Spider-Man: Homecoming

Big Spider-Man fan over here, but you guys probably already knew that. I’ve been quiet on my thoughts for the latest Spider-Man reboot, trying to keep my expectations at a minimum and not release a mega Spidey post for a film that could have disappointed. I’ve been cautiously optimistic, I haven’t liked all the decisions made, it was starting to look like Iron Man 4, but Marvel studios have rarely let me down so it was in good hands. Or was it…

I’m kidding, I believe I can safely say that this is a good Spider-Man film, not the best ever (Spider-Man 2 will probably never be beaten) but a solid entry into the character’s history. Read on to find out why.

Back in the capable hands of Marvel Studios, Spider-Man: Homecoming catches up with Peter Parker post-Civil War, trying his best to impress ‘Mr Stark’ for a place on The Avengers, dealing with the dilemmas of High School life whist attempting to stop an underground arms dealership that’s being run by the deadly Vulture. Tom Holland is back as Spider-Man and now being supported by Michael Keaton as The Vulture, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Laura Harrier as Liz and Zendaya as Michelle. Jon Watts is now in the directing chair, he proved himself as a capable director with the small indie film Cop Car and has transitioned well into blockbusters because he got a Spider-Man reboot right, not an easy thing to do!

What this film got right that the previous reboot did not is that it is completely different to what has come before. I was worried about a Spider-Man who was younger than me but it works, mainly because the cast is so young as well, so they look the part, but also because this feels like a high school drama mixed with a superhero film. It’s jarring but it works because it highlights the struggle Peter Parker has to go through constantly. It also helps that the soap opera ‘John Hughes’ High School drama is handled very well. We also get a different Spider-Man to what we’ve seen before, not only is he young but he’s also hasn’t got a handle on his superpowers, constantly making mistakes and learning the ropes throughout the entire film. He’s definitely a very ‘friendly neighbourhood’ Spider-Man because apart from one set piece in Washington, he pretty much sticks to Queens, so don’t expect Spidey swinging around skyscrapers just yet. It leaves you excited to see them develop his character in future films.

With every hero must come a villain and The Vulture I’m happy to report is great. Michael Keaton kills it as Adrian Toomes and has a great physical presence in the film, in and out of the costume. The design of Vulture looks awesome on film and with his wingspan being pretty huge he’s a scary and intimidating threat when he comes across the wall crawler. He’s not just another punch bag, he has depth, motivation and a little bit of sympathy as a working man adapting to the world around him to make ends meet. Easily one of Marvel’s better villains and on a smaller more grounded scale, something I hope they keep for new villains in the next instalment.

Tony Stark was another worry of mine, I didn’t like him being so integral to Spider-Man, making his suit or having too much of a leading role in his film. Thankfully though he doesn’t outstay his welcome, this is still very much Peter’s film and he’s still learning about ‘great responsibility’ without Stark. The gadget filled suit looks great but Stark’s involvement isn’t to my taste still, although there are some great sequences throughout the film with him testing the suits abilities that come close to redeeming that. Instead of world building, the film is more interested in placing Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so I have to throw away some of my ‘comic book accuracy nerd annoyance’ and accept that this version is going to be shaped by a world with super powered beings already inhabiting it and being very present in his home town. Though any time Spidey needs saving from Iron Man will always hit a sore spot with me!

Back to the tone of this film, it’s very funny! This is something we’ve come to expect from Marvel films now but it feels more at home with Spider-Man. He’s an awkward kid and it comes across and there are a lot of jokes at his expense. Not all of them land, there’s a lot of emphasis on Aunt May being hot which came across as little bit creepy rather than funny. There’s a good ratio of action to down time, and when the action scenes roll out they are all well done, but there are occasions when Spider-Man looks more like a cartoon character than something ‘real’ in the scene. The light-hearted nature of the film is helped along by a good score from Michael Giacchino, it’s not iconic but it’s different, more playful than other entries in the MCU and differentiates itself from other heroes, something I hope future MCU films continue.  

