Double Review – Deadpool 2 & Solo: A Star Wars Story

Howdy ladies and gents, how’s it going? Today I return with not one but two reviews in the form of Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story via my podcast, Film Focus!

Timecodes:

02:23 Deadpool 2 Review
18:37 Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

Check out the review below:

I was originally going to do a written review for Deadpool 2, but time got away from me and with Solo coming out a week later, I thought it’d be better for me to just pack both reviews together, and like I have stated beforehand, I feel like I can communicate my raw thoughts on a film much better than a written piece of work.

You can listen to the podcast on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/film_focus or on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/film-focus/id1114233892?mt=2

Anyway if you have any thoughts on Deadpool 2 or Solo, whether you like or dislike either, be sure to drop them in the comments section below! :D, until next time, laters! 😀

 

QUICK THOUGHTS: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Howdy ladies and gents, what’s up? So I just got home from a fun little hang session with my friends and saw that a teaser for the new Sony animated Spider-Man film entitled, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse had dropped online, so you know I ain’t to watch it and give you my brief thoughts on it

Check out the trailer below:

So my initial impressions were this, “Wow, that’s much better than I was expecting.” Now I know that sounds mean but this project had me a little concerned from an animation point of view, Sony Animation’s movies have been good, but they’re not known for the same quality that comes from Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks on the odd occasion, and with an all CGI Spider-Man film I was concerned with the art style and quality of the animation… But then I saw this trailer and damn, these guys aren’t messing around. The art direction feels a mixture between something realistic, comic book illustrated and a video game, there’s a great level of detail in a lot of things like the buildings and cars, the colours are very striking and vivid and the animation flows well with a sense of speed and grace. And while the animation moves in a choppy many like there are some missing frames in the movement, I’m assuming its a stylistic choice and I’m fine with it as long as the animation is fast and fluid during the action scenes, which so far looks great. And let me quickly just talk about the cinematography, since 2002’s Spider-Man, filmmakers have been finding new and interesting ways to show off Spider-Man’s movements through the city, and this film continues to show different angles and shots we’ve not seen in any Spidey adaptation so far and it is gorgeous! Beyond the visuals, it looks like the plot will follow Mile Morales’ story of him picking up the role as Spidey after the death of Peter Parker if that gravestone is anything to go by, and later on he’ll learn about the multiple Spider heroes in different universes? At least that’s what I assume, and I’m cool with that, I really like Miles Morales and want to see his story on the big screen and see what sort of stuff he has to deal with both as himself and Spidey, and see what’s happening in regards to this Spider-Verse.

But what about what happens in the trailer? Well there’s so much to mention so here are my highlights:

• That first shot of the cityscape looks lovely, it looks realistic yet illustrated. I also like how the colour and brightness is lighter at the top and gets darker towards the bottom.
• The shot of Miles in front of the moving train looks great.
• Clearly, that’s Miles in front of Peter Parker’s grave so the filmmakers are definitely borrowing certain stories from the comics which I like.
• Seeing Miles in his suit leap off that building and fall towards the buildings upside down in that wide shot, it is incredible!
• Seeing Spidey chance after that guy on the motorcycle while dodging traffic, looks great. I love the fluidity of Spidey’s movement and vivid colours.
• I like the look of Miles’ face under the mask and seeing him ask Peter about how many of “them” there are in the subway was an interesting moment to leave on. I’m looking forward to the other Spidey peeps who show up.

In conclusion, this teaser ended up being way more interesting than I expected, the visual style is very distinctive and the cinematography looks delicious. I can only hope that the story, characters and use of multiple Spider-People will be good, and those casual audiences will grow to appreciate Miles Morales the fans do.

So have you seen the trailer for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse trailer and if so what did you think of it? Are you hyped, curious or underwhelmed? Let me know in comments section below and I’ll see ya in the next review, laters! 😀

 

EPIC REVIEW: Spider-Man: Homecoming

Howdy people of the internet, how’s it going? So today is a special day as I finally get to share my thoughts on the latest film from Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures in the form of Spider-Man: Homecoming. For those of you who aren’t aware, Spider-Man is my favourite superhero and when he was introduced in Captain America: Civil War last year I knew I was ready for his solo film straight away. So with a decent marketing campaign and a lot of hopeful interviews from the cast and crew about how this latest version of Spider-Man would turn out, is it a successful reboot or another disappointing session? Well read on and find out! 🙂

So the story can be described as the following:

“Several months after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.”

Straight away what I like about Homecoming as an overall film is that it is familiar, and yet totally unique from the previous versions we’ve had in the past. Instead of getting the conventional origin story from the comics, we instead get a different kind of origin that feels more like “Spider-Man: The Early Years” instead of “Spider-Man: The Beginning“. There were a lot of recognizable elements on display for those aware of Spider-Man’s source material when it comes to Peter being a high school student, balancing his superhero life with his personal life and basically just growing up and dealing with the highs and lows that life throws at you. What’s great is that the story beats you know about the Spider-Man mythos are executed very well, but this also took a few risks as there were numerous surprises that really caught me off-guard and enhanced my experience of watching this film. Also tonally the film is perfect, Homecoming has the right balance of light-heartedness, action and heart that’s enjoyable for kids and adults. Plus the references to the comics is great for those paying attention with some cool verbal and visual material, oh and Spider-Man also fit into the MCU wonderfully, this adventure for all the travelling still felt small in scale with just the right amount of references from other films without being overbearing.

