) and well before we got to the big action scene, I'd absolutely lost the will.
Pity as I love a good Western .The Harder They Fall. So I enjoy a good Western (classic, spaghetti, contemporary) but this is not a good Western or indeed a good film. A good Western needs imo at least one (and hopefully more) of:
1) A clear sense of who you want to win/lose or, if there's moral ambiguity going on (which I do like), it also needs...
2) A good script/dialogue.
And then we have
3) Well-paced action.
Didn't care who won/lost, the script was pedestrian (I think it was going for a cross between a Spaghetti Western and Tarantino motherfucker
Shoehorning in (in passing) a political motivation and then a personal motivation at the end felt like a really clunky way of trying to make you empathise with the baddie. (Not that I was really empathising with anyone but me and my wasted life by that point tbh.)
In short, on the very boring end of mediocre and a real waste of a decent cast who tried their best but to no avail. (I also found the music really intrusive and annoying.) I did stay till the end but I was so bored I considered walking about an hour in.
Tl:dr I'd a free ticket and still felt pissed off I'd wasted my time on this.
Me too. Was brought up on them.
I saw it at the cinema during the BFI's Melville season. I may go anyway, especially as there's a thing afterwards about an interesting sounding book. Quite tempted to buy it.
www.institut-francais.org.uk
Jessica Jones and Luke Cage into the MCU next please (sorry Iron Fist, go play in the corner and continue being a dumbass)
Again - Andrew Garfield is fantastic just generally.
Were you dreading the experience because of normal cinemagoing behaviour or of going during a pandemic?Spider-Man: No Way Home
No Spoilers review - Thoroughly entertaining, decently paced (despite a long run time) and perhaps most importantly - full of great characterisation and emotional beats. The plot is suitably silly (and provides a few convenient moments), but it's the characters that drive it forward, which makes for some great payoffs in the final third of the film.
It may not win any awards (and I'm not necessarily suggesting it should) but in terms of blockbuster crowd-pleasers, this might be right up there with the very best.
9/10
As an aside - I was dreading the cinema experience, but thankfully only a few dickheads with their phones out occasionally, so not too bad.
Spoilers Review -
Weirdly, I find myself enjoying the film more as I think about it (in the cinema I was enjoying the spectacle but felt it was a bit fan-service-heavy).
One of the most consistent (and up-to-this-point reasonable) criticisms of Tom Holland's Spider-Man was that he wasn't allowed to stand on his own 2 feet:
We never saw his origin story.
- he was gifted magic spider suits and financially-backed / mentored by Tony Stark
- he joins the Avengers barely months after becoming Spider-Man and fights Universe-ending threats on alien planets, but doesn't spend enough time in Queens being a friendly neighbourhood, etc....
- he's popular enough at school and has his best friend and girlfriend in on his secret, helping him out alongside Aunt May (and Happy filling in as a Stark surrogate with tech, etc)
- we never saw his origin story (Uncle Ben, "With great power comes great.....")
Because it hadn't yet happened.
The MCUs contribution to the Spideyverse turns out to be actually one giant origin story, carefully plotted to get us to a fully formed, battle-scarred and very-much-alone Peter Parker.
In terms of scripting / storytelling, it's incredibly well done and hits hard after what were relatively light affairs in Homecoming and Far From Home.
Holland's Peter Parker deciding to try and cure the villains rather than send them to die made for a unique twist and some funny interactions, but also allowed the film to give unexpected closure to several character arcs I never would have expected. Seeing Tobey's Peter older and secure in himself, chatting warmly with Doc Ock and saving Goblin from being speared by his glider again; allowing Garfield his moment of redemption in saving MJ while clearly still not over Gwen's death; the various villains coming to terms with their fates and being saved by Spider-Man instead of killed / defeated.
Short list of random thoughts / nerdgasms:
Matt Murdock
Andrew Garfield steals almost every scene he's in, even with Tobey and Tom. His acting is on another level (particularly in the aforementioned scene where he gets redemption for not saving Gwen in TASM2). Just brilliant to watch.
The older / middle / youngest sibling dynamics between the Spider-Men were both meta and perfectly consistent within the film
Marisa Tomei nails her Uncle Ben moment (well acted by Holland too)
Willem Defoe is fantastic reprising Green Goblin, whoever made the decision to leave his helmet off for the remainder of the film understood he basically looks like a comic book villain regardless
Dr Strange basically popping in to set up his film and snark a lot, Benedict Cumberbatch still channels pure arrogance better than anyone.
"PETER THREE" waves arms manically
Loved it.
Just normal cinema behaviour, even people whispering sets me on edge and breaks the immersion.
The inability of some people to leave their fucking phones alone for 2-3 hours doesn't help either
No offence to Sue but best watch yourself and make your own judgement - Sues description sounds quite good to me!
its had strong reviews
Good time to go to the cinema right now. They're quiet and you can get the best seat.
Saw The Lost Daughter recently. Some great performances by Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley.
Assured directorial debut from actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
I think you'd get more out of it if you've seen the others, they all tell a continuous story. I quite like MCU Spider-Man films.
so should i watch Homecoming first?
Just don't watch Into the Spiderverse, because you'll wish it was that, with all your soul.
I thought Homecoming was among the best MCU films, the Spider-Man films are among the most consistently good. Mind, the character doesn't even get introduced in Homecoming, he gets introduced in Captain America Civil War.
Mate, you don't need our permission to stay up late watching spiderman. Go for it
I thought it looked beautiful, but it's a film for comic book fans, with lots of references and in-jokes which, as someone who didn't read superhero comics, went over my head. It was trying a bit too hard to be clever for my taste. I find the MCU films more accessible and enjoyable and I really like Tom Holland in the role.
I'd rather not tbh, but I do want to make sense of what i'm watching tomorrowMate, you don't need our permission to stay up late watching spiderman. Go for it
Aye, loved that - will watch again soon
