Movie Review – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Not one, but seven Spider-Men prove that artistic ambition, risk taking, and heart are still alive in blockbuster franchise films. You’re in for an absolute blast.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½
Corey Hogan

Ordinary Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales’ (Shameik Moore) admiration of long-time hero Spider-Man becomes all-consuming when he, too, is bitten by a radioactive spider and begins to develop super powers. When Spider-Man’s attempts to thwart a plot by the villainous Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) ends in tragedy, Miles is thrust into taking up Spider-Man’s mantle and protecting the city. But now he’s not the onl ySpider-Man; Kingpin’s reality-meddling has transported several other alterations of Spider-Man from different dimensions into Miles’ own, opening the ‘Spider-Verse’.

Here’s something you probably didn’t see coming. In a year completely overstuffed with superhero movies, one very late entry blows the whole lot of them away and manages to completely reinvigorate the genre. Here’s something else. It’s the seventh entry in the Spider-Man franchise, the fourth reboot of the character, this time in cartoon form from the same studio responsible for The Emoji Movie. And yet Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse completely shatters all expectations. It’s the best Spider-Man outing since Spider-Man 2 and it’s the best animated movie of the past few years. It’s also the most satisfying bang-for-your buck blockbuster extravaganza this year – yep, more so than Avengers:Infinity War.

Like Infinity War, you’ll need a bit of prior knowledge to appreciate this culmination of a number of beloved characters in one all-out spectacle. The Spider-Man we’ve known and loved for so long, Peter Parker, this time steps aside into a Mr. Miyagi-type mentor role to Miles Morales, a charismatic fan-favourite who cements himself as a black superhero with even more staying power than Black Panther. The relationship between this pair of Spider-Men forms the core story, but the many decades of Spider comics have been mined meaning we’re treated to a whole bunch of others along for the ride – spunky Spider-Woman Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), 30’s black and white crime detective Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage), anime girl with a Spider-Bot Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and wisecracking pig Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). 

Anyone afraid that a shift to animation will limit the wall-crawler’s appeal need not fear. Spider-fans of all ages are bound to be pleased, especially long-time fans, who will gush at the number of references thrown in, including the late Stan Lee’s cameo, which is impeccably timed and bittersweet. The animation itself is absolutely breathtaking, and truly unlike anything we’ve seen on the big screen before. The style blurs the lines between 2D and 3D, and gives a genuine sense of being thrust right into the pages of a comic book. Visually, it could be labelled an inventive masterpiece, exploding with vibrant colour and creative detail .

Sixteen years on and Spider-Man is more unstoppable tha never in 2018, with a huge splash in the Avengers, a hit PS4 game, and now the year’s funniest, most satisfying and enjoyable blockbuster. There’s no sign of the webslinger slowing down. Inevitably, Sony has already announced a number of sequels and spin-offs which are more than welcome, but as a standalone gem, it’s going to be hard to top this.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is available in Australian cinemas from December 13

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movie Review – Ant-Man and the Wasp

Peyton Reed’s follow-up to his successful Ant-Man is just as charming and funny, thanks in large part to his brilliant cast.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Zachary Cruz-Tan

After all the fuss over Marvel’s first major female villain in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), the racial intrigue of Black Panther and the tragedies that grappled Avengers: Infinity War, it is lovely to once again enjoy an action superhero comedy from which I can leave without having to ponder my life choices. Superhero movies used to be goofy, once upon a time. Now they’re taken more seriously than final exams. Ant-Man and the Wasp is a cheerful reminder that there’s more than enough room for both.

This is the follow-up to 2015’s Ant-Man and it carries along the same energy and charisma that made that film one of the more underrated instalments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Paul Rudd is once again the titular hero, except this time he has to do his superhero business while under house arrest for his role in the events that destroyed a German airport.

