Spider-Man: Homecoming Review

Spider-man: Homecoming is the Star Wars: The Force Awakens of the MCU/Spider-man movies. And that's fine. For the quick review: If you're curious about the movie, go see it. It's an enjoyable summer blockbuster for which a big audience will greatly help.

As for a more extended spoiler-free review...

The fast pacing/editing of the film helps it become Marvel's funniest movie yet, easily glossing over a number of conveniences in the story, but sadly ruining any dramatic moments. There were a number of what should have been great dramatic character moments that were undercut by poor setup, the previously mentioned fast pacing or just awkward editing. Indeed, subsequent scenes progress as if nothing happened.

Regarding acting, Tom Holland is an excellent Peter Parker / Spider-man. He exudes a natural intelligence and charisma, creating two distinct personalities for the two personas (the awkward Peter and confident Spider-man).  While it was great seeing Michael Keaton on screen, particularly as a villain, I found his character to lack real motivation - it felt more contrived for the story Marvel / Sony wanted to tell than actually fitting of the character - why did he have such a grudge / the motivation he had? Better writing would have helped him greatly. At least Marvel tried to do a villain justice with this one, though.

The supporting character were lots of fun (Ned, Liz, Michelle, Flash), but ultimately created in service of Peter - I look forward to seeing them fleshed out. Aunt May was a particular victim of this. While Marisa Tomei is fun in the role, Aunt May was mostly around to be sexualized, providing Peter very little of the dramatic character motivation (and reminder of Uncle Ben) that's such an integral part of Spider-man.

As for the core MCU characters, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and his assistant/friend Happy (Jon Favreau) did fine, but felt largely unnecessary. However, Chris Evans as Captain America stole every one of his cameos.

As a hybrid installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with Sony's own Spider-man franchise, there are a TON of fun Easter Eggs and cameos that make the film a treat to watch, though also more of a Marvel movie than Spider-man, per se. Unlike with the Amazing Spider-man movies, I look forward to the pending "Spider-man Cinematic Universe" - it's been set-up nicely so far.

For music, following in the footsteps of Danny Elfman, Christopher Young, James Horner and Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino's score was underwhelming and ancillary - it nicely helped accentuate what was happening on-screen, but ultimately unmemorable. It kept teasing the retro theme used in the Marvel logo, but never built to it in the film. On a side note, of the pantheon of Spider-man composers, Christopher Young is my favorite of the bunch for his work on Spider-man 3 and contributions to Spider-man 2.

All of the above said, Spider-man: Homecoming is definitely RECOMMENDED. It's a fun time, but more of an intro chapter/return-to-form than proper Spider-man movie. Regardless, I'm looking forward to more Spider-man.

Drag Me To Hell movie review

Sam Raimi's latest film is a return to his comedy-horror routes. Take note the order and emphasis on which genres I put the film in (comedy first, horror second).

The film is a nonstop joyride of shock horror thrills. But, surprisingly to those uninitiated to Raimi's horror styles, it's all in good fun.

As far as the plot/story goes, all you need to know is that a girl wanting a promotion, and in an effort to show leadership, refuses a loan to a gypsy, angering the gypsy who then places a curse on the girl. What entails thereafter is some of the most enjoyable 90 minutes of movie-going you'll probably experience this year (or maybe have experienced in the past several years).

Drag Me to Hell is a rather tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek horror satire, where Raimi, a master of his craft, perfectly sets up the audience for the standard horror shock thrill, but tweaks it just enough to surprise the audience every time. To clarify, some of the tricks he uses is that he will set the audience up thinking that the scare is in one frame, but delaying it to the next. Or having something happen in the peripheral. Subtle tricks that keep the audience on the edge of their seat in anticipation of the next thrill. But the beauty of it is that it's never so much as scary as it is fun.

Special acknowledgment to composer Christopher Young who is in top-notch form for the film, yet again bringing his beautiful musings to another horror film.

Drag Me to Hell is one of the most enjoyable PG-13 films to come out in some time. It's nearly 100 minutes of pure, unadulterated, theme park ride-type thrills, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Seriously, go see it now. It's the type of film you absolutely have to see in theaters with a group of people to properly enjoy it.