There are some decisions made in the film that still make me cringe a bit but revealing them could be considered spoilers so I’ll stay clear for now. Some of the smaller characters don’t get a lot of development and Zendaya’s Michelle is very under used to the point where I’m not sure why she’s such a big part of the marketing. Depending on your age and fondness of high school dramas, some of the scenes may not be as easily relatable, but for me it was nice to see a younger perspective in the MCU. Is Tom Holland my Spider-Man? No (or at least not yet), his character may have been easier to relate to because of my age but I wasn’t as emotionally invested as I have been before and this feeling was made apparent near the end of the film, as a ‘classic’ spidey moment plays out and I wasn’t quite sure if the film had earnt it yet.

The more I talk/write about this film though, the more I like it. It’s not my favourite Spider-Man film but it’s a solid entry and a refreshing take on the character that differentiates itself from the films before. We haven’t seen a fully developed Spider-Man in the MCU but he is a teenager and has a lot more developing to do, so it’s actually quite exciting to see where they go with the character next. Who knows, this could be our best Spider-Man yet, only time will tell. I’m rating Spider-Man: Homecoming a 4/5.

What did you think of the latest (and hopefully last reboot of the character for some time!) Spider-Man film? Hit the mark or too much Stark? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Captain America: Civil War

I’ve finally seen it; I’ve finally seen Captain America: Civil War! Read on to find out my SPOILER FREE review of the latest Marvel film.

If you haven’t seen the film yet, then go in blind, it’s better that way. All you need to know is that The Avengers begin to learn that their actions have consequences, and how to deal with those consequences splits the group in two.

You know the cast by now but we do get two fresh faces in the limelight and they come in the form of Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa aka The Black Panther and Tom Holland as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. They both do an amazing job in their roles and really are standout performances in the film.  We’ll get back to Spider-Man later though... My favourite performance of the whole film goes to Robert Downey Jr, he gives the best version of Tony Stark/Iron Man we have seen since his first solo outing. The Russo Brothers are great at directing actors, in The Winter Soldier they made Samuel L Jackson act in a role where beforehand he was just being himself and they do exactly the same here with RDJ who really breaks new ground and is more than just himself, he really sells that Stark is a man broken and defined by his experiences. The rest of the cast all do a great job as well, nobody stuck out as being bad or less than satisfactory.

My biggest worry with this film was that they were trying to fit too many characters into the story. Was I right to have that fear? Yes and no. This is definitely more of an Avengers film with a slight emphasis on Captain America. I mean it does follow on from The Winter Soldier and Cap is the most prominent role in the film however, there is just so much going on around him that it’s difficult to say that this was his solo film. If anything I would have just called this film Civil War and have it be a chapter within the Marvel Universe that shifted the status quo, because at the end of the day that is all this film does. It’s not a bad thing though, this film kind of proves all the good that can come from an extended and shared universe, this is the kind of film that us fans have been wanting to see from the start and although it takes a little while to get going, when it all kicks off it kicks off in spectacular fashion. That airport scene, oh boy that airport scene!

This isn’t Age of Ultron though, it isn’t just set up, there is a well thought out and interesting storyline here that does make you very invested. Instead of setting up later films, it instead introduces you to a different side of the MCU, mainly in the form of The Black Panther who I have been waiting to see for years and he does not disappoint.  It’s a lot more personal and smaller Avengers film that I think we all kind of wanted from Age of Ultron but didn’t get. The marketing made you choose a side and I was Team Cap throughout but in the film it’s really not that simple. By the end I was switching sides every 10 seconds, they worked the two sides of the argument so well that neither side was wrong, both made sense and you were fully invested in the outcomes, for the first time in a Marvel film there felt like there were real stakes involved. Nearly every character serves a purpose here and they all get their chance to shine, there are a lot of fist pumping moments. However the highlight character of the film for me was also the one who served the least purpose to the plot...

