Sunday, December 19, 2021

Movie Reflection: Spider-Man: No Way Home (spoiler free)

Titling this post a reflection rather than a review, because I think I need to see the film one more time before I can give it a proper review. Because it's a movie packed full of stuff, and it keeps flipping the situation around in ways such that I think I need to watch it once more, with all the surprises and reveals known ahead of time, before I can properly review it. 

Is there cursing in this movie? A little. Very little. I can recall only 3 or 4 instances, and none are f-bombs or relate to reproductive anatomy. 

So, a reflection. It was definitely a roller coaster ride. There were some things I expected, some things I didn't. Things didn't happen exactly the way I assumed they would from the trailers, which is good. It was nice to see some of the actors from previous Spider-Man movies reprise their roles, and you wouldn't think 10 or 20 years had passed since they played those parts previously. 

I was entertained, but I've got a few qualms. A couple of characters from previous films in THIS series/MCU films seemed a bit off. Maybe it was just the different writers/director. Maybe it was the actors moving in new directions with the characters. Maybe it was foreshadowing for something to come later (Secret Invasion is coming, after all, so some characters we know will surely have been replaced with Skrulls by now). 

Part of my unsure reaction to the film might also be that in comparison to the Tobey McGuire (which I loved) and Andrew Garfield (not so much) takes on the character, Tom Holland has such a different take on Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and the MCU connections especially to Iron Man really make this Spidey different. 

Anyway, I came away entertained, but as I said wanting to watch it once more to really get my thoughts straight. My older boy loved it (but he'd looked up all the spoilers online before we saw it). My younger was entertained, but the long run time got to him (he got hungry around the start of the third act and wanted it to be over). My wife wasn't so impressed by it. And I think that may be what got me thinking that there was something a little off about it. 

Anyway, there are some nice surprises that will entertain fans. Is the movie more than just 2.5 hours of fan service though? I'll watch it again when I have a chance and decide then. [Matrix 4 is out next week, though, so might not get to rewatch this until some time in January.]

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