Spider-Man: No Way Home

Year of Release: 2021

Director:  Jon Watts

Screenplay:  Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, based on Spider-Man created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Starring:  Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revelori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire,

Running Time:  148 minutes

Genre:  Super-hero, action, science-fiction

Following the public unmasking of Peter Parker (Holland) as masked vigilante Spider-Man, his life, and the lives of Peter's girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Battalion) have been made a misery.  Unable to escape the unceasing attention and endless controversy, Peter approaches powerful mystic Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to make the world forget that he is Spider-Man.  However, Peter's interference with the spell causes it to go wrong, bringing in supervillains from other dimensions to  Peter's universe.  

This is a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and is the 27th instalment in the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  This also brings in characters from other non-MCU Spider-Man films such as Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).  There is also an appearance from Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock from the Netflix Daredevil series (2015-2018).  This is one of the better MCU films, with humour and genuine emotion, towards the end there were several audible sobs at the screening I attended.  The action is spectacular, with a particularly impressive set-piece set in the surreal Mirror Dimension.  If you are not familiar with the MCU in general or the Spider-Man films in particular, this is not a very good place to start, and may be quite alienating for newcomers.  However, it is fun to see the old familiar faces, and they generally work well, even if there are too many adversaries for the film's good.  Crucially the film has some real emotion.  Peter Parker deals with some devastating losses, and there is some real weight in his scenes with MJ (of course Tom Holland and Zendaya are in a relationship in real life).  Peter is in many ways defined by his non-super powered support network, MJ, best friend Ned and his Aunt May (Tomei) who frequently act as his conscience and reminder that, in the immortal phrase, "with great power there must also be great responsibility." As always with MCU films there are additional scenes in the end credits.

Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home 

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 Wrestler

Year: 2008
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay: Robert D. Siegel
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Ernest Miller
Running Time: 109 minutes
Genre: Drama, sports,

Summary: In the late 1980s, Robin Ramzinski (Rourke) was a top professional wrestler under the stage name Randy "The Ram" Robinson. An icon to millions and at the peak of his career.
Twenty years later, Randy lives in a trailer park which he can barely afford, works part time in a supermarket and spends much of his time taking part in low paid wrestling matches at the weekend on the independent promotion circuit. However he is getting to the age where his body cannot take the intense regular physical punishment. Randy agress to a twentieth anniversary come-back match against his best known opponent "The Ayatollah" (Miller). However, he suffers a severe heart-attack and is told by the doctor that he must give up wrestling if he wants to live. Randy tries to rebuild his life by attempting to reconcile with his estranged daughter, Stephanie (Wood), and striking up a tentative relationship with an ageing stripper, Cassidy (Tomei). However he finds it increasingly difficult to turn his back on the one thing that gave his life meaning.

Opinions: The exaggerated world of professional wrestling, with it's mix of theatre and sport, is a rich source for drama. An interesting aspect in the film is when the wrestlers are shown before and after the match chatting away and being the best of friends, and yet inflicting serious violence on each other in the ring. Most people know that wrestling is pretty much fake but here, although the wrestlers discuss the matches beforehand and tell their opponents what they're planning, and choreograph the match, the injuries and pain are all too real. However the main character in the film is a man who is basically past his time. His career and life peaked twenty years before the movie begins and he has spent the intervening time trying to keep hold of it. He even tries to retain his appearance of twenty years before including his long, dyed blonde hair and even with the wrestling, the one thing that really mattered in his life, his name and career is built on what he achieved twenty years before. His girlfriend, Cassidy, is ina similar situation. While she is still attractive she knows full well that she is getting too old to get the customers.
Mickey Rourke pretty much owns the film. He is the focus of pretty much every scene and gives a superb portrayal of a fundematally decent but also lost and scared man who knows that his time is running out but does not know what to do about it. He is complemented by a powerful perfomance from Marisa Tomei.
The film is well made, with the wrestling scenes in particular being full of kinetic energy. It also features some striking footage of the derelict, urban landscapes where it's set. There's nothing romantic here, just small, sad characters searching for hope and redemption in a bleak, decaying world. On the minus side, however, it is fair to say that there aren't many surprises in the film, and it's not hard to see where it's heading fairly early on.
However it is worth watching, being entertaining and full of great performances.



Marisa Tomei and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler