Review

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Director:

Jon Watts

Starring:

Tom Holland

Michael Keaton

Robert Downey Jr.

Marisa Tomei

Plot:

Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.

Review:

I have a confession, I am not a Spider-Man fan. I used to be, I liked the first two Tobey Maguire films, but then I was young and stupid and knew nothing. I’ve seen the Amazing Spider-Man movies as well, pretty sure I’ve got reviews posted here for them. The thing that makes me not a fan of Spider-Man, though, is the one time I bought one of his comics it was in the middle of a story arc and he chose Aunt Mae over Mary Jane and I could not comprehend. Ever since I’ve thought of Spider-Man as an idiot and scoffed at his stuff.

Now that’s out of the way I can tell you that I really liked this movie. It nailed the tone of what I feel a Spider-Man movie should be like based on people I know that can’t shut up about him. It was funny, it was a good story, and the teen angst wasn’t overwhelming. Michael Keaton as a villain was great, so believable. You do things to take care of your family. His suit was awesome looking too. Falcon will forever look like a joke after Vulture. Love that Tony Stark was the catalyst for this whole problem. Do not like Tony Stark.

I was afraid that there would be too much Iron Man in the movie, but they did a pretty good balancing act. Peter, Tom Holland, learned how to stand on his own, so that’s good for future movies.

I did not like that almost all of the big scenes were in the trailers, there were almost no new scenes with Spider-Man showing epic levels of skill. Getting tired of that, trailers are becoming highlight reels instead of showing just enough to grab your attention and make you want to watch.

Anyway, I ended up buying the blu-ray after watching this from Red Box and have already watched it again. Spider-Man: Homecoming was a great movie and the start of what I hope is a successful series.

4/5

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Director:

Matthew Vaughn

Starring:

Taron Egerton

Colin Firth

Mark Strong

Julianne Moore

Plot:

When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, the Kingsman’s journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US. These two elite secret organizations must band together to defeat a common enemy.

Review:

Now this was an excellent, in your face over the top action movie. I loved it! The world that is created is rich and amusing, the characters are fleshed out and enjoyable to watch, and the way it’s shot highlights all the right things. Honestly, I’m so glad that the first one did so well that we got a sequel and I can only hope that we have more to come.

I will say there was one scene that bothered me. It wasn’t the brief moment of canabilism or the head shots or even Elton John kicking butt, it was the scene were Taron Egerton’s character had to finger a mark. My issue wasn’t so much as that he had to do it, but was in the way it was shot. Did we really need to see his hand skim across her abdomen and disappear into her panties? Really? I could have done without that, but since the nature of the movie is to push further and further across the line I guess I understand, even if I didn’t like it.

All in all, I loved the movie and can’t wait to be able to buy it and watch it again.

4.5/5 

Side Note:

OMG the president in this is spot on, love him!

Baby Driver (2017)

Baby Driver (2017)

Director:

Edgar Wright

Starring:

Ansel Elgort

Jon Bernthal

Jon Hamm

Kevin Spacey

Lily James

Plot:

After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.

Review:

The first seven or so minutes of this movie is awesome. It’s one of the best car chases I’ve ever seen. It’s then followed by another really awesome car chase.  So my hype for the car chase at the climactic conclusion was pretty high.

The first half of the movie was excellent, great car chases, interesting characters, good music. I couldn’t ask for more. Sadly, after the first half things took a turn, it went from focusing on the driving to emotional character stuff. It was still alright, just not exactly what I wanted to watch.

The ending, though, was a giant disappointment. The trailers and the first half of this movie sold it as an action movie focusing on car chases. They showed us two new muscle cars and then nothing. There was no climactic ending. It was a massive let down and had my husband cursing furiously at the TV.

The movie is worth watching just for the beginning, but I had really hoped for more from this after all the hype I’d read.

3/5

The Gifted (2017-?)

The Gifted (2017-?)

Network:

Fox

Starring:

Stephen Moyer

Amy Acker

Sean Teale

Plot:

In a world where mutated humans are treated with distrust and fear, an institute for mutants battles to achieve peaceful co-existence with humanity.

Review:

For anyone that doesn’t frequently read my blog, I watch a lot of superhero stuff. Movies and TV, if it’s superhero related I will probably watch it. However, I’m starting to get burnt out. I’ve dropped all but Legends of Tomorrow for the CW superhero shows. I didn’t enjoy the last two seasons of the Netflix Marvel shows. I’ve dropped Marvel’s Agents of Shield and I’m probably only going to end up hate watching Inhumans because it’s going to be so short. Legion is the only superhero show right now that I’m actually excited for.

With that in mind, when I heard the premise of The Gifted I was planning on not watching. I was interested, but figured I’d wait until it was finished and binge the entire thing, maybe. Then I saw that Amy Acker was in it and that combined with my mild interest meant I could no longer do that, I had to at least try out the first episode. I’m really glad I did.

Based on what I’ve read of the show it technically doesn’t take place in any of the already established mutant timelines, but there are a number of nods to X-Men story and people. The main thing though is there aren’t so many that someone who isn’t familiar with all the X-Men stuff will feel lost.

The world is not a friendly place for mutants and when two kids find out they have powers things get complicated for them. I really like that their parents find out quickly and the episode starts out with them on the run. We aren’t dealing with them trying to hide while continuing to live a normal life. They are immediately thrust into a hard new world and fighting to survive.

I liked the episode a lot, not as much as Legion’s first episode, but it was definitely enough to get me to continue watching the season as it airs.

4/5

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Director:

Bill Condon

Starring:

Emma Watson

Dan Stevens

Luke Evans

Plot:

An adaptation of the fairy tale about a monstrous-looking prince and a young woman who fall in love.

Review:

This movie, honestly, never stood a chance with me. The original is my favorite Disney animated movie. Belle is my favorite princess. And the Beast…has the best library ever.

The songs didn’t sound as good, though, I did really like the emo Beast song that was new.

Gaston didn’t seem as evil as he does in the cartoon.

The CGI characters lacked personality.

All in all I wasn’t a fan.

2/5