Reviews | Previews | News Cinema | Est. 24 March 2016
Post Ironman, Robert Downey Jr brings his endless charisma to the latest addition to the Dr Dolittle series. Featuring an ensemble of talented voices and one of the biggest names in Hollywood. Is it enough to bring the character back to prominence?
Directed by Stephen Gaghan
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Tom Holland, Emma Thompson, John Cena, Selena Gomez and Rami Malek
If you enjoyed the watching the review, do check out our other videos and make sure to subscribe!
One of the surprises in Captain America: Civil War last year was the addition of Spiderman in the superhero melee, following the character being lost in the corporate purgatory between Sony and Marvel. Fans were finally treated to seeing the webslinger make his long awaited debut in the MCU, and now, we have his first solo MCU outing, Spiderman: Homecoming.
Spiderman has seen several reincarnations within the last decade or so! So comparisons will be made, will it live up to the charming Sam Raimi trilogy (well first two anyway, the less said about 3!) or will Homecoming be more like the divisive Amazing reboots of the early 2010’s?
As the title suggests, Homecoming is set during high school, and the run up to homecoming dance (spoiler alert!). There is no origin story in this film, which is great, every Spidey fan knows about that, and it would be wasted time. We really don’t need to see Uncle Ben die for a third time! The film picks up pretty much right after his antics in Civil War (with his own personal videos from his travels to Germany!), we follow Peter Parker, as he gets to grasp with his entire new found suit and his social struggles at home & school.
Homecoming thankfully is another fine notch in the ever-growing MCU repertoire. Homecoming gives the audience a plucky young Peter to root for, supported by a mentoring Tony Stark (and Happy Hogan!), and for the first time in a long while, a villain which feels fleshed out and threatening. This makes a nice change from the villains who are bad because……….they are bad.
Tom Holland is excellent as Peter, as well as Tobey Maguire & Andrew Garfield were, they were both well into their 20s when playing the role. So it always felt a bit awkward seeing them play high schoolers. Holland is 21, so looks far more convincing as a young teen, and has the acting chops to pull it off too. The appearance of Ironman has been well publicized in this film, and Robert Downey Jr. is as always awesome in the scenes that he has. I was a bit worried beforehand that the film may have too much Ironman in it, taking away Spidey’s time to shine, but luckily it’s not overdone. The moments that he does appear, are pretty much already revealed in the trailers, which is a shame.
The real stars of the supporting cast are Ned (Jacob Batalon), Parker’s best friend, the enthusiastic best man, who is more than happy to just be involved with Spiderman and be ‘the guy in the chair’, and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), the long standing right hand man of Tony Stark (his been there since the very start!) who has to reluctantly be the chaperone of the eager Parker. Both are always a welcoming presence to any scene they are in.
Michael Keaton as The Vulture is superb as a character, you understand his motivations for his actions, and he isn’t simply a maniacal villain. He is conflicted by his actions, but well aware he has to do it for personal reasons. He also has wonderfully intense scene with Peter in the final act, which was great to watch! It also has a nice tie in to the events following Avengers Assemble.
The film is downright hilarious. Peter’s interactions with Ned & Happy always bring a few laughs. The fact the new Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is attractive is mentioned on numerous occasions throughout the film. Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori), Peter’s rival at school, who was the type cast cocky jock, is now more of a smug rich kid. His smugness while annoying, works well at gaining sympathy for Parker, while also having a chuckle on both their behalves! Michelle (Zandaya), one of Peter’s reclusive and enigmatic classmates randomly pops up every now and again, to drop a sarcastic one liner, which could have been cheesy, but actually fits in rather well. There’s also an appearance from actor/rapper/funny guy Donald Glover, fans of his work will revel in his cameo! Peter also has some witty exchanges with his suits AI, who he names Karen. One of the jokes the film makes at itself is regarding what happens when there aren’t any high rises for Spidey to swing between? Well, he just has to run on foot!
The movie has it’s fair share of action set pieces. with the highlight being the ferry scene. This does though feel like a very poor imitation of the train scene in Spiderman 2, and just doesn’t feel as momentous. The scenes in the Washington Monument may be a little less chaotic, but feels far more fresh and original.
What did let the film down for me was the frankly generic final showdown. It becomes somewhat of a CGI mess, involving a chaotic battle outside a plane, then a flaming beach. It feels somewhat numbing and just too much is happening to really take it in properly. It doesn’t help the scenes take place at night! The main love interest Liz (Laura Harrier), is also particularly bland, her only characteristic is being one of the popular girls at school and a plot device. Another bugbear in the run up to this movie was the sheer amount of material released in the trailers and other clips in the run up. I was already aware of several key scenes. A franchise like Spiderman doesn’t need to release so much material to get the anticipation up, just a personal annoyance, but that’s more to do with the marketing and studios, and not the movie itself!
Homecoming spins a web of fun, and if you’re a fan of the hero, or just enjoy an enjoyable superhero film, will love the characters, cast and humour. Personally, I still believe Spiderman 2 is still the most best movie out of the collection, but Homecoming does a stellar job is reintroducing the character and getting him entwined in the Avengers saga! Though I still can’t forgive Marvel for that horrendous Homecoming poster with near every character thrown onto it! 