Spider-Man. You all know by now that I am a huge Spider-Man fan so I was very excited and little bit nervous to see him enter the MCU in this film. My Spider-Man has always been older than the high school version that everybody seems to be shipping recently. Maybe it was because when I read/watched Spider-Man he was always older than me and now in Civil War he’s younger than me, either way, I do respect where they were going when they cast really young, it makes sense and it contrasts the rest of the heroes very well. Tom Holland sold it as Peter Parker for me and even more so as Spider-Man, he cool, he’s funny, he’s annoying and even though he’s out of his league he holds his own.  Basically Marvel have made Spider-Man the way he should be. He brings some much needed humour to a film that isn’t as comedy centric as some other Marvel outings. His involvement in the film is purely down to the fact that Marvel and Sony have made a deal, he doesn’t do anything to serve the plot apart from bring a while load of joy and big smile to my face. It’s too early to say if he can top Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker or Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man as he has had barely any screen time, but the signs are looking very good. I cannot wait for Spider-Man: Homecoming next year!

In terms of cinematography, the film looks like an action film, there isn’t much inspiring here, the action scenes are cool and gritty like in Winter Soldier, but it’s pretty standard in terms of the look of the film. The music as well doesn’t add much, maybe it was my cinema showing but I really didn’t feel it was loud enough to emphasise anything. When I was re-watching The Avengers recently the score really emphasised how epic the film was, it worked so well and I feel we haven’t had something like it since.

Another thing that hasn’t been as good since The Avengers has been the CGI. It’s not awful but there are some moments that have the characters (especially Black Panther) looking a bit rubbery. It’s a shame because Black Panther really kicks ass when he doesn’t look like a computer animated rag doll. Most of it looks great though, there was just the odd moment that caught my eye.

I don’t think this was my favourite Marvel film but it definitely is one of their better ones. It’s a lot of fun and really works in terms of emotional investment and character stakes. I wish it had been renamed though as this wasn’t really the third solo Cap film I was hoping for, however it definitely was the Avengers film I was looking for last year. The film is a celebration of a shared universe and really shows off the potential in storytelling you can have with one. It’s not perfect but it’s definitely the best superhero film we have had this year. I am rating Captain America: Civil War a rating of 4/5.

What did you think? Best Marvel film to date? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

How I Would Reboot Spider-Man

As a screenwriter, one of my dream jobs would be getting tasked with writing the script for my childhood hero, Spider-Man. Spider-Man hasn't had the best of runs on the big screen recently, with (in my opinion) only two of the five films made, being any good. When Marvel Studio's finally got the chance to bring the webhead into their shared universe I was extremely happy, they have now got another chance to get the character right, as well as making him part of something bigger and being able to see him interact with other Marvel heroes.

Spider-Man is first going to be seen in next years Captain America: Civil War, before then getting his own film in 2017. How is Marvel going to make their take different from the previous attempts? This is something I have been thinking about for a while now and it got me wondering, how would I write a new Spider-Man film that felt different from the previous films but also stayed true to the character that people fell in love with in the comics? So instead of just thinking this I decided to go about actually writing the opening to what I think would make a great new Spider-Man film. Below is the opening five pages to a Spider-Man script that I feel would be something exciting and original but also familiar. After the script pages, I have given a brief overview of the story I am intending to tell as well as some dream casting for the parts that have yet to be publicly announced my Marvel. Now, don't take this script as my idea of what a new Spider-Man script should definately be like, it's just something I think would be cool and a bit of fun. Take it all with a pinch of salt because none of us know how Spider-Man will end up being like after the events of Civil War! But please do enjoy!

So there you go. Spider-Men. This is a concept that I think would be an interesting route for Marvel/Sony to go down. There has been a big debate as to the ethnicity of Spider-Man prior to the casting of Tom Holland. My personal preference in that debate was that I would like to keep Peter white because that is what I am used to in the comics, however, if it had turned out an actor of different ethnicity was to play him then I wouldn't be angry or upset either. Obviously some people thought different and I know that the casting of Tom Holland was a disappointment to many. My inclusion of the black hispanic Spider-Man, Miles Morales in the script was not to pander to an audience who wanted more diversity, but because I think he is an awesome character! In my opinion, the story of Miles Morales in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics has been some of the best spidey stories we have seen out of Marvel in the last few years. Now I know in those comics he is a legacy character to the deceased Peter Parker but I don't think his character is one that needs to stick to that format. In fact I believe that through Miles Morales, we could find ourselves a more complex origin to Peter Parker without having to show him being bitten by a spider again!

