Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review

 

Following the events of No Way Home & Stephen Strange’s spell, no one can remember Peter Parker, but Spider-Man is a celebrated hero of New York. Now Peter must deal with a body-hopping villain while simultaneously running into his old friend and girlfriend that have both physical and psychological effects on him.

Right off the bat, of all the Tom Holland appearances, I think they really nailed the tone of the character the best here. Some of the most successful Spider-Man stories are about him having heavy responsibility on his shoulders and him trying to find a balance between helping others and his personal life, and his struggles in the film, felt very grounded and had some surprisingly sweet moments.

I think the film has the best web slinging in a Spider-Man film; the swings and camera movements are very kinetic, everything has a great sense of scale and pretty impressive CGI, and they even work in a lot of stunning and clever artistic shots that help convey the characters' emotions in clever ways.

Since 2004, I’ve been waiting for a Spider-Man versus Scorpion fight, and while it might not have been everything I ever hoped for (22 years is a lot of hoping lol), it was still pretty fun to see and had some cool moves and camera work.

Never thought I’d say this, but I think this might be tied with Tobey Maguire‘s outfit as my favorite Spider-Man costume; it’s simple yet distinct and feels like it’s right off the page.

I quite enjoyed the cinematography; the use of dark shadows and contrast to sun-tone lighting really helped make the images pop and gave everything this stylized grounded in gritty look that I’m always happy to see in a Spider-Man project.

The director (Destin Daniel Cretton) brought a lot of creativity and style to the direction but also got very enjoyable and nuanced performances from the actors.

Tramell Tillman as Bill Metzger (the head of damage control) gave a very interesting performance; he seemed both very aloof and very calculating at the same time.

I like how New York City has adopted Spider-Man as their town hero; it helps make the city and its residents feel like their own character.

Liza Colón-Zayas plays Spider-Man police contact detective Jean DeWolff, and she brings a nice down-to-earth vibe to the film, and she and Peter have a fun dynamic.

I quite enjoyed Spider-Man and the Punisher’s dynamic; Jon Bernthal and Tom Holland have a lot of rapport and very good comedic timing when working off each other. I do think the characterization gets a little too mushy towards the end, and there is a bit of plot hole that doesn’t really take away from the movie but when you think about it, it’s like… Oh yeah, that definitely would’ve happened.

Zendaya as Michelle does very good job. Her portrayal of the character as sort of like “Ali Shetty in The Breakfast Club, but with a twisted sense of humor and genius intellect” is makes for some pretty funny moments and layers to her character. Plus obviously her and Tom Holland have some pretty good chemistry

There is a small cameo from another Marvel character; I won’t spoil it, but I thought it was fun, and it’s nice when they show up.

I enjoyed films opening montage of Peter fighting different villains. It’s always nice when you get to see multiple characters show up, and re-creating classic covers was a nice touch. Some of them I wish I’ve been in the movie more, but it was nice they showed up.

Mark Ruffalo plays the Hulk, and I think this is one of his better Bruce Banner performances; he plays the character very reserved, but you can see the gear turning behind his eyes, but the biggest standout… Both literally figuratively is the Hulk scenes, this is classic Hulk that I enjoy and seeing him fight other Marvel characters, (especially some of my favorites) was a real treat

I liked how “Peter’s changing powers” was wolverine into the story, not only because it’s nice and fitting to see Peter do science stuff, but how it was worked in as a metaphor for his emotional journey throughout the film.

Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds doesn’t get a whole lot to do, but he’s funny when he’s on screen, and he, Tom Holland, and Zendaya all have really natural and nice chemistry together.

I do have some critiques for this movie, my biggest… I did not like the villain, there was some interesting mystery at first, but then when things got revealed about them, it really took most of the tension out of it because I knew there were things that would it would not happen with this character that made the plot very predictable. Plus, and they almost have a complete character personality flip, like when they first show up, they just sound like generic bad guy, but then when we explore their backstory, they feel like a completely different person with different quirks and way of speaking. Not to mention that they did some pretty messed up things, like they got an man hit by a car, that guy might have walking issues, for the rest of his life, but they really gloss by a genericd I’m like “don’t pretend that didn’t happen. I know what happened. I was there. lol”. Plus, it leads into Marvel’s biggest problem, which is they’re inability to focus on the story they’re telling and them trying to insert set up to another project that will come out in 2 to 5 years. And even if it’s setting up something I am looking forward to, I’m not here for that right now, I’m here to enjoy this character and their world and supporting characters because I have to  wait like 2 to 5 years for a Spider-Man movie to come out and I’d rather spend the 2.5 hours I get with Spider-Man then spending almost a 3 setting up the next big project,. It feels like Marvel is constantly opening a bag of chips and then leaving it half eaten and then opening a new one and then you’ll look around and there’s all these half eaten bags of chips lying around, like finish what you’re working on before starting a new one.

