Drew’s Movie Reviews Turns 6! My Fave Five New Movies I Watched in Year 6

July 30, 2019 by Drew

Hello, friends!

Today is a special day. Today is my the sixth blogiversary! I celebrated the occasion by reviewing Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. If you missed any of those reviews, here they are:

Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3

Since “Year 5” was a bit extended due to my six month hiatus last year, I haven’t seen as many movies during Year Six as normal. However, I still did see some pretty fantastic films during that time. Here are my fave five films I watched during my sixth year of blogging.

5) Aquaman

The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) doesn’t have the best track record. I think Warner Bros. recognized that directors should have the freedom to make their movies their way, even if they exist within the larger universe, which is exactly what James Wan is allowed to do with Aquaman and it payed off. This movie has its share of problems but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a ton of fun. Wan injects a blend of humor and action with a sprinkle of his signature horror elements in the right spots to create an enjoyable action adventure, leaving me actually excited for a DCEU sequel.

4) Juno

I’ve heard of Juno and how good it was for years but it was one of those films that I never watched for one reason or another. When discussing this year’s Ultimate Decades blogathon with my co-host, she recommended this 2007 film to me and I figured “what the heck?” After watching it I was saying to myself “what the heck!? Why didn’t I watch this sooner?” It is extremely heartfelt and way more captivating than I expected it to be. Ellen Page and Michael Cera were phenomenal, playing off each other’s senses of humor wonderfully. Dramas are hit or miss with me but this was a definite hit!

3) Spider-Man: Far From Home

After the epicness that was Avengers: Endgame, we needed a more relaxed film. That’s not to say Spider-Man: Far From Home is a walk in the park but it does lack the scale of Endgame. Tom Holland has really come into the role of Peter since Captain America: Civil War, and has probably become my favorite Peter Parker between the three actors to have portrayed him since 2002. Jake Gyllenhaal has a unique take on Quentin Beck, adding to the relatively unimpressive comic book version of the character. The end of the film finally sees Spidey swinging through NYC, making me even more excited for Holland’s third solo Spider-Man film.

2) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse immediately makes itself standout from other Spider-Man films with its truly one-of-a-kind animation style that makes you feel like you are watching a comic book come to life. We’ve seen plenty of big screen versions of Peter Parker so Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse takes a different approach and presents us Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man, for the first time. There is a lot to enjoy between the characters, story, and animation. Opening up the multiverse creates literally endless story possibilities and I can’t wait to see what they come up with for the inevitable sequel.

1) Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame. Wow. What an emotional end to what is now being called the “Infinity Saga”. Marvel Studios crafted one of the finest pieces of pop-culture history. Where Avengers: Infinity War brought together story threads from all the previous Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, Endgame wraps up those story threads in an emotional and exciting way, closing out the chapters of most of the Avengers we have followed since 2008. It is hard to believe we will see another cultural cinematic event like this anytime soon. Love you, 3000.

What a year for superhero films, huh? It’s probably good that we are getting a breather from the MCU for now, now that the Infinity Saga has finished. There were some pretty amazing announcements that came from the Marvel panel at San Diego Comic Con this year so I can’t wait to see what Phase Four brings. Unfortunately, the Fox’s X-Men series went out with a whimper with X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Hopefully under the Marvel Studios banner, the X-Men characters can return to their former glory. As for the DCEU, well they seemed to have distanced themselves from a shared universe and are focusing on stand alone stories, which honestly is probably their better option right now.

And that does it for another year at DMR! Thank you to all my followers, and anyone who has liked, commented, shared, or simply visited the site. You all make this worthwhile and an enjoyable experience. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next 12 months. 🙂

Until next time, cheers!

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Review

January 1, 2019 by Drew

Synopsis
Shortly after Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is bitten by a radioactive spider, he meets Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), the Spider-Man from another dimension. Miles works with Peter to learn how to be Spider-Man and to stop the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from tearing apart reality.