In my script I would have Peter only being about a year into his Spider-Man career and he is getting pretty comfortable with it. Then you have the even younger Miles come along and he has only just gotten his powers, and although he is a pretty decent guy, he hasn't had the whole 'with great powers come great responsibilty' speech yet. Miles also has a pretty cool yet sleazy and manipulative uncle, who is also a master thief named The Prowler (Yes the Ultimate Comics version of the character) and after figuring out his identity, he uses him to help steal equipment from other bad guys, including The Shocker's gauntlets who we see in the opening scene. Using Miles, he slowly begins to become a more powerful and sinister villain.  In order to show how much Uncle Ben had a part in Peter's life and superhero ethics, I would have Peter trying to pass the lessons he was taugh onto Miles. Peter has to take on Miles along with his own superhero career, school and love life in the form of his new neighbour who has taken an interest in him, Mary Jane Watson (wouldn't it be great to get the line 'face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot' in somewhere as well!). Whilst getting to know and trust each other they open up to one another, Miles tells Peter of his Uncle's criminal and manipulative ways and Peter's tells Mile's one of his biggest guilt's, he believes it is his fault his own uncle died. Nearing the final act of the film, I would have the two them fully have each others trust and friendship with Peter then making Miles his own set of web shooters and his own cool costume. Then together they work to take down The Prowler before he gains too much power in the criminal underworld.

Obviously this is different to anything we have seen on film and also not something we have seen entirely in the comics. This doesn't mean that Miles and Peter will team up in every Spider-Man film but the possibility should be there, as well as Miles being able to spin off and have his own solo film adventures within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So who would my dream cast be to join Tom Holland and Marisa Tomei in the main roles?

Miles Morales

(Michael Rainy Jr)

Michael Rainy Jr first impressed me with his performance in LUV, where even as a young child he was able to pull off a incredible performance as the lead in the film. He has since been seen in Lee Danial's The Butler and Orange is the New Black. He is now 14, soon to be 15 years old, near about the right age for Miles but more importantly younger than Tom Holland, which in the end is all that really matters for this to work. He also has already proven to have great chemistry with actor I would choose to play The Prowler...

The Prowler

(Common)

Common appeared alongside Michael Rainy Jr in LUV as his Uncle, so they already have that to work with. As I have previously mentioned, in the film they have great chemistry and I believe that Common could play a great Prowler as in LUV it showed that he could play a likeable yet flawed man with a dark side. Anybody taking on the role of this version of The Prowler would have to be able to play it cool enough for the audience to believe that he truly could manipulate young Miles into doing his dirty work and I think Common could do just that.

Mary Jane

(Maika Monroe)

You may recognise Maika Monroe from two brilliant stylish horror films from the last couple years The Guest and It Follows. Both were extremely good films and both featured Maika giving brilliant performances. Yes she may be blonde but that didn't stop Sam Raimi from casting Kirsten Dusnt for his Spider-Man films. Dye her hair red and I believe she would make a great easy going and fun Mary Jane to Tom Holland's (hopefully) awkward Peter Parker. 

The Shocker

(Aaron Paul)

I'm not the first to say this, I believe a few people have thrown around the idea of Breaking Bad star as The Shocker. The Shocker in my film is more of a secondary villain to The Prowler but that doesn't mean he can't be just as cool and menacing, something I believe Aaron Paul would just revel in once he puts on the costume. I'm The Shocker bitch! (Okay maybe I wouldn't have him say that...)

So there you have it, my take on one of the many ways Spider-Man could be rebooted! This won't be everyones cup of tea, I understand that. It's just something I think would be cool. The rumours so far for the next solo outing is that it will be very 'John Hughes' like in nature and may even have Kraven The Hunter as the villain. That all sounds good, though personally I would wait until we have an older and more mature Peter so Marvel could adapt Kraven's Last Hunt onto the big screen! If not, an animated film like DC's The Dark Knight Returns would be sweet!

I've never done a post like this before so I hope you enjoyed it. If I ever have an idea for any other takes on characters maybe I'll do this again, that is of course if you liked it, so please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Now Spider-Man is babysitted by Marvel Studios I am sure that whatever route they take it will be a good one and true to the character of Peter Parker. However if you are reading this Kevin Feige and think it's an absolutely amazing idea please give me a call! 

Thanks for reading!