One of the most enjoyable parts were the action sequences, with the Hulk and and especially the last big one, the choreography, the way that camera moved, the way it built tension and used it surroundings, it was all top-notch and feels very rewatchable.

Also, there is something that could’ve been fixed by the villain that I’m surprised they didn’t do, but I’m interested to see how it affects things in the sequel.

Also, there is something included in The Hand story that I wish they had elaborated on more to give more context on something, but that’s more of a nitpick.

Overall, this movie really delivered on what I like in a Spider-Man movie and even surprised me in a few places; the filmmaking is top-notch and I like this direction they’re taking the character. I do wish they had gone with a different villain, even though I get what they were going for, and how they worked it in did fit the story they were telling, but I wish they had found another way to tell the story because again the villain just didn’t really work for me, felt very predictable on where the story would go with them, and glossing over a couple of the darker things the character does. That being said, I like Peter Parker‘s personal drama, Spider-Man’s action sequences, the overall tone, vibe, and even the humor. I give Spider-Man brand new day low four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I think that if Marvel is open to the criticism and does a better villain next time, we may get one of the best Spider-Man movies ever out of it. But what we’ve gotten with Brand New Day is still pretty good.

The Odyssey Review

 

Based on Homer’s over 2,000-year-old epic poem, we follow King Odysseus, who, after helping to win the Trojan War, takes many years to return home as he must battle many a supernatural creature and overcome hardships while his wife and son back in Ithaca must deal with dozens of men trying to wed Penelope and become the new king… and eat a ton of food along the way.

I liked how the narrative would jump around to different parts of the story throughout the film.

For example, at the beginning you hear teases with what happens with the Trojan Horse and see a little of what happens, but then later on in the movie, you see the full details of what happens. They did this with a few different storylines, and it allowed for some cool twists and reveals throughout the film, not to mention helping with pacing out all the different characters, stories, and action set pieces.

Matt Damon plays Odysseus, and his character is the anchor of the story; the title is literally named after him lol. But Damon brings a piratical nature and haunted feel that adds a lot of layers to the character.

This movie has a big cast with a lot of named actors, so much so that actors that have been heavily marketed in the film (Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, and Charlize Theron) are not in the film as much as you expect. They’re all good in their roles, but it’s both impressive and a little crazy how much every character in this movie is played by someone of note. For example: Mia Goth is in the film, and she’s an up-and-coming name, very talented and well liked, and her role could have been played by anyone, like an extra you’d find backstage in Hollywood. Again, Goth did an excellent acting job, but it’s like getting Meryl Streep to play a waiter who brings characters food in one scene and then is never seen again… Like, you got her for that lol.

I liked the adaptation of Helen of Troy; they did an interesting twist with her story and how the Trojan War got started that I haven’t seen in other adaptations and was kind of clever. They also gave her a little interesting heartfelt moment towards the end of her screen time; they added a nice dimension to her character.

I read The Odyssey around middle school/high school, and my favorite part was the Cyclops part, and the filmmaker did an excellent job adapting that section of the book. I found the design of the cyclops really interesting; apparently the filmmakers used giant puppets for a lot of the shots, and when you’re seeing the film, you can tell that there is some impressive giant puppetry going on, which really adds to the scene and the tension.

Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, in the film, and she brought a lot of emotion in her devotion to her husband but also in trying to hold off and settle down all these different suitors in order to bring peace to the kingdom until Odysseus’s return. Hathaway gets many moments to shine and really flex her acting muscles.

One of the biggest surprises for me was the Circe the Witch part; that section of the movie turned into a straight “body horror film” for a little bit, and again, so much of it looked practical and creepy. I was watching it and thinking, "Damn, Chris… you’re F**KED up," lol.