If you think of 2008 & Robert Downey Jr. your first though may be Ironman, which saw the stock of the star rocket into the stratosphere! But there was another film he starred in that year, the ensemble comedy Tropic Thunder.
Tropic Thunder is personally one of my favorite comedy films, and it’s a film I can happily watch over and over again! The film packs in numerous A-Listers, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Tom Cruise & Matthew McConaughey and produce a hilarious satire of Hollywood.
So whats it all about? Tropic Thunder is the story of a group of actors, who are thrown together into the jungle of South East Asia to film an adaptation of the story of a Vietnam veteran. Tugg Speedmen (Stiller), our lead star, is the washed up 80s action hero. Kirk Lazarus (Downey Jr.) is the ultra intense method actor. Jeff Portnoy (Black) is the type cast comedian, who is forever associated with his toilet humour. You also have the fresh faced new actor, who none of the experienced actors take seriously, and the rapper looking to crossover into films for that extra income.
What the film does well is how it portrays how ridiculous Hollywood can be. How some actors will go so far into character, that it’s borderline ludicrous. Which was the point of making Downey Jrs. character undergo skin pigmentation therapy to portray an African American. He even says ” I don’t drop character ’til I’ve done the DVD commentary”, just to hammer home the point! The film also makes a point on how hard it can be for a director to control highly strung actors with their diva like behavior! Or how actors will take part in cheap PR opportunities to appeal to fans .
One surprise in the film, was the appearence of Tom Cruise as Les Grossman. The arrogant, overtly crude, and on one crazy power trip, big shot Producer! The fact many didn’t even notice him until the end credits made the cameo even better! His expletive exchanges over the phone are by far some of the most memorable scenes his filmed! Full credit to him for trying a role which is so out of his norm, and totally nailing it!!
The movie is full of quotes that made you laugh out loud!
” I don’t read the script. The script reads me.”
”I know who I am! I’m a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude!”
”And we’ll weep for him… in the press, set up a scholarship in his name, eventually – and I’m talkin’ way, way down the road – we file an insurance claim.”
Sure there are a few more quotes, which are more explicit, so I wont share them here 😛
The film has small touches that gives it a lot of charm, such as the spoof trailers of the in film stars playing before the start of the film. Their so well done, for a moment you believe that the trailers are real!
So if you’re a fan of Ben Stiller, and the kind of humour his films usually deliver, then I would most definitely recommend you dig it up from the archives and give it a watch! You’ll love it! 😀
Ever since ‘Avengers Assemble’ released back in 2012, the cracks in the relationship between Tony Stark’s Ironman & Steve Rodger’s Captain American were starting to appear. It all finally comes down to an explosive conclusion in one of Marvel’s finest films so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
A film containing so many different superheroes could have become a complicated mess. But the Russo Brothers once again served up a right treat for fans and critics alike. After their stellar work in creating the superb ‘Winter Soldier’, they have proved that they are capable of handling the upcoming Avengers movies.
Following the destruction in previous films caused by members of the Avengers across several previous films. The world has decided to reign in the action of the Avengers with the introduction of the ‘Sokovia Accords’. Which would mean the United Nations would have control of what the Avengers do. Simply put, Ironman is for it, Captain is against it.
This all eventually leads to two sides being formed, which has been the main angle the marketing team for the film have used to stir up the crowd. What works well here is that all the players in the ‘Civil War’ get their moment to shine. Even the minor characters such as Falcon & Vision get their moment in the spotlight. The usual Marvel humour is there as always, though they know when to use it, the final act is virtually devoid of any humour. The new additions also hit the right spot. Chadwick Boseman does a great job as the fearless Black Panther, his no nonsense attitude makes a refreshing change from the usual Avengers banter and quipping. Tom Holland’s portrayal of a young Spiderman steals the show in his brief appearances, and has everyone looking forward to his solo adventure! The Russo Bros. did a fantastic job in managing to fit everyone in, and making it work so fluently.
The films centerpiece is the showdown at the airport, where the 2 sides finally get down to trading blows. In what some will say is one of the greatest action scenes ever filmed, the set piece is filled with cameos, humour and action. The build up to this does not disappoint. It’s pretty obvious the heroes are pulling their punches during the scene, as they don’t really want to hurt one another. The final showdown at the end of the film between Ironman, Captain & The Winter Soldier is the polar opposite. The showdown is dramatic, and filled with tension. Which served as a nice treat, not the usual ‘end of the world’ scenario. This film is very much about Captain America, not the Avengers. Chris Evans & Downey Jr put in probably their best performances so far in all of the MCU outings so far.
The film though isn’t perfect. On the plus side of 2 hours, the film is stretched out a lot. The first hour or so is key in setting up the showcase battle, but it feels like some scenes could have been shortened or even cut to speed up the pacing. The 3rd act is a brutal fight, but it feels a bit of a let down after the epic airport scene. The films ”antagonist” was once again one of its weak points. Not since Loki have Marvel been able to produce an enticing villain. This is somewhat put on the side, as the feud between Tony & Steve is what really drives the film, the villain feels like somewhat of an after-thought. If he was removed entirely, it really wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
After the underwhelming critical response to Dawn of Justice, Marvel once again proved that they are the kings of the comic book big screen experience. The hype to the film has most certainly been justified, and it will interesting to see if they can top this in Infinity Wars.
5/5
Silver Screen Show 