Spider-Man does an excellent job of blending emotions throughout an epic story that will make you laugh, cry, and cheer. It gives you moments that can touch your heart, but at the same time, you will also be smiling or laughing minutes later at something else. This is one of the greatest accomplishments of Marvel movies. They do such of a good job of creating down to earth characters that the audience can connect with, and they blend in heavier material with lighter fare so well. This movie is currently dominating the box office, and it will continue to do so probably for the next month. It is on of those movies where people will go to the theaters multiple times to revisit the story on the big screen. The amount of money it is bringing in shows that the theaters are not dead, but it does lend to the idea that only event level movies such as this will really keep theaters afloat.
When the world gets the revelation that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Peter has his world turned upside down, but it is not just Peter that gets affected by this. His girlfriend MJ and his best friend Ned also receive a ton of unwanted attention. The media storm this causes prevents the trio from getting into any of the colleges that they want to thus causing some serious depression. Peter tries to fix it by going to Dr. Strange, but when he starts casting the spell, that will make everyone forget that Peter is Spider-Man, Peter keeps interrupting him, thus causing the spell to go haywire and not as intended. This causes villains from the other Spider-Man universes to be transported into this one. So, Peter must corral Doc. Oc, Electro, the Green Goblin, Lizard, and Sand Man into Dr. Strange’s lair. May convinces Peter that he can rehab these villains before sending them back, but the Green Goblin has other plans, he was playing nice, but then he turned.
A battle ensues which results in the death of May. Peter must flee the scene because the D.O.D.C arrives. MJ and Ned are starting to worry about their lack of communication with Peter, so Ned makes a portal to Peter, but Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man comes through, then they try again, and Toby McGuire comes through. Then they go find Tom Holland, and they formulate a plan as how to reform the villains and send everyone back to their homes. A battle ensues at the Statue of Liberty, and once working together the three Spider-Men prevail, but as this is happening, a tear in the multiverse is about to burst open. So, Tom Holland’s Peter sacrifices the knowledge that he is Spider-Man from everyone, including MJ and Ned, so that the multiverse does not completely open.
The story centered on three central ideas. First was dealing with grief. The initial onset of grief is relatively mundane, it is more akin to disappointment, but when the trio find out that they are not getting into the college they want, they get disappointed. This is very humanizing problem for a hero to have, especially one that has been routinely involved in the saving of the Earth from Thanos. So, it grounds the story early. Later, Peter loses his Aunt May due to the Green Goblin. He goes off and hides on the roof of his school, where the other Peter Parkers go to find him, and they share their stories of loss, and how it made them jaded and vengeful, but they do not want this Peter to end up that way, because in the end it does not help. It sends a powerful message. When you lose someone, you are close to, it is easy to go into a spiral. It can be so hard that it changes your whole outlook on life, and in both of the other Spider-Men, they did not like the people they became when they became vengeful and hardened by their losses. In the end, they learned from their losses and realized that vengeance was not going to solve their problems, and they did not want this Peter to go through the same unfulfilling experiencing and end up feeling emptier end side due to his poor choices. So when Toby McGuire takes the glider from Tom Holland before he uses it to kill the Green Goblin it really hits home, but the part that sticks out the most is when Peter is at May’s grave with Happy, and Happy say something along the lines of just because she is gone does not mean that all the good she did in the world is gone, which really struck an emotional cord.
The story also centered on selflessness. It starts there with Peter being willing to brainwash the world so that they forget that he is Spider-Man, thus releasing his friends’ reputations of being associated with him from the collective conscious. This would increase their chances of getting into their dream colleges. May was also at the center of this idea. She wanted to give the villains a second chance, and she convinced Peter that he was being selfish by not trying to rehab them before returning them to their worlds. Peter again makes the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the movie, to correct the spell he makes it so everyone forgets who Peter Parker is in general, so he becomes anonymous to the world, and this makes it so the multiverse does not burst open causing a whole new set of problems. Then when he goes to reintroduce himself to MJ and Ned, he decides not to do so. It might just be temporary, but he saw how happy they were without the stress of Spider-Man upon them, so he left them alone.
