joethewong

, by Joseph

#RANKED - Best of 2017

We have finally emerged from the doldrums of life to write this long, long, long delayed piece, six months in the making by the print date. But hey, the long lead time just gives us more time to sample the many films 2017 had to offer, and isn't it always better not rush into rash decision-making (noted by non other than... Jay-Z)? To note, one of our top 5 picks got the sweet end of this deal, as curating this year's list was a hard nut to crack! To get things going, honourable mentions for the year have to go to James Mangold's Logan and Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049.

For Logan, the loose adaptation of the famous 'Old Man Logan' stroyline would never have had the emotional impact it delivered without the long continuing lore of the X-Men film franchise and the virtuoso performance of Hugh Jackman in his ninth and swansong(?) appearance as Wolverine. Meanwhile, it's been mentioned around here before that we weren't a big fan of Ridley Scott's original Blade Runner, and while Villeneuve sequel is still bogged down by the similar slow-moving story and 163 minutes runtime, 2049 is a superior film than its predecessor in action and spectacle alone, while I can confidently say that it is the most visually stunning film we have ever set eyes on in a cinema screen.

Without further ado, let's get on with the show!

Baby Driver

"He's done it again. Edgar Wright's latest is the perfect marriage of choreographed song and action, as it shifts to a high gear right away in its opening scene, and rarely finds the need to ever slow down. Its infectious soundtrack will have your foot thumping and your shoulders strutting, as you'll now associate each of these classic funky beats to Baby Driver's numerous memorable scenes. Heck, Bellbottoms will never be the same again. Baby Driver is a rare original cinematic gem that is bound to be a future cult classic on its own." [REVIEW]

Get Out

The concept of Get Out, about an African American who visits his Caucasian girlfriend's family, may initially sound like an extended Key & Peele skit on paper, but unlike Keanu, director Jordan Peele was able to take advantage of today's social stigma to deliver a thriller that is equally heavy on the scares and the laughs. The horror is derived from Peele's creative use of imagery and technical prowess, with normal scenes becoming increasingly unsettling as the camera continues rolling.

This is helped by a standout performance from Daniel Kaluuya (Black Panther), who was the perfect foil to bring out humour on the face of some very tense and violent moments. Whether Get Out will be as universally praised as it is now, only time will tell, but it's a darn well-directed and scripted horror masterpiece from a first time director previously known for his sketch comedies.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

To paraphrase another sci-fi franchise, the latest mainline Star Wars entry boldly went where no man has gone before. It may be dividing opinion on among die-hards alike, but kudos to Rian Johnson (Looper) for sparsely relying on throwbacks as much as The Force Awakens did, not only further fleshing out the new characters of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), but also with how he gave a memorable swansong to original trilogy favourites Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and General Leia (Carrie Fisher).

Like our next entry in the list, The Last Jedi is a sequel that dares to stray away from the conventions set by those before it, and the result is a darker Star Wars take than perhaps even The Empire Strikes Back, as the line between good and bad are much less defined than simply the 'Light' or the 'Dark' side. A great story with even greater visuals (you know the one), The Last Jedi is a natural evolution of the 40 year old franchise, and it's all for the better moving forward.

T2: Trainspotting

The Trainspotting sequel is a wholly different beast from the 1996 original, albeit the same engine on a different chassis. The longer you digest the movie, the more you'll appreciate why director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) did not just take the easier sequel route by just retreading on old themes, and instead crafted a film that has grown up with its audience, and for fans, Trainspotting 2 is a great companion piece to the original two decades later.

We see these same characters having changed little in the new age of the 21st century, and the film cleverly changes tone from the glorification and subsequent damnation of heroin which presided over the original, and instead focusing on the joy and harsh realities of overdosing nostalgia. Trainspotting 2 may not offer the same carefree thrills of the original, but it's ultimately a movie about growing up and moving on with the times, even if Scotland's most famous addicts had not done the same.

From remixes of the original's classics such as Born Slippy and Lust for Life, to new tracks from the likes of Wolf Alice and Young Fathers, T2: Trainspotting also has one of the best film soundtracks in a year with Guardians of the Galaxy and Baby Driver.