The cast for this film was excellent with there being memorable performances from everyone in the main cast to the minor roles and cameos too. Firstly there’s Tom Holland as who was perfect as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, I knew as soon as I saw Holland in Civil War that he’d crush it in this film but I didn’t know he’d kill it this well. Holland was the perfect Peter Parker, he was relatable, endearing, funny, heroic, a little cocky and tenacious, plus he was so charming and engaging to watch, that when you watch the successes and failures of this character you give a damn. Michael Keaton was really good as Adrian Toomes/Vulture, I appreciated how his character was not just a villain doing bad things for the sake of it, but had a logical reason for hs actions, he was perceptive and smart, and I thought the Vulture was elevated by Keaton’s performance which really gave the character a tough and intimidating presence. And then there’s Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and he was great too, seeing Stark transition into the mentor role for Peter worked well for this story, his presence was notable but not nearly as overstated as the trailers would have you believe. Stark was used sparingly but his scenes had purpose, dramatic weight and the trademark humour that makes RDJ so fun to watch. Oh and the return of Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan was great, he was so gruff and serious andhis dry sense of humour lended itself to this film well.

Jacob Batalon was fabulous as Parker’s best friend Ned, I liked how funny, quirky and nerdy he was, but also how he was a genuine friend to Peter offering useful advance and helping him out once he discovers Peter’s secret. Zendaya was good as Michelle was pretty cool, she was this weird loner who was smart and rude but also quite funny, Zendaya really got into the role and you could tell she was having fun with the role. Also Laura Harrier as Liz was wonderful, she was so cute and kind and Harrier’s performance was so captivating. Tony Revolori as Flash was an interesting new take on the classic character, I liked how charismatic and hot-headed he was and he certainly had some memorable moments. Marisa Tomei as Aunt May was wonderful, I feared from the marketing that her role would be next to nothing, but thankfully May was upbeat, humourous and caring, but she also wasn’t a fool and said what was on her mind and Tomei made the character shine and stand out. I enjoyed what Donald Glover brought to the film as Aaron Davis, Hannibal Buress was really funny in his role, Bokeem Woodbine and Logan Marshall-Green were pretty solid too and finally Abraham Attah as Abe was easily one of my favourite people in the film with his dialogue making me laugh a lot.

When it comes to the presentation it was really good. Visually the film had good cinematography, good choreographed action sequences that when quick, funny and hard-hitting, oh and the CGI was really solid with some great attention to detail especially for Spider-Man’s suit. Besides certain scenes at night that were really dark and inconsistent visual effects, the visual side of things was great. And the film score by Michael Giacchino was pretty good, though not as impressive as I had hoped. Now don’t get me wrong, it captured the right kind of tone for the film and during some of the more upbeat/fun, adventurous or emotional moments the music was gorgeous and tapped into that signature sound that Giacchino is known for in his previous films, however, I felt like as an overall score it wasn’t as good as some of his previous material.

To conclude Spider-Man: Homecoming was wonderful and everything I wanted it to be and then some. And while I reckon Spider-Man 2 is still my favourite Spidey film, this first solo film in the MCU had the heart and soul of a good superhero film that gets better the more I think about it. Now I’m sure some people will find reasons to hate on this film but I can’t when it is so fun. 😀

So have you seen Spider-Man: Homecoming and if so what do you think of it? Be sure to drop me a comment and I’ll see ya on the next review! 🙂

 

Donald Glover Finally Gets to be Spider-Man in Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors

Hey hey hey people of the internet, time for a bit more news from the world of the web and now I’m gonna talk about a bit of TV news that I feel is relevant relating to Donald Glover and the upcoming third series of Ultimate Spider-Man. The following information comes from superherohype:

Back when Sony was planning on rebooting Spider-Man, actor and comedian Donald Glover started a grassroots campaign online to get cast in the role. Though the part eventually went to Andrew Garfield, many titans of comics and film put their support behind Glover and the movement eventually led to the creation of Miles Morales, the new Ultimate Spider-Man. Now, Glover finally gets his wish and will provide the voice of Morales in an upcoming episode of Disney XD’s “Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors.”

“That’s the great part about the Spider-Man costume: He can be anybody,” Glover tells USA Today. “Spider-Man could be a girl. Spider-Man could be an old man. You don’t know. So I just tried to be as me as possible, because you’re always just going to bring it back to yourself when you watch the show…Spider-Man is the best because you just don’t know who he is, and he’s funny and he’s poor. I understand Spider-Man a lot on that level. He’s just trying to make it.”

The new season of “Ultimate Spider-Man” premieres this Sunday on Disney XD, but Glover’s stint as Morales won’t air until next year. Also, lest you think that Glover is content with settling his “campaign” by providing this voice, he still has hopes to put on the tights some day.

“I still have hopes to do something like that one day. I don’t look at this as second place. Spider-Man, he’s such an icon — you have to do something with him.”

You can check out a clip of Glover as Morales in the player below.

Well this is nice. I mean sure this doesn’t mean that Donald Glover is Spider-Man in a live-action format, but this is some progress. Now Ultimate Spider-Man isn’t exactly the best format to debut such an important character as Miles Morales, but to be honest considering the way the Spider-Man film series is going, this was the only place where he’ll be able to show in for a while. And in a way I’m glad that he’s finally finding his way into the realm of TV, hopefully this will bring more awareness to his character and comic series and maybe even allow him to get his own show down the line. So far from the images it looks like the series has captured Morales’ likeness so well and from the clip above it sounds like Glover fits into this cartoon just fine. Glover sounds like himself and has the right kind of charisma and charm that comes with an actor of his style and talent. I just hope this first encounter isn’t a ‘one and done’ type of deal, Morales’ Spider-Man needs to have more screen time yo.