Himesh Patel plays Odysseus's second-in-command and acts as the surrogate voice for the crew in the film and how they’re feeling, and you really feel bad for this crew, like they get it rough and never catch a break; each place they stop they have to deal with a new obstacle, and there are some points I was like, “I want Odysseus to get home, but can he take a different way and go alone, because he is not making it easy for this crew, and he’s kind of the reason they’re in the situation in the first place?" Lol

The visuals and landscape vistas are so expensive and eye-popping; this may be one of Christopher Nolan‘s best-looking films. Everything looks just so gorgeous and well-detailed, even some of the nastiest and dirtiest parts.

Some of the adventurers are quicker than others, like the sirens went rather quickly, but the way they present it is still interesting and well made.

Benny Safdie plays the Greek King Agamemnon, and while it’s a small role in the film with even fewer lines, he has a very memorable look and presence whenever he shows up, definitely a standout for me.

Without spoiling anything, there’s a part where they have to deal with “the underworld," and that whole sequence was very unique, and I did not remember it from the book, so it definitely was a big surprise to me.

Elliot Page plays a Greek soldier named Sinon, who ends up becoming almost the emotional through line of the film and brings a surprising amount of emotional stakes to the film for only being in it a small amount.

Cinematography: It was brilliant, very easily going to get an Oscar nomination.

I think the biggest surprise for me was John Leguizamo, who plays Odysseus's loyal blind servant. He adds a lot of heart to the character's devotion to his master and how he becomes almost a surrogate father figure to Odysseus. The character is played by Tom Holmaster, and even in his old weakened state, he’s still kind of a badass and tough guy; it’s a very nuanced role, and Leguizamo brought a lot of charisma and liability to the part.

I think one seems like it will be most people's favorite part of the movie: the Trojan Horse section, how that plays out, what the guys inside the horse have to go through, and all the tension building, not to mention the action set piece built around it. It's a real nail-biter and some of the textbook definition of “great blockbuster filmmaking."

Tom Holland does a good job; his character is mainly there to be like, "Dad's going to come home," and be pissed at all these dudes coming into his home and trying to get with his mom and eat their food, but Holland definitely makes you sympathize with him.

The music in this movie is minimalistic, experimental, and building to this tense crescendo. I wouldn’t be surprised if the composer were passing a kidney stone when he was writing it because everything feels tight and extreme, lol.

I liked how “The Gods” were worked into the film; Nolan has a very psychological take on them and how they can be viewed through people's heads and trauma. I thought it helped ground the movie while still firmly keeping it in a supernatural world.

I love the use of mostly practical effects; there were obviously a few shots of CGI, but for the most part, there was an incredible amount of it. It was done in camera, and you can tell there was a lot of hard work put in because it all looks fantastic… except for one shot, which I’m pretty sure was them having a cardboard cut out of Matt Damon on a boat as it sailed away into the dark, but honestly, the rest of it is just so flawless I can forgive that one scene

The two notable suitors after Penelope are played by Corey Hawkins and Robert Pattinson playing completely unredeemable dicks lol. Hawkins is just rude and trying to fight everyone who comes past him, and Pattinson is so weaselly and slimy in the film, I’m surprised the screen didn’t start dripping slime like a nickelodeon game show whenever he popped on the scene. So your not only rooting for Odysseus to get home because you wanna see him reunion with his family, but also you wanna see him come back and kick these suitors asses, give them that cathartic ass-whooping lol

I’d really be interested in a behind-the-scenes making-of documentary; there are many sequence that look so realistic and must of been insane to shot, you want to see how they were able to pull them off.

A very light SPOILER… for you dogs lovers, there is one scene where it looks like a dog is in imperiled, well I’m to tell you no dogs are hurt in the movie.

A little bit towards the end of the film, there’s this interesting part that has a sort of “anti-war/war trauma” message to it that did feel a little surprising, but I liked how they worked it into the story and how it related to another character. I thought it was a really interesting twist.

I also saw the movie with my mom and also liked it, so if she is giving it an endorsement, it’s definitely good.