The Big Sick

I have a genuine soft spot for romantic comedies that strays away from the cliches and usual conventions, especially ones that makes full use of the naturally funny actors that it casts. Hence, I was pleasantly entranced by this Sundance favourite co-written by husband-wife duo Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and Emily V. Gordon, which interestingly, is loosely based on the early stages their relationship. In simpler terms, it's a better take on the basic 'Meet the Parents' premise with added cross-cultural themes, as Nanjiani hails from a Pakistani background rooted in arranged marriages, but the film doesn't allow it to be its sole punchline.

Nanjiani is a great leading man playing a version of himself, as is Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks) who plays Emily, but the MVPs of this piece are Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Holly Hunter (The Incredibles) as Emily's parents, who lap up every scene they appear in. Without spoiling the plot, but despite much of the film being set in hospital waiting rooms, the interactions between Nanjiani, Romano and Hunter bounce off each other like a rigged pinball machine. For such a personal and heartfelt film on two ~~star~~ 'culture'-crossed lovers, The Big Sick serves as a piece of great comfort food for when you just want to tune into something wholesome.

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, by Joseph

Kingsman

REVIEW - Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Director Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar go together like peanut butter and jam. Millar's Kick-Ass comic line transform seamlessly to the big screen in Vaughn's 2010 adaptation, while the former's little known comic roots The Secret Service was adapted into a $480+ million grossing box office success. In our original Kingsman review way back in 2015, we commended it by calling The Secret Service "an amalgamation of [director Matthew] Vaughn's previous works, combining the retro suave of First Class, the ultraviolence of Kick-Ass, and finally the raw British feel of Stardust... producing great entertainment value far worth the price of admission". Heck, it even made it into our 'Best of' list for 2015, it was better than even the most optimistic situations.

For the first time in his career, Vaughn, alongside long-time writing partner Jane Goldman returns to direct a sequel to the film he directed, having previously only produced on Kick-Ass 2, followed by a story credit on Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past, and with the follow-up Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Vaughn faces a daunting task to even match the rousing reception of the original.

As the Kingsman organisation are whipped out by The Golden Circle's 50's-obsessed villain in Julianne Moore's Poppy, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) seek refuge with their American counterparts, the aptly-named The Statesman, who fronts as a Bourbon distillery in Kentucky (fried chicken?). There, they'll team up with their alcohol-code named American counterparts to take down the latest megalomaniac in the form of Poppy (Julianne Moore), a drug lord with a penchant for fifties diner aesthetic and Elton John.

Kingsman: The Secret Service may have taken the best bits of 55 years of Bond cliches, The Golden Circle is perhaps the most Roger Moore-ish of Roger Moore Bond films, ratcheting its cheesiness up to 11, as delves deeper into the many highlights of that era, from European alpines, fun gadgets and super-powered henchmen (laser lasso? Somebody call JJ!). The bonkers action which quickly became the centerpiece of the franchise returns as the sequel retains the violence, vulgarity and the self-awareness which made its predecessor such an endearing piece of work, or to quote Mark Strong in the original's exploding head scene "THIS IS FUCKING SPECTACULAR".

The original may be known for its outrageous church shootout or its training moments, and The Golden Circle relishes in continuing the action absurdity all the way through its 140 minute runtime. For the sequel, Vaughn and Goldman really tipped the scales in favour (more on that scale later) of the hyperviolent, and it certainly accomplishes so right from the get go, with a close-up fight on board a British taxi as Eggsy tussles with a former rival-turned-evildoer. It's not afraid to venture into the insanely silly either, as we're treated to killer robot dogs, penetrating trackers and a sweary ACTUAL Elton John, whose involvement here only adds to the zaniness here. Action definitely complements what has came before it, though most of the below par/shoddy CGI, even if needed for many of the ridiculously entertaining scenes, can become borderline distracting.