Fighting alongside him is Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), the formidable daughter of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who has taken up the mantle of the Wasp in an attempt to rescue her mother from the Quantum Realm, a dimension so small the bacteria that live there are the size of hippos. Indeed, much of Ant-Man and the Wasp is about the Pyms’ tireless efforts to retrieve their missing beloved, and Lilly and Douglas create quite a dynamic family unit, one that is penetrated with lots of humour by Rudd.

What’s interesting about the screenplay, penned rather surprisingly by five writers, is the way it uses the Pyms’ mission as the foundation for a plot that could have been written by the Coen brothers, except instead of a rug or a briefcase filled with dirty money, all the characters are trying to get their hands on a laboratory that’s been shrunken to the size of a suitcase. Yes, that’s right – a tiny building on wheels.

One of the many joys about these Ant-Man movies is the kick the filmmakers get from turning small everyday objects into larger-than-life monstrosities, including Ant-Man himself. I won’t tell you if Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), the Pym matriarch, is found, but I enjoyed the urgency with which the plot moves towards her. It all builds up to a hilarious scene in which Rudd and Douglas hold hands, and then a touching one that moved me more than it should have. Goofy and serious, all at the same time.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is available in Australian cinemas from July 5

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

 

 

Movie Review – Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War may not break new ground, but it certainly polishes it.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Zachary Cruz-Tan 

I cannot account for your feelings towards the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nor anyone else’s. I can only account for my own, and my feelings have decided that the Universe is something special. To see each new Marvel movie is to add a chapter to a saga. As reviewers, we are perhaps encouraged to distance ourselves a little from every film we see, but make no mistake, to enter into Avengers: Infinity War is to enter a stream that’s been flowing for ten years. We may try to combat the current but it will inevitably wash us away.

This is a thunderous superhero movie that hurtles along at breakneck speed. It is about the end of humanity, the heartbreak of sacrifice, the will to bring about change, the pratfalls and jubilations of the human spirit. And, of course, it brings together a cast large enough to populate a small moon. Credit must be given to directors Anthony and Joe Russo for not going utterly bonkers from their logistics, but then, are they perhaps merely binding knots left loose by the countless instalments before them?

In many ways, yes. Infinity War begins with the simplest of premises: an oversized purple alien called Thanos (an utterly bewitching Josh Brolin in motion-capture) wishes to eliminate half the universe’s population by seizing cosmic weapons known as Infinity Stones. The movie plays out his quest and charts the ways in which all the good guys attempt to resist him.

If you’ve been keeping up with the movies, you’d know them all by now. The smart thing about Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s screenplay is that instead of bottlenecking the cast into one room, several throwaway subplots are created to micromanage the Avengers.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) zips off with a few Guardians of the Galaxy to rendezvous with a rather unexpected cameo. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) venture into space. Captain America (Chris Evans) and his friends take a trip to Wakanda, domain of the fearful Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). And so on. Everyone’s spread around like mah-jong tiles, which, while clever, can be a little jarring to keep up with.

Much criticism has already been targeted at the movie’s 149-minute runtime, which is actually about fifteen minutes too short. Infinity War dashes from one scene to the next, occasionally pausing for comedic interludes, but hardly ever for any meaningful interactions. I guess it comes with the territory of trying to cram a bloated cast into a runtime that must pacify today’s audiences. The movie needs to breathe a little, not necessarily for exposition, but to give us, the viewers, a chance to process all the whizzing and frenetic images, because there are a lot of them.

And yet, Infinity War is a tremendous achievement, not atop the Marvel greats, but perhaps more valuable than many of the weaker ones. There are fantastic action sequences, a boatload of one-liners, heroic reveals, shattering developments. And Thanos, enlarged in the middle of everything, is a surprisingly complex figure, not so much an antagonist as a lonely crusader whose journey threatens to undo even himself.

It’s quite a feat to make us care so much about a bunch of goofy superheroes. This cinematic universe feels like an extended TV series; we’ve grown along with these characters through the years to the point where their superpowers are no longer as interesting as their stakes. And in Avengers: Infinity War, their stakes have never been more desperate.