I do have some small nitpicks, one being that they tried to make the Trojan horse a little too gritty, like there’s a detail about dog hurting that I’m like, "Well, all of that could’ve been avoided if you guys had done this one thing. " Why wouldn’t you guys do this?" Also, I feel like the third act does go on a little long, maybe because the movie is almost 3 hours, and after everything that happened throughout the film, I was getting a little exhausted, lol. Also,""Whynal climax does have a trope that I see in many movies now that I always roll my eyes at and go, "Well if you guys did this, you guys would win, but they never do it," lol. Finally, the final part of the film has something that seemed a little odd to me given what the story was about; it’s actually something I had a problem with in another Christopher Nolan movie, but the way it’s explained and laid out is mostly OK. Again, it’s just a personal nitpick with me.

At the end of the day, this is a story about a group of guys getting home and having to overcome, many obstacles and hardships. One of the biggest compliments I can give this film is how well Christopher Nolan wove the action and drama together throughout the story. Like for you action fans out there, you’re going to get plenty of spectacle and impressive fight scenes and tense stealth sequences, but you never lose track of the characters' emotional state and the toll this journey takes on not only the crew but Odysseus’s family and friends. I give the film a low 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; it’s definitely a movie made for and best experienced on the big screen.

Evil Dead Burn Review

 

After the deaths of her husband, Alice spends time with her in-laws, and things quickly go to hell with family drama… then Deadites come and possess people.

Evil Dead Burn, this could be called “Evil Dead Bleak," because this movie is brutal, like no one is safe, and if you’re dying, it is slow and gnarly. Now the effects are very well done and effective, you can tell the filmmakers were influenced by the French extreme wave of the 2000s (like High Tension & Inside) but seeing almost two houreffective;ble things happening to horrible people, it can be a real bummer lol

I have mixed feelings on the maiInside),cter. Souheila Yacoub does give a good performance both physically and emotlly, but in the first lol. thirds her character is wicked, quiet, and meek, and crazy stuff is going on around her, and you’re like, “Dang, girl, do something." Now there is a story reason behind it, but unfortunately, it doesn’t make us the most interesting character at points

As previously mentioned, the special effects team did a fantastic job, mixing both very detailed practical effects with CGI and cool camera movements to make a pretty creative and visceral feel.

Erroll Shand was a big standout; he was both one of the points.ympathetic and most frightening characters.

This film is very dark… Like literally there are shadows everywhere. It never got to the point where it was hard for me to see things and the dark gray color tone matches the bleakness of the story.

I felt bad for Hunter Doohan's character; he plays the dead husband Will's brother Joseph, and these deadites really mess him up both emotionally and psychically. For a little bit I kind of hoped he would become the main character, just because he goes through such a hellish ordeal; you root for him to be able to escape and fight back against the deadites.

Another standout for me was Luciane Buchanan, who plays Thya (Joseph’s girlfriend); she gives a very big, scenery-chewing performance, but in a fun, devilish way. She got some good intentional and unintentional laughs out of me.

Maude Davey plays Grandma Polly, and Davey gives a nice, cooky performance but also has a few senses where she is sympathetic but also creepy in others; we get to see a good amount of range from the character and actress.

Tandi Wright plays Will’s mom, Susan, who is the matriarch of the family. And you definitely feel sympathy for her character, but a lot of the time she is a drama queen and she’s going at Alice like this is the “Real Houseshe'sof the Nequeen,micon”, you’ll definitely roll your eyes a few times going “are youNecronomicon";this now?” lol

I did like how the filmmakers wovee the Necronomicon history into the family's; it felt natural and a nice surprise.

George Pullar plays the husband Will, and… his character is a dick, like right off the bat in an almost over-the-top way, but he is the setup to the story, so I guess they had to hit the ground running. I will say though, despite his funky attitude, his death was wicked messed up, like I wanted to hug a puppy afterwards it was so dark lol

Something I was not expecting but was happily surprised with was how they tied this movie's beginning into the ending of the last one. Like no big characters return, but hoafterwards;makers pick the lol.ry up feels like a nice continuation of the series

There was a fun car chase/fight in the film; it isn’t too long, but the way it was filmed and the realistic brutality series.were impressive.