The Secret Service really blew the doors open by not only offering the intense R-rated action and humour, but deep characterizations of protagonists who would usually have mysterious backgrounds (especially in the spy genre), portraying Egerton's Eggsy as a young man initially dogged by poor upbringing who eventually fulfills his potential and save the girl. While original centrally focused on Eggsy's transformation, he's a full-fledged Kingsman by the time The Golden Circle rolls around, and he was soon relegated our focal point in this expanding universe. The return of his mentor Harry Hart (Colin Firth) from supposed dead does rekindle the emotional stakes of the original, but those soon made way for more banter and action. Eggsy's character development was built up so well in the original just seemed to grind to a halt in the sequel, and this was what we feel was one of The Golden Circle's few pitfalls.

Just like the first installment, every character seems to be having a blast during filming, right down to Mark Stong's usually stoic Merlin, who at not one, but two points belts out John Denver's Country Road. The addition of the Statesmen was definitely the obvious and interesting way forward for the franchise, but it's so under-utilised here that you'll wonder why they bothered to send Eggsy and Merlin to Texas in the first place. You don't cast Oscar winners and nominees such as Halle Berry and Jeff Bridges (also non-nominee Channing Tatum) only to have them prop up for a few minutes. All the American counterparts, seemed to have done all their scenes within days, leaving Narcos star Pedro Pascal as the sole Statesmen representative on the adventure.

And for those thinking "at least we have most of the characters from the first one, I can't wait to see more of them", you'll be hard pressed to know that many of them are only limited to rather small appearances. That leaves Egerton to carry the film along most of the time, and that's a hard act to follow from the first outing when you could share screen time alongside Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson. Speaking of the former, Firth's return from the dead makes (sort of) sense, but would have made a more effective impact had the marketing team withheld such a reveal from the very beginning.

Julianne Moore, while not as memorable as Samuel L. Jackson's lisp-talking villain, perfectly encapsulates a drug lord masked behind a radiant smile, but she's never given all that much to do (other than cooking up a wholesome American burger). Surprisingly enough, the Kingsman team even bothered refitting one of the minor characters from the original into a cyborg-armed mercenary, a neat and valiant effort despite not being as memorable of Sofia Boutella's agile knives-for-legs henchwoman.

It's impossible to argue that Kingsman: The Golden Circle is NOT two and a half hours of pure, fun action spectacle, but stacked along its predecessor, and the sequel becomes quite a letdown as an overall package. The original The Secret Service may have thrived under the unexpected, but Vaughn's first directorial sequel, which is perfectly entertaining on its own, seems to have fallen short against the expected high benchmarks set by its predecessor.

Despite the addition of a fistful of characters played by stars of Oscar-caliber, the much advertised Statesmen barely served as a plot device, and The Golden Circle as a whole, even if it gets high marks in the action department, is severely lacking the heart and soul that served as one of the major factors which we believe made the original the surprise box office and critical hit in 2015. It's like eating main course with only the meat: it's definitely the best part, but without the peas and mash, it just doesn't feel complete. It's no catastrophe, but this sequel is a tiny blotch in Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman's squeaky clean filmography... maybe that's why they've rarely gone down the sequel route.

7.0 / 10

Also:

Out of all the wacky stuff happening in #KingsmanTheGoldenCircle, its most outrageous was Fox News reporting on a Presidential impeachment 😂

— Joseph Wong (@joethewong) September 22, 2017

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, by Joseph

Feature

#WhyNot - Alternatives to... The Hitman's Bodyguard

Our new series, #WhyNot, provides a condensed review of the latest cinema offerings, while contributing alternative films that you should watch as well/instead.

The Hitman's Bodyguard, starring Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers), is a serviceable throwback to the buddy action comedies made famous in the 80's and 90's. Sure, its two leads deserve much credit for delivering a solidly hilarious performance, while their chemistry over its two-hour(!?) runtime is inherently off the charts, but charismatic characters can only go so far if the movie they are set in a movie as generic as The Hitman's Bodyguard. It was perhaps envisioned as a Deadpool and Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction) crossover that no one was asking for, and it is not hard to think that those were the direction Reynolds and Jackson were told to go for, with its barrage of motherf*ckers, crude humour and musical numbers.

