Spider-Man: No Way Home

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If it’s not general comments use the spoiler tags or I’ll have to delete it.
 
Well, I liked it a lot.
Also, I'm glad I only watched the first trailers only once this summer, so I was genuinely surprised at some of the reveals.

The theatre was filled (with 1 free seat between groups; covid's gonna covid), and the biggest crowd I've seen at the cinema since before the pandemic started. people cheered, people clapped, and I swear that's very rare in Belgium. Oh, and almost nobody left their seats until the final post credit scene. Marvel trained us well.
 
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Saw it at 3PM today. Theater was pretty full. Nice to hear outright cheers from the audience.

Quick spoiler-free review. It surpassed expectations and I think people will be pleased. There's a couple of cool cameos I didn't expect. There were a few red herrings in the trailers (for instance, Dr. Strange isn't as reckless with the spell as one of the trailers made him look). Very curious what the next phase for Spider-Man will be after this movie.

I am very glad I spent the time and rewatched all five of the pre-MCU Spider-Man movies as well.
 
I’ve never seen the majority of the Andrew Garfield movies.
How do you define "majority"--there's only two movies with him.

I will say you will get maximum enjoyment if you've seen all 5 pre-MCU movies, there are some good callbacks. The critics might have a point that the movie stands less on its own because of the whole concept of it. But it's something I think long-time fans will enjoy.

I will now put some spoiler thoughts in spoiler tags.

In the beginning, I loved the little tribute to Sam Raimi with the camera right in front of Parker and MJ as they were trying to escape the onlooking crowd, reminding me of those movies.

Wasn't much of High School this time around, which I missed. Seeing the teachers reaction when he came back was hilarious. And wasn't it just like Flash to write a book! The Daredevil Cameo was perfect, short but just enough to get fans cheering. Happy's Place was pretty funny--seeing the original "arm-bot" from Iron Man was fun. It was fun to see JJJ again, this time as

Really enjoyed the villains coming through. Pretty much enjoyed all the interaction with them. Some got less time than others--Sandman and the Lizard got the short end as they didn't do all that much. Norman Osborne stole the show of course, which is what I expect from Spider-Man's classic arch-villain and from Willem Defoe. Seeing their reactions to the more "high-tech" nature of the MCU was interesting, and seeing how Peter's friends reacted was hilarious. Only thing is--this kind of erases the ability for an MCU version of Doc Ock or The Green Goblin, as they pretty much establish for instance that a few of these characters don't exist in the MCU through the dialog.

Of course, the key moment was seeing Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions come in, and the interactions they had with his friends. I was afraid this was going to be nothing more than a brief cameo but it was about 1/3rd of the whole movie and I was pleased. Fans were screaming with delight when each one of them appeared, and the major points they played it the plot was worth it.

Aunt May getting killed by The Green Goblin wasn't something I expected. I also am now real curious on what role the MCU's Uncle Ben played? Did he exist at all? Did he die but it had less of an impact? They didn't really come out and say this, but the MCU version of Peter Parker gets the "with great power..." line from May.

I think the biggest issues I had were with the two times the spell was invoked. I'm glad the situation was not what the trailer implied that Doctor Strange was reckless. However, shouldn't Strange have explained the spell at the beginning (which was to remove people's knowledge of his secret identity) and asked Peter right at the start who should be excluded from the spell? That part could have been handled better.

But I don't understand why the second time the spell was cast that people lost their knowledge of knowing Peter Parker the person. So Happy forgets that May Parker had a nephew, and MJ and Ned forget Peter Parker was their classmate? Why did the parameters of the spell have to change that second time? That wasn't explained well. (Not to mention the spell drawing in all of the people with memories of Spider-Man as Peter Parker in every reality seems really over-powerful and makes you wonder why Strange couldn't defeat Thanos). These are the most nitpicks I had about the situation.

So we have a status quo of Peter, on his own, getting his apartment, apparently not going to college. He has no family or friends now. And people know Spider-Man but not who he is. This kind of lets Sony and Marvel/Disney do a form of soft reboot if they need to. Wonder what they will plan for the future?

Mid-Credits scene--I haven't watched the Venom movies, but it was interesting. Instead of an end credits scene, we got a preview of the new Doctor Strange, which I can't wait for.
 
Just got back from seeing it. I laughed, I cried, I cheered. The theater was only about 1/3 full, but the response was pretty unanimous. A little let down by the first end credit scene (I'm sure those who've seen it might get why), but I guess it makes sense in a way
 
I saw it today as well, with my daughter (this was her second time). I had all the same emotions, and I was frankly surprised by quite a few things. My daughter and I both love Peter’s “new” status quo at the end of the movie. The credits scene for me was eh but I can see what’s coming in a future movie.
 
It’s opening weekend ($260M) beat Avengers: Infinity War (my favorite MCU film) for the 2nd best OW ever.
 
Might finish around $700-750M domestic, which is really good.
 