Finally, the movie is about redemption. There are two points in the film where the villains are given a chance to reform and go back to their world better than how they left. The three Spider-Men also get a chance to redeem themselves. Many of the villains were about to be killed before they got transported to this world, so Andrew Garfield and Toby McGuire had a chance to save their lives, rather than be the cause of their demise. Garfield’s Spider-Man also got the chance to redeem the death of Gwen when he saved MJ. McGuire’s Spider-Man got the chance to redeem his involvement in the death of Uncle Ben’s killer, which he regretted, by preventing Tom Holland from killing the Green Goblin.
There were numerous nods to the other Spider-Men movies throughout the film. The more up to date you are on the other films, the more you will be able to catch. It is not all important, but it can help make some of the jokes land a little more. It was also cool that they introduced the Daredevil character from the Netflix series into the MCU. Many people complain when movies try to implant too much fan service into the films, specifically the last Star Wars film was absolutely destroyed for doing so, but this one was not overwhelming. There were many smaller jabs, but none of them seemed to take away from the story.
The only bad part of this movie came shortly after the capture of the villains. The movie fell flat for a little while, as nice of an idea as it is to try and help the villains, it slowed the pace massively and felt off. It was used as a plot device to lead to the death of May and make her seem even more innocent. It also gave them a chance to create a parallel to the other Spider-Men origin stories which Tom Holland was lacking, because he just showed up in Civil War. The whole May saying, “With great power comes great responsibility” seemed forced, and it did not hit like it did in the original Toby McGuire film. With that being said, this was still a visually incredible movie. The effects worked well and the emotion from the story did hit home. The final battle scene of the three Spider-Men teaming up, specifically when they sling in together will stick in my mind for a long time. Seeing this in an IMAX with a big crowd that was willing to cheer and clap is an incredible experience. I give this movie 4 stars and recommend seeing it MCU fan or not.
Other Movies This Week:
The Matrix Reloaded: I can see how the first one is beloved, I did not care for it, but I can see it, but this... this was bad. It was like watching one of the new batman video games where you keep hitting counter when fighting so none of the bad guys can ever hit you. This also felt like a much worst Tenet at times.
Army of Darkness: It's like Monty Python, but more ridiculous and less funny.
Juice World into the Abyss: A look into the life of Juice WRLD where there are clearly problems present from his drug usage, but he is clearly incredibly talented. It is an entertaining watch, but it lacks a narrative to truly make it great. It is mainly just a compilation of footage.
The Matrix Revolutions: Watched these so I would feel prepared for the new release, but I was not impressed. I had high expectations, because for many people these movies are so beloved, but I just did not connect with them at all.
West Side Story: Vivacious, extravagant, and wonderfully choreographed, a (slightly) modern day Romeo and Juliet, that peaked a little too early, but incredibly well done, nonetheless.
Spider-Man(2002): Those Peter MJ moments are rough, but all in all a good movie that holds up well! Also, the make out at the funeral is an all-time worst friend choice by Peter.
Wall-E: It's like 2001 a Space Odyssey but for kids!
Nightmare Alley: This story falls prey to its own theme, the disease of more, the story just kept going and felt like it would never end.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas: I detested this movie as a kid, but I decided it had been enough time that I would give it another chance, and I still am not a fan. Give me the animated version please!
8 Bit Christmas: Basically, a remake of a Christmas Story. Funny at moments, but there are better versions of this movie that exist.
New Rankings:
The Matrix Reloaded: 2 Stars
Army of Darkness: 2 Stars
Juice World into the Abyss: 3 Stars
The Matrix Revolutions: 2 Stars
West Side Story: 3.5 Stars
Spider-Man: 4 Stars
Spider-Man: No Way Home: 4 Stars
Wall-E: 3.5 Stars
Nightmare Alley: 2 Stars
How the Grinch Stole Christmas: 2.5 Stars
8 Bit Christmas: 2.5 Stars
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