Avengers: Infinity War is available in Australian cinemas from April 26

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Most Anticipated Films of 2018

Josip Knezevic

2018 is set to be a very impressive year! While I could write a small novel on the potential highlights, here’s just a few of 2018’s most anticipated films.

Avengers: Infinity War

You can’t talk about the year’s most anticipated films without mentioning what will most likely be the most ambitious Marvel film to date. Fans can’t seem to get enough of this stuff, happily rocking up to the cinemas year in and year out. While almost every Marvel film after the first Avengers was one too many for me, I’m secretly hoping Infinity War will bring back that giddy feeling I had while watching the original.

Infinity War faces a big challenge in having to balance a wide range of leads and personalities, with everyone from the Black Panther to Guardian of the Galaxy‘s Rocket Raccoon to be featured. If directors Anthony and Joe Russo get it right, as they did with Captain America: Civil War, then we’re in for a treat. Let’s pray they can pull it off!

The Predator

Before I went digging through the Internet to put together this list, I wasn’t even aware that a Predator (1987) sequel was headed our way. With Shane Black taking on writing and directing duties, I’m pretty excited to see the resurgence of my favourite action film, especially after the woeful 2010 reboot Predators. There isn’t a lot of detail out there on where the film intends to go in terms of narrative, but nevertheless, this is easily the most anticipated action flick of the year. Please be good. Please be good. Please be good.

The Irishman

Featuring the return of Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Al Pacino, The Irishman could be the most epic gangster movie of the past decade. Based on the life of mob hitman Frank Sheeran, The Irishman is set to be Netflix’s largest ever investment in a feature film. Considering Netflix recently put $90 million into Will Smith‘s action flop Bright that doesn’t mean much, but it will be interesting to see whether Netflix opts to do a cinematic release, particularly given Scorsese’s reputation. Either way, hopefully The Irishman will be everything we’ve been wanting to see since 2006’s The Departed, even if it doesn’t ended up reaching us until 2019.

The Incredibles 2

With the original released way back in 2004, all of us are wondering why it’s taken this long for the arrival of a sequel. The Incredibles left us hanging in an unresolved battle, making a sequel an obvious move, and yet unnecessary instalments for other films have instead been pushed out in the meantime (e.g. Cars 3). Not much is known about what the second film will entail, but that hasn’t stopped me from setting my expectations incredibly high… here’s hoping it will reach those and then some.

Untitled Deadpool Sequel

Though the first Deadpool was not without it’s flaws, it was a gigantic leap in breaking down Hollywood studio barriers to releasing an R-Rated film. I can’t wait to see our favourite narcissistic anti-hero take to the screen again this year. What made the original so successful was its brand of humour, and its clear Ryan Reynolds knows it and enjoys it just as much as we all do.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Take one look at Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) in character as Freddie Mercury and you’ll be immediately hooked by the prospect of this biopic. Though production has been stalled and in contention for several years, with Sacha Baron Cohen showing interest in the lead role at one point, Bohemian Rhapsody is looking to be the biopic of 2018. Set to take place throughout the years of Queen’s early days up until their triumphant performance at 1985’s Live aid, let’s hope this film does the late front man proud.

 

Solo: A Star Wars Movie

Yes, another Star Wars movie is upon us. Given the polarising reactions of the last film, and the growing saturation of the series, my feelings towards this next one are mixed. On one hand, the character of Han Solo is by far the most enjoyable and fun to watch, plus this latest film features Donald Glover as a young Lando Calrissian. But when all is said and done, we’ll probably just get yet another Star Wars flick that fails to live up to the original trilogy.

 

Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson. Japan. Dogs…

Isle of Dogs has me sold from the get go. I can’t wait for this one to be released – the thumbnail for the trailer alone looks like an art piece with various meticulously dressed dogs. Everything about it signals Anderson’s style, making it the most anticipated independent feature for 2018.

Images courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures & 20th Century Fox