The film also follows the trend of unimaginative Eurotrip action archetypes seen recently by the likes of A Good Day to Die Hard, Red 2 as well as director Patrick Hughes' own The Expendables 3. Eastern European dictators? CHECK. Mercenary killcount going by the hundreds? CHECK. Black SUVs? CHECK. Plainly obvious double crosser? CHECK. Sure, one chase scene through the canals of Amsterdam is one commendable action highlight, but it is severely bogged down by everything that came before and after. It does attempt to question one's morality, asking if killing bad guys was as bad as protecting them, but only so via a throwaway line uttered by Jackson that was not revisited later. Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), who plays the aforementioned dictator from Belarus, must have been paid lots for a nearly non-existent role. No one wastes Gary Oldman like that.

Without the charm of Reynolds and Jackson, The Hitman's Bodyguard would have been fairly bog standard B movie, belonging on the direct-to-DVD shelf. It also failed to live up to The Bodyguard parody that the first trailer implied, with the Whitney Houston-starring film being lampooned via its music and initial posters. As said before, it's definitely serviceable, especially if watching with a laughing crowd, but there's so many better options out there that you'll wished you spent those two hours watching something else, which conveniently segue ways into our next feature: 5 vastly superior buddy action comedies you should catch instead.

We'll be going for the unconventional's here, so don't expect to see your usual Lethal Weapons, Bad Boys or Blues Brothers propping up this list. Honourable mentions include The Heat (2013), Men in Black (1997) and *probably, but yet to watch* The Nice Guys (2016).

Die Hard with a Vengeance

If you want to watch a movie starring Samuel L. Jackson and a Caucasian man take down a European terrorist, watch ~~The Hitman's Bodyguard~~ the third Die Hard movie from 22 years ago. Die Hard with a Vengeance is arguably one of the best in the Bruce Willis-starring franchise (perhaps as good as the first one?), which has John McClane unwillingly partnered up with Jackson's Harlem shop owner to a game of cat-and-mouse around New York City by a mysterious figure through a phone.

Willis' grizzled, down-on-his-luck portrayal of McClane spars well with Jackson's foul-mouthed citizen, which often leads to many hilarious lines and moments, with their very first interaction involving a sandwich board serving up as the first of many heart-pounding scenes in this two-hour long thriller. Can't get enough of the Willis-Jackson combo? They reunited for M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable and soon its sequel Glass in 2019.

Hot Fuzz

Fans of Baby Driver may want to look at director Edgar Wright's previous joint from 10 years ago starring frequent collaborator Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg, playing a hard boiled Metropolitan police, is sent to the quiet village of Sandford after his superiors felt he was outperforming everyone else. There, he discovers that all is not as it seems as he uncovers a secret behind a string of murders in the town. The action sequences are a big riff off John Woo or Michael Bay's repertoire, but combined with Wright's signature cutaways and witty humour from his previous work Spaced or Shaun of the Dead, scenes become more of a tribute than a parody. Besides, how often do you get to see James Bond (Timothy Dalton) play an evil supermarket owner? One of this writer's all-time fave.

In Bruges

Most of the films in this list involve a member of law enforcement one way or another, but what happens when our duo are two contract killers? Directed by Martin McDonagh, this dark comedy stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hitmen who are sent to a medieval town in Belgium after a job gone awry. It's a film of two parts, with the first half exploring the relationship between the two central characters as they explore the weird going-ons within the small European town, with the second half transforming the film into a thriller as their boss descends into the town. It's one of Farrell's better performances in recent times, while Ralph Fiennes, who plays his bad-tempered boss, is an equally comical yet frightening antagonist opposite Farrell and Gleeson.

21 Jump Street / 22 Jump Street

Adapting TV shows into movies is never a small feat, but throwing everything that made the original show stood out, while only retaining the name and concept, was definitely a bold, ballsy move. In the hands of Phil Lord and Chris Miller though, the new rebooted 21 Jump Street represents a satire of the original Johnny Depp-starring show, 80's action flicks and teen movies in general, while offering up a coherent story and a barrel of laughs.

Starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in reverse archetypes as the two infiltrate a local high school to investigate a drugs ring, plot circumstances meant that both actors played opposite undercover roles for much of the movie, to comedic effect. It was a great change of scenery from our usual undercover films, definitely helped by the good chemistry between the leads, and was a platform for Channing Tatum to really tickle your funny bone. Also, rapper Ice Cube is an absolute scene-stealer.

Its 2014 sequel, aptly named 22 Jump Street, offered the same comedy we loved from the original, and at times the jokes were more outrageous than its predecessor. This is especially evident in its entire end credits sequence, which became a lampooning of the current saturated sequel market in general, will have you laughing all the way back home.

The Other Guys

A gentle forensic accountant. A remanded cop who shot Derek Jeter. It's definitely an odd pairing, even by odd buddy pairing standards, but if anyone can turn odd concepts into classic comedies, it's director Adam McKay (Step Brothers, The Big Short). After two hot-shot detectives (played by The Rock and Jackson, again) at the precinct met their hilariously fatal ends, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg will attempt to move away from their mundane desk jobs after uncovering a major conspiracy behind a minor scaffolding violation.

The Other Guys serves the same type of smart laugh-a-minute humour seen in previous McKay-Farrell collaborations, in contrast to The Hitman's Bodyguard, where most jokes felt bland without the charisma of its leads. And opposite Farrell, Wahlberg got to exhibit his wide range of comedic chops like you've never seen pre-2010. You can't go wrong with Michael Keaton unknowingly quoting TLC songs either!

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, by Joseph

Movie

REVIEW - Baby Driver

Those in the know in the world of cinema will tell you that Edgar Wright belongs to a rare breed of directors. Known for his clever quick cuts and visual comedy that dates back to his early days directing the underwatched Spaced TV series to his famous Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, Wright has been able to inject his signature trademarks on just about any genre of film, along the likes of other visionary modern directors such as Quentin Tarantino or Christopher Nolan. Think Wright's 2004 debut Shaun of the Dead, which gave a hilarious British take on George A. Romero's (RIP) Dead series, or Hot Fuzz's small scale lampooning of Michael Bay's explosion-o-thons, right down to the visual treat that was Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Four years after The World's End, Wright's back with the action thriller Baby Driver. The idea of a getaway driver fueled by music is an idea floating in Wright's mind for a good part of two decades, and was the source of Mint Royale's 'Blue Song' music video for which he directed in 2003 (Baby Driver's opening minutes mirrors this). However, those accustomed to Wright's comedies may find Baby Driver to be a different beast altogether that still retains the famous visual cues seen in his earlier works. This isn't to say that Baby Driver is short of the funnies, as it's still packed with impeccable comedic timing, whereby scenes involving Michael Myer masks and Monsters Inc. are noteworthy stand-outs. Just don't go in expecting a Simon Pegg fence-jumping cameo.

Inspired by the 1994 track Bellbottoms from The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the same tune kicks off the events of Baby Driver with a bank robbery and an intense 'cops & robbers' car chase through the city of Atlanta, as we establish Baby (Ansel Elgort) as a menace behind the wheel, or the 'Mozart in a go-kart' as christened by crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey). Tired of the horrifying violence that is part of the job, particularly an even more terrifying set of criminals for which he 'chauffeurs', Baby is determined to end his association in the criminal underbelly after he's met the girl of his dreams in the form of Debora (Lily James), and is determined to make this job his last.

Baby's tinnitus serves as the perfect excuse to turn Baby Driver into a two hour long musical, and it excels in the way it integrates the music with every passing scene. You may appreciate the songs used in this year's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 or T2: Trainspotting, but none of their scenes are as well choreographed with a song in mind as Baby Driver. From the 'Bellbottoms' opening to a stroll through the streets on Bob & Earl's 'Harlem Shuffle', continuing on with Focus's 'Hocus Pocus' and ending with a frantic third act revolving around Queen's 'Brighton Rock', every cut, drift, gunshot or explosion are so synchronized to the tunes, you'll thought the songs were based off these scenes in question.

