Marvel-wood’s biggest villain isn’t Thanos – he’s your likable, sometimes cranky, neighborhood movie critic. She is also the most punished, and that’s okay. His powers are irrelevant.
Marvel, with its armies of true believers and dominance both in movie theaters and click-through media, made its product line critical-proof a long time ago. His films open, they crush and regenerate (repetition). Now, with “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” he has a movie that’s critically proof as well. Your critic may throw adjectives – lively! amusing! corny! – but I can’t say much about what’s going on.
The idea is that saying too much, as the spoiler police point out, would spoil the fun here. It wouldn’t, of course. The trailer and the pre-publicity have already leaked a lot, and the Marvel films reach out to their fans so emphatically that there’s rarely room for any real surprises. So, spoiler alert: Spider-Man wins. And, once again, Tom Holland, the franchise’s best lead actor, has adapted to play Peter Parker, the eternal teenager who also stars as Spider-Man. With his compact size and bright, easy smile, Holland still looks and looks more like a child than an adult, and he exudes the same sweet, heartfelt decency that helped make Peter and Spider-Man an enduring twin act. .
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Peter’s good childish nature has always been his most productive weapon, even more than his super ability to weave webs and swing by a thread. He’s always been a sweet, cute boy with the cutest, cutest girls (Kirsten Dunst, Emma Stone). But Holland is also the most convincing of the other wet-eyed boys (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield) who played Spidey. Her love interest now is MJ, played by Zendaya, who was paired with another of this year’s teenage saviors in “Dune.” Her cast as GM and expanded role on the series continues to pay off, and Zendaya’s charisma and knack for selling emotions (and silly dialogue) helps give the new film a soft, consistent glow that keeps him going. center like a heartbeat as the story takes off in different directions.
Returning to work, director Jon Watts, who has proven to be a good choice for the material, in part because he understands that Peter is a teenager, if he retains a curious quality of a holy virgin. (Part branded extension, part celebrity roast, the script is by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.) Peter and MJ snuggle up and lock their lips together, but their relationship is warmer than carnal, no doubt like a concession. to the youngest members of the demographic film target. (In one scene, Watts splits the screen to show Peter and MJ on their phones in separate bedrooms, a technique that has been used to reinforce, if not tease to cast doubt, on Doris Day’s chastity and Rock’s romance. Hudson at the time.)
As for the story, well there is, although this “Spider-Man” movie really does have a clever setup that tightens up the sprawl of the Marvel Universe with the help of one of his. MVP, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). It opens with a loaded bang and the revelation of Peter’s secret identity, which changes his life and triggers a series of reunions, fight sequences, and emotionally charged moments. Spider-Man accumulates a lot of miles over the course of the film for the simple reason that, like almost all Marvel productions, this one is too long and, at two and a half hours, is beyond its welcome. But before that, the film snaps well and appears.
Much of this is because of the vast array of performers – including Marisa Tomei (as Peter May’s aunt) and Jacob Batalon (Peter’s best friend, Ned) – who fill the spaces between fights with a feeling and a discernible personality. As with any successful franchise, the casting in the Spider-Man films has often been as, if not more, crucial than the generic elements. Even at their coldest and meanest PG-13s, great actors like Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina, two of the series’ many veterans making returning appearances, can heat up industrial gear just because of their presence. They smooth out rough edges, sell jokes, break hearts, and add to the tonal consistency of the film.
It would be nice to see what Watts could do if he weren’t restricted by Marvel’s rigid model, which gives the studio’s films their clearly defined gender identity, but also means they look more alike than not. . (For complicated business reasons, the Spider-Man cycle that began with Maguire in the role was not part of the Marvel movie world until the first one to play Holland.) Among other things, it would be new to see a more Peter. complex. After all, the world is a complete mess, and it would be great if Peter’s great power and keen sense of responsibility could be harnessed for other bigger fights, like the one against climate change. Greta Thunberg cannot do it alone.
Spider-Man: No Path Home
Rated PG-13 for Violence in Comics. Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes. In theaters.