour long runtime, paying homage to the characters and films that have led towards this monumental culmination of heroics. 

The first hour of the film is near perfect. Examining the relationships between our heroes but also the limited grasp they have with the normal world around them, that world where they can establish a sense of normalcy, and the joys associated, beyond the powers that have come to define them. It’s opportunity for these actors to shine, to display the complicated emotions their characters have with themes of duty, servitude, and selflessness. 

Robert Downey Jr., who has emotionally morphed throughout the journey as Ironman, and Chris Evans, who brings more insight than expected into a character who remains the steadfast compass of honorability for the Avengers, each shine bright in this early portion of the film. These two characters carry the heart of the story, and have throughout the course of these films. “Ironman”, with Downey’s foundation-setting performance, is still one of the best films of the entire franchise. One of the highlights of “Endgame” is watching Downey portray Tony Stark. 

The second hour of the film is where much of the fan service takes over, unfortunately in some negative ways. “Endgame” develops a dense maze of plot devices, some that don’t always make the most sense, spanning over the course of the 11-year history of these stories. It’s overly convoluted, often silly in both humorous and puzzling ways, but its focus is clearly set on the fans that have taken into this journey for so many years. If so much passion and heart weren’t dedicated throughout the entire film, with character development specifically, this centerpiece narrative would unravel the first act completely; it’s a compliment to the skill from directors Anthony and Joe Russo that they have weaved this immense story so well. 

Chris Hemsworth, who’s Thor has changed from a humdrum Shakespearean prototype into a witty and arrogant college jock of sorts, and Mark Ruffalo, who has always supplied a charm to the portrayal of the big green Hulk, are provided some scene stealing moments during this middle piece. These two characters compose most of the humor for “Endgame”. These Marvel films have established the value of having humor within the narrative, it helps when watching a grown man turn into a massive angry monster or listening to someone call themselves the “god of thunder”. 

The finale returns to form, mostly accomplishing the challenging feat of tying everything back together, offering some of the brightest moments for our heroes to do what they do best, and giving fans exactly what they have waited for…a fitting goodbye to 11-years of humor, heart, and heroics that have come to define the Avengers and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Where do we go from here? I’m sure Marvel already has the next 11-years planned. 

Monte’s Rating

3.75 out of 5.00

Avengers: Infinity War Review

Avengers: Infinity War

Dir: Anthony and Joe Russo

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, Mark Ruffalo, Chadwick Boseman, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Sebastian Stan, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Dave Bautista, Anthony Mackie, and Josh Brolin

In 2008 Marvel Studios released “Iron Man” and the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was launched. The film, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey Jr. as the eccentric Tony Stark, can be seen as the movie responsible for changing the landscape of the modern superhero franchise. What Marvel has done over the last 10 years is craft a series of films that have brought solo hero stories to the screen while also supplying films for all the heroes to interact. These stories and characters have always been treated as puzzle pieces, “Avengers: Infinity War” is the final piece of a ten year puzzle of world building.

Anthony and Joe Russo are the directors behind this superhero extravagance that features nearly every hero that has graced the screen since 2008. It’s an amazing sight to see so many characters interact with one another, especially during the big action sequences that offer prime opportunity for the characters to display what makes them “super”. With so much going on in the near 150 minutes of film here, “Avengers: Infinity War” does its best to tie up loose ends and open a new chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Earth has seen its fair share of threats from villains both local and intergalactic, however at every turn of near world destruction, The Avengers have been the force to reckon with. But things have become more complex for the team. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and outlaw Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) are still at odds, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) are working together somewhere in space, and in other hero news Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is still in high school, King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is making changes in Wakanda, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are trying their best to make an honest living. What ties all these heroes together is a common foe, the evil titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) who is making his way to Earth with a powerful weapon that could destroy half of all existence.

In the 10 years that Marvel has been crafting storylines for all these characters, the constant through line seen with small clues or post credit scenes has been aimed at tying the worlds together and bringing all these characters into one story. The villain Thanos serves as the key tie that binds. Marvel has always had a difficult time crafting villains, however the CGI constructed Thanos provides some interesting characteristics that serve in creating a troubled humanity for the dominating antagonist. Thanos, voiced with bravado by Josh Brolin, has come to the conclusion that he is the weapon of balance for all existence, it’s a concept that Thanos has accepted wholeheartedly. Thanos is the most complicated character in this story.

While this composition of the adversary is important, especially for this film, it’s equally as important for the heroes to have the same detail. Tony Stark has been struggling for some time with the ultimate threat that he knows is coming to Earth, Steve Rogers understands that war comes with consequence and sacrifice, and Thor has lived lifetimes guarding realms fighting against their own demise. This quality of making humans out of superheroes is what Marvel has done best, which makes it somewhat surprising that “Avengers: Infinity War” struggles with finding that balance of emotion and spectacle in the film. Viewers know that this film is the changing of the tide; the heroes we have grown to love over the last 10 years may not be standing at the end of this film. The emphasis on Thanos as a legitimate threat is present from the beginning but the emotional turmoil for the lives of these characters never comes through with the kind of impact that it should have. With so many characters to find space for, the emotional punches seem pulled, or better yet, glazed over. With the exception of one scene which helps to further shape the idea of Thanos’ purpose, characters are here one moment and simply gone the next.

All the previous movies have established a foundation, one that firmly allows “Avengers: Infinity War” to build upon. This is especially clear in the maneuvering of characters throughout the film; it all fits so nicely when Thor meets the Guardians or when Iron Man meets Dr. Strange. Every character is nicely paired with the attitude and charisma that allows for good banter and interesting contrast of skills. Add Thanos’ serious demeanor to the mix and the heroes shine even brighter when forced to compete with the villain.

The highlight for this film is the undeniable spectacle taking place, it’s exciting and breathtaking watching your favorite Marvel characters fight together on the screen. The Russo Brothers have been building bigger action moments with every film that they compose, this film is their pinnacle for action. 

“Avengers: Infinity War” is big and boisterous in all the ways one might expect, unfortunately the drama of all the chaos doesn’t add up towards as satisfying of an emotional finale as one might expect. There is more to come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe of course, and maybe the pieces left unsatisfied here will all be corrected when the saga continues. Still, this is a summer blockbuster movie that is sure to please dedicated fans.

Monte’s Rating

3.50 out of 5.00