Review
There is nothing left for me to say that I haven’t said before on this blog about my love for Spider-Man. And after 6 live-action movies (7 if you include his appearance in Captain America: Civil War), which include three origin stories, since 2001, you would think Sony wouldn’t have anything left to say about the character either. However, Sony dug deep and gave us a new look at the character. In doing so, they circumvented any expectations you might have had, delivering their most memorable and faithful take on the character yet.

The first thing you’re bound to notice when watching this film is its gorgeous animation. I can truly say I have never seen anything like it before. It looks like you’re watching a moving comic book. What blows me away is the way the backgrounds are animated. If it’s not the focus of the shot, it’s blurry and often the colors go outside the lines, like something you might have seen back in the early days of comics. To also go along with the classic comic book style, this movie pulls a 1960s Batman and shows action words with the heroes’ punches and kicks. And if they are tapping something, squiggly lines appear so you know there is contact. I can’t say enough good things about the animation style; I love it!

Miles Morales is a fan favorite character, so it was brilliant to finally tell a story centered around him. Peter Parker is the Spider-Man we all know and love but we’ve gotten to know him and love him on the screen plenty since 2001, so it’s probably time for him to let another spider hero take the spotlight. While this is yet another superhero origin story, and contains many of the tropes you might have come to expect, it still has a lot of heart. As a result, there is a lot of familiarity but it manages to feel different at the same time.

Much like Paul Rudd in Ant-Man, Jake Johnson is not a name I would have picked to portray a super hero. However, Johnson’s take on Peter Parker is great. His voice fits the older version well. I wouldn’t have expected Johnson to ever play a superhero, let alone be a good one.

One of Spider-Man’s signature characteristics is his quips and jokes both in and out of battle. And honestly, as great as several of the live-action films have been, Spider-Man’s humor is something they have consistently missed to varying degrees. However, Into the Spider-Verse nails it on the head. I think this is why Johnson ends up fitting into the role so well. If you’ve seen him in the television series New Girl, you’ll know that he has good comedic timing, which he uses to create a Peter Parker that is more like his comic book counterpart than any big screen iteration of the character to date.

Another thing that I love about this movie is the amount of spider heroes it introduces. Not only did it stray away from having Peter Parker being the main character and not only did it introduce Miles Morales, it introduced a whole group of new characters. Other fan favorites like Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage), and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) made appearances and played decently significant roles in the film. I can’t see this kind of story being adapted in a live-action setting so kudos to Sony for using an animated film to tell this story and bring these characters together. The door is now open to the literally endless spider men and women that can show up in future sequels. Personally, I can’t wait to see more.

I thought Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was GREAT 😀 It blows away any expectation I had going into it. I’m excited to see Miles finally getting his own movie, while also bringing in other popular alternative spider heroes. While taking a back seat to Miles, Jake Johnson’s Spider-Man is the most like the comic book of the version character that has been brought to the screen. In taking a chance on doing something different, Spider-Verse has given us the best representation of Spider-Man and the Spider-Man universe on film yet.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Bob Persichette – Director
Peter Ramsey – Director
Rodney Rothman – Director / Screenplay
Phil Lord – Story / Screenplay
Daniel Pemberton – Composer

Shameik Moore – Miles Morales (voice)
Jake Johnson – Peter B. Parker (voice)
Hailee Steinfeld – Gwen Stacy (voice)
Mahershala Ali – Uncle Aaron (voice)
Brian Tyree Henry – Jefferson Davis (voice)
Lily Tomlin – Aunt May (voice)
Zoe Kravitz – Mary Jane (voice)
John Mulaney – Spider-Ham (voice)
Kimiko Glenn – Peni Parker (voice)
Nicolas Cage – Spider-Man Noir (voice)
Kathryn Hahn – Doc Ock (voice)
Liev Schreiber – Wilson Fisk (voice)
Chris Pine – Peter Perker (voice)
Oscar Isaac – Interesting Person #1 (voice)
Greta Lee – Interesting Person #2 (voice)