Baby Driver is ultimately Ansel Elgort's star vehicle, and the man certainly shines amidst the stack of A-listers on show. I never warmed to his character in The Fault in Our Stars, but his portrayal of Baby is the epitome of cool. A man of a few words, Baby lets his driving do the talkin', and even off the wheels he's a protagonist that audiences will surely root for, especially once he's met Debora waltzing on the street while on his coffee run. Like the aviator craze from Tom Cruise's Top Gun, expect Baby's black shades to be all the rage in due time. Lily James, though having a great individual singing scene at a local diner, is reduced to the damsel in distress towards the end of the film.

While Baby is as cool as a cucumber, his getaway partners are off on the opposite spectrum, and none of them comes off as crazy as Jamie Foxx's psychotic Bats and Jon Hamm's mysterious Buddy, who along with Eiza Gonzalez's Darling all brought their A-game as genuinely interesting foils to the main character and this universe. A spin-off of them three? Definitely. Kevin Spacey's Doc is a mix of of House of Cards' manipulative Frank Underwood and his wisecracking character from Horrible Bosses, and is a joy to watch in every scene, even if he doesn't get his hands dirty. Ansel Elgort may get most of the plaudits here, but it's this batch of talented supporting act that really pulls the film together, elevating the zaniness of Baby Driver up a few notches.

He's done it again. Edgar Wright's latest is the perfect marriage of choreographed song and action, as it shifts to a high gear right away in its opening scene, and rarely finds the need to ever slow down. Its infectious soundtrack will have your foot thumping and your shoulders strutting, as you'll now associate each of these classic funky beats to Baby Driver's numerous memorable scenes. Heck, Bellbottoms will never be the same again. Baby Driver is a rare original cinematic gem that is bound to be a future cult classic on its own.

9.0 / 10

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen
Right now I got to tell you about the fabulous
Most groovy...... Bellbottoms"

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, by Joseph

Captain America

REVIEW - Spider-Man: Homecoming

How much Spider-Man is too much Spider-Man? This was likely on the minds of many when Sony announced their second reboot of Marvel's A-lister in just three years, after the dumpster-fire, universe building disaster than was Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (you'll always get a pass for 500 Days of Summer, Webb), and in the process decimating all of Sony's plans for two more sequels, a Sinister Six spin-off and an... Aunt May spy flick? This planned universe was definitely caught in a tangled web of a mess.

The silver lining out of that announcement was that their third(!) Spider-Man will be part of Marvel Studios/Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), with a young Tom Holland (The Impossible) cast in the role soon after. This culminated in a memorable yet well-received debut in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, as this new edition blended well with the long established Marvel characters right on the get-go. So, with the new Spider-Man: Homecoming following Holland off the heels of Civil War, is this third Spider-Man in 10 years more Sam Raimi's original trilogy or more Webb's Amazing series?

If you've never warmed to the MCU films over the past decade, chances are that Homecoming would do little to convince you otherwise, as it retains most of the pros and (few) pitfalls that is apparent in this billion dollar franchise. Marvel had always preferred to hire indie directors to direct their latest projects, and it's no different with the hiring of Jon Watts to write plus helm Homecoming, having just come off the $5 million-budgeted Cop Car starring Kevin Bacon. The end result is a film with all the makings of a Marvel Studios film, and this new series retains the aesthetics of the Marvel movies with little repercussions for our heroes, for better or for worse. Quips have always been Spider-Man's other superpower since his printed debut, and it's certainly a match made in heaven when combined with level of banter which are omnipresent in the MCU.

Speaking of which, the integration mythos of past MCU's films appear to fit Homecoming like a glove, providing a more complementary relation between the new film and previous entries, rather than just throwing in blatant references for the sake of continuity. Adrian Toomes's turn to crime is deeply rooted from the Chitauri invasion from 2012's Avengers, while his dastardly plans all stem from technology salvaged/stolen from past battles (an Ultron head makes a cameo too). Don't worry, it's not the Spider-Man & Iron Man adventure the trailer had us worried, as Robert Downey Jr. only appears in a glorified four-scenes cameo, for which most were shown in the various commercials. In fact, take out the Iron Man and Avengers angles and you'll still have a pretty solid Spider-Man movie on its own.

