Spider-Man: Homecoming

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Jon Watts
Screenplay:  Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, based on Spider-Man created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee
Starring:  Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier
Running Time:  130 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, action, superhero

Teenager Peter Parker (Holland) has his hands full with schoolwork and maintaining his secret identity as superhero "Spider-Man".  After aiding billionaire Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Parker is taken under Stark's wing and given a new, sophisticated Spider-Man costume.  Soon tiring of the small-scale crimes he has been foiling and good deeds that he has been doing in his neighborhood, Peter sees his chance at the big time coming when he runs across a gang stealing and adapting advanced alien weaponry and Stark technology and selling it to criminals.

Spider-Man first swung on to the world's cinema screens played by Tobey Maguire in the 2002 Sam Raimi film Spider-Man, which was followed by two sequels, and then in the 2012 reboot The Amazing Spider-Man and it's sequel, with Andrew Garfield in the role.  Here we have yet another reboot, and, following Tom Holland's debut as everyone's favorite webslinger in Captain America: Civil War, he is firmly part of the ongoing "Marvel Cinematic Universe", the shared universe of various movies and TV shows centered on various superhero characters from Marvel comics.  Here we have the superheroics in the world of a teen movie.  Peter Parker worries about ordinary teenage stuff such as his grades, and his crush on classmate Liz (Harrier).  It's a refreshingly small-scale film, there are no world destroying monsters or maniacs, here the villain (played by Michael Keaton) is quite sympathetic.  He's a man who wants money to look after his family and his employees after they are casually laid off.  He's ruthless and murderous when pushed, however he is kind of likable.  Tom Holland is possibly the best screen Spider-Man yet, returning the character to his teenage roots, his Peter Parker (and Spider-Man) is engagingly awkward and enthusiastic, also the fact that he makes mistakes.  Most of the film's destruction, such as slicing a ferry in half, is his fault (albeit accidental),  he is also surrounded by a fun group of friends and adversaries.  By and large the film is self-contained, although it probably helps if you have seen the other MCU films, it also differs from other Spider-Man films in that it doesn't show Spider-Man's origin story, which is only briefly referred to.   While the action sequences aren't as thrilling as some of the other superhero films, this is still a funny, thoroughly entertaining romp.

Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Homecoming

       

The Martian

Year of Release:  2015
Director:  Ridley Scott
Screenplay:  Drew Goddard, based on the novel The Martian by Andy Weir
Starring:  Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Donald Glover, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie
Running Time:  141 minutes
Genre:  science-fiction, drama

This thrilling science-fiction survival story is adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Andy Weir.  The manned Ares III mission on Mars is aborted early due to a violent storm, during the evacuation, astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is hit by a piece of debris and, presumed dead, is left behind on the surface of Mars.  Watney finds himself completely alone on a desolate planet, and faced with finding a way to get in contact with Earth, and keeping himself alive long enough to be rescued, with a rapidly diminishing supply of food, drink and air.

The film moves between Watney's desperate attempts to survive on Mars and the efforts back on Earth to retrieve him.  It's an exciting, straightforward story, which is gripping, despite the fact that it is basically about one man alone on a planet.  Matt Damon makes Watney a likeable and engaging anchor for the film, and he has strong support from a large and impressive cast.  It benefits from the switching back and forth between Mars, Earth and the mission's spaceship, opening up the narrative and making it far more than a one man show.  It's a deeply human film, about people trying to save one life.  All the conflict in the film comes from people arguing about how best to do that.

It is worth pointing out that this is a science-fiction film but there are no aliens or killer robots or anything like that, instead it tries to be relatively realistic.  Although it is worth pointing out that in reality, a Martian storm would only really be like a light breeze, rather than the raging hurricane depicted in the film.

By and large it is pretty faithful to the Weir novel and the dialogue is witty and there is plenty of humour to alleviate the tension, and quirky and amusing details such as the frequent 1970s songs on the soundtrack (the only music that Watney has available to him in his shelter).

Aside from a couple of moments of introspection there is little of the angst and despair that the situation might engender, which strikes a bit of a false note.  However this is a hugely enjoyable film.

 
    Matt Damon is The Martian