Light Spoiler… Bruce Campbell does have a cameo in the film, it’s onlyfilm;cture of him on the wall, but it nice he stilit'sappears in some capacity

Tcapacity. climax does kind of feel more like a Resident Evil movie than an Evil Dead movie in parts, like a final boss comes out and I half expected to see “hit X” come on the screen lol, but it had some cool badass moments for Alice, and her final “action movie line” was a really good one.

There are two post-credit scenes; the first was funny, and the last was a nice surprise and interesting.

Overall, Evil Dead Rise is a well-made and effective film, but it definitely can be a tough watch for some people, and some of the character drama can feel like you’re watching The Bear or even Jerry Springer at parts, but we all lead to an interesting story arc, and many actors really give memorable and strong performances. I give it 3 1/2 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫. It isn’t perfect, but it is… Groovy lol

Toy Story 5 Review

 

In this Toy Story installment, we follow Jessie as she must confront her past in order to help her current owner Bonnie make a friend while Buzz and Woody must deal with Lilypad, a frog-themed tablet that threatens to take all of Bonnie’s attention away from the toys.

Joan Cusack is definitely the big emotional standout of the film; she brings a lot of heart and humor to Jessie’s character arc, not to mention her relationship with Bullseye was pretty sweet.

Buzz and Woody are always great; Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have great comedic timing and banter together, and seeing those two characters get into shenanigans is always fun.

I was impressed with how they were able to balance so many characters; now some of the legacy characters don’t have a whole lot to do, maybe just one or two scenes, but everyone at least gets a line or acknowledgment, so maybe your favorite doesn’t get a whole lot to do, but they’ll still be there.

The animation is very impressive, not only with all the different character expressions but also with all the different textures and landscapes and times of day or night it’s set in, not to mention there are these "playtime" sequences where we see what the kids are thinking the toys are doing in their imagination, and the animation style changes to a more artsy 2-D style, and I thought that not only looked good but also added some nice variety to the look of the movie.

I also liked how they portrayed Lily Pad and the other technology, like there’s no real “villain” in the movie; it’s more of the toys and technology not understanding the other and wanting what’s best for their kids and then butting heads over it, so I thought that led to some interesting and natural-feeling conflict. Also, Greta Lee did a very good job as Lily and gave a very expressive vocal performance

Conan O’Brien plays Smarty-Pants, a toilet-training toy that must team up with Jessie on her journey, and I did not realize that was Conan O’Brien until like halfway through the movie, so points for him. Also, his performance is fun, and he gets some really funny lines.

Like I said, previously, while I dperformance.y balance the characters mostly well, there is a bit of a feeling of there being a lot of characters in the movie, like the army of Buzz toys. While I did enjoy their story and “SWAT team antics”, they weren’t really necessary to the story until the climax. And Bo Peep shows up for like a minute and then like “all right I’m out of here” because she doesn’t really fit into tantics,". Which hey I appreciate them not forcing characters in, but she didn’t know all these toys for a while so it does feel a little weird. She wouldn’t want to at least check in and say hi.

There’s a Taylor Swift song that is like,s All right,e credits… Ihere,"ine. But I didn’t know. I don’t know if they played that you got a friend in me song which didn’t really take away from the movie not being there,"You Got doFriendl a Me" song,odd beca, hey,I feel like that’s the theme song to Toy Story. It’d be like having a James Bond movie while, Avengers without their iconic themes, it’s just odd.

My boy Slinky Dog got something to do; he was my favorite of the toys growing up, so I'm always happy to see him.

I liked how the film portrayed Bonnie; she felt like a very natural kid, and her story was very heartfelt and sympathetic, but there were also some funny mothemes;ith her. I think Scarlett Spears did an excellent job (especially for a nine-year-old).

I will say the parents in these movies are kind of dumb, like toys will just appear in their house with no explanation, or when the toys send messages to kids through technology, the parents never ask, "Hey other parents, your kid sent that?” No wonder the kids need these toys to help raise them because these parents are not the sharpest tools in the shed lol.

So the Toy Story franchise has been a pretty solid one; there’s been no real bad entry, and it can be a little nerve-wracking whenever they announce a new one because you hope in the back of your head, "I hope they don’t mess it up with this one," and I can safely say this movie does not do that. It may not reach the heights of previous entries, but there’s enough heart and creativity to make a solid and enjoyable film. I give Toy story five a low four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ this franchise still has a friend in me lol