Onto the new dude in the suit, this new... new Spider-Man by Tom Holland is an absolute delight on-screen, and by far the best young version of Peter Parker. Don't get me wrong, but each rendition of Spidey thus far has brought something to the table. You could argue that Tobey Maguire is great as an "Adult Parker", while Andrew Garfield shines as a "Boyfriend Parker", but it'll be interesting to see whether Holland could snatch these (hastily thought of) accolades in future sequels.

The lack of an origin story, which is pretty unnecessary by now, meant that this rendition of the web crawler does not have the weight of a dead Uncle Ben or his parents on his shoulders, and for once we get a Peter Parker who's definitely enjoying his superhero life, and one that we actually see converse through his school life and his crime fighting duties. Thankfully, Holland's rendition comes off as uncertain, stubborn yet equally eager, energetic and enthusiastic, while Parker's personality seem to trade seamlessly between his alter-egos (you'll notice the mega bump in confidence when Maguire dons the suit in the original).

What really sets this new Parker apart from those before him are his interactions with practically everyone in this film, from his young Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) to Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), and it is with his peers that serve as Homecoming's better moments. Parker's classmates are given a 2010-esque makeover, focusing more on diversity in not only ethnicity but also in personality, while straying pretty far from their comic book counterparts.

Parker's best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) is his best friend as well as confidante to his secret identity, and has perhaps the funniest lines and scenes in Homecoming. The stereotypical meathead bully Flash Thompson now a cynical, compensating nerd played by The Grand Budapest Hotel's Tony Revolori, while Zendaya's Michelle is equally narcissistic as she is sarcastic. We don't see these classmates all too often outside of Ned, but given that Homecoming takes place during Parker's sophomore year, they'll likely is plenty of sequels to get reacquainted with these colourful characters.

Michael Keaton is a fine addition to the storied franchise. Much like Jeff Bridges in the original Iron Man, the seasoned actor brings plenty of gravitas and tension to a role that admittedly looks bloody silly in the comics, as the former Beetlejuice is now playing his third flight-based character after Batman and Birdman. One memorable scene at the end of the second act really showcases the veracity and terror that Keaton can bring to the screen. Even if he does become a one-off villain, he was certainly one of the more memorable, even if that bar is still *shockingly* low in the MCU's Hall of Baddies. While the Vulture does command a presence whenever he's on screen, it's still nowhere as storied or layered than the likes of Willem Dafoe or Alfred Molina preceding him.

Spidey's rogue gallery is also present, but are presented as more of a support unit for the Vulture than full blown super villains integral to the plot à la Spider-Man 3, played by the likes of Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo), Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus, also discount Tom Hardy), and Donald Glover (The Martian; Childish Gambino). Glover in particular steals the show in one confrontation with Spider-Man in an empty parking lot.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a noteworthy entry into the Marvel Universe, but while it couldn't match the dizzying heights or scale of Raimi's Spider-Man 2, arguably the gold standard of Spider-Man flicks, Homecoming's emphasis on the 'FUN' side of being the web-crawler is an enjoyable romp, and the new set of heroes and villains rarely put a foot wrong. Tom Holland's Spider-Man is one for the ages, and one that's likely struck a ~~web~~ cord with audiences to embrace in the long haul. For Sony, maybe third time really was the charm? Hell, there was one blatant Sony product placement in sight this time around, and that's already a 'Stark' improvement.

8.0 / 10

"One of the most traits a soldier or a student can have - Patience. Sometimes patience is the key to victory, sometimes it leads to very little, and it seems like it's not worth it. And you wonder... why you waited so long for something so disappointing."

BONUS: Spider-Man's suit A.I. Karen is voiced by Jennifer Connelly, who's married to JARVIS/Vision actor Paul Bettany #ArtificialIntelligenceGoals