Just for comparison as it goes up the ladder (467.3M domestic currently), these are the top ten domestic films of all-time:


  1. Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens (2015) ($936,662,225)
  2. Avengers: Endgame (2019) ($858,373,000)
  3. Avatar (2009) ($760,507,625)
  4. Black Panther (2018) ($700,059,566)
  5. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) ($678,815,482)
  6. Titanic (1997) ($659,363,944)
  7. Jurassic World (2015) ($652,306,625)
  8. The Avengers (2012) ($623,357,910)
  9. Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi (2017) ($620,181,382)
  10. The Incredibles 2 (2018) ($608,581,744)
 
Just saw Spiderman: Far From Home yesterday, and I gotta admit, it's a great entry into both the MCU and the Spidey roster of films.
Totally loved all the old faces showing up, it hit all the right beats for me
It as a good idea that it's done a soft reset for Tom Holland's Peter Parker, it kind of needs that as a springboard for moving forward, and it has that 'coming of age' feel to it as well.

Marvel fans will not be dissappointed! :thumbsup:
 
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My son told me that the old actors were digitally de-aged. I didn't see it at all. I thought they just looked old.
 
As it was pointed out in a review I listened to (Now Playing Podcast, which is a great show) Dr. Strange’s actions and behavior are a bit out of character based on what we’ve seen before. It doesn’t make it a less entertaining film, it just means it’s nowhere near the best MCU film.
 
RE: Andrew Garfield

Any movie that ends with the superhero fighting Paul Giamatti is by definition anti-climax.

JG
 
Willem Dafoe back as GG, and Alfred Molina back as Doc Ock? Sign me up. Toby Macguire was a great Spider-Man. I'd love see a team-up with Macguire and Holland and whoever they get to play Miles Morales. Garfield, eh whatever.

This whole multiverse thing (watch Loki to find out why all this stuff is possible.) could be a great event, fueling dozens of movies and series, but I predict it won't be great. Now that everyone knows how much money you can make, A-list actors are going to want commensurate payoffs, which means Disney's going to have to get cheaper actors. Actors that can't take Hollywood action movie dialogue and sell it, if not elevate it the way the Avengers crew could.
 
RE: Andrew Garfield

Any movie that ends with the superhero fighting Paul Giamatti is by definition anti-climax.

JG
What did they do, serve him Merlot?
Willem Dafoe back as GG, and Alfred Molina back as Doc Ock? Sign me up. Toby Macguire was a great Spider-Man. I'd love see a team-up with Macguire and Holland and whoever they get to play Miles Morales. Garfield, eh whatever..
MCU Spidey was also a huge missed opportunity to introduce Miles Morales, a character who would still be truer to the spirit of classic Spidey/Peter Parker than Tony Stark’s intern.
 
If you haven’t seen No Way Home and you like classic Peter Parker, you will be pleasantly surprised.
 
If you haven’t seen No Way Home and you like classic Peter Parker, you will be pleasantly surprised.
I hoped to see it in the theaters but with Omicron surging down here I'm back into "avoid crowds in closed places" mode and will pobably see it when it comes to Disney+.

Ah well. I am just glad I got to see Dune in an actual movie theater.
 
I hoped to see it in the theaters but with Omicron surging down here I'm back into "avoid crowds in closed places" mode and will pobably see it when it comes to Disney+.

Ah well. I am just glad I got to see Dune in an actual movie theater.
I’ve seen two movies in two years in an actual theater. No Way Home and The Empire Strikes Back 40th anniversary release. I have no desire to go to see many movies in a theater. The two times I’ve went though, they have been spotless. Very cleanly and a big step up from how theaters were years ago.
 
I finally saw this last weekend at our local Alamo Drafthouse (so we made a dinner date out of it). I enjoyed it quite a bit. We hadn't seen the previous two Holland movies until last month, so we wanted to catch up on those first.

My girlfriend was confused by who the lawyer with the sunglasses and great reflexes was, though, until I explained it to her on the way home (she's never seen any of the TV/Netflix series).
 
Finally saw this today (we had saved it for Easter). It was enjoyable enough. Plenty of good laughs and frequently unpredictable. But it felt a little less polished than the previous two movies. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it like all the pieces were there but the interactions felt a little stilted, The chemistry from the previous Holland Spider-Man (and many other MCU) movies wasn't really there. I know, that is pretty vague, and maybe a little unfair.

One thing I am sure of, I don't like Cumberbacth as Strange. So many actors, famous and not, have really owned their characters in the MCU. He seems uncomfortable in this role. I think the only scene I really liked him in was in Thor Ragnarok.

Also, seems odd to me that they revisit so soon the themes from the recent, animated Spider-Man into the Spiderverse (which was pretty exceptional).

Meanwhile I started rewatching the Netflix (now Disney+) Daredevil series. Talk about chemistry and actors really committing to their characters!
 
I thought this was fun but as noted the comedy seemed a bit stiff and I thought the melodrama felt unearned. Also uninspiring in terms of how it has been shot: flatly lit and framed.
 
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