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JasonEvans
06-30-2019, 09:14 PM
Saw it a few days ago and published my podcast review (https://soundcloud.com/jason-evans-151762463/spiderman-far-from-home-jason-josh-fight-aabout-the-movies)today. Do a Dukie a solid and have a listen. https://soundcloud.com/jason-evans-151762463/spiderman-far-from-home-jason-josh-fight-aabout-the-movies

I will say that I was a bit more negative on it than most other critics. I think it has some problems with the tone because it veers wildly from characters acting really serious and talking about responsibility to characters acting silly and unrealistic. I also was really bothered by an aspect of the story that is supposed to be a surprise, and the first half of the movie is dependent on you not seeing this twist coming, but it is so telegraphed that you know it from the moment the movie begins.

That said, it is fun and funny and has some great action sequences. Marvel fans must see it and they will enjoy it. Still, to me it isn't the masterpiece that Civil War, Homecoming, Black Panther, Ragnarok, Infinity War, and Endgame were. In fact, I would put it near the middle of the pack of all Marvel films. To be clear, that does not mean it is a bad movie -- the MCU is full of high quality action movies -- but fans should know they are not going to see something quite on the level of where Marvel has been playing lately.

-Jason "I am sure many of you will disagree with me... at least I know when I am being a tad too critical ;) " Evans

PackMan97
07-01-2019, 08:10 AM
Is Peter Parker a Carolina fan? Just wondering what he did to you. Any rumors of a relationship between Aunt May and Happy?

Native
07-01-2019, 08:19 AM
I think it has some problems with the tone because it veers wildly from characters acting really serious and talking about responsibility to characters acting silly and unrealistic.

It's funny — this was my one and only gripe with Endgame.

Matches
07-01-2019, 09:13 AM
Spider-Man is spelled with a hyphen you soulless monster! :)

brevity
07-01-2019, 10:15 AM
Any rumors of a relationship between Aunt May and Happy?

I saw that live Norman Lear sitcom reading on TV last month. Aunt May married Carnage, and they live in the same neighborhood as Electro.

BD80
07-01-2019, 12:51 PM
Spider-Man is spelled with a hyphen you soulless monster! :)

I thought it was a string of web holding them together ...

crimsondevil
07-01-2019, 04:33 PM
Spider-Man is spelled with a hyphen you soulless monster! :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyaiJc3ESAI

Wander
07-01-2019, 04:38 PM
I also was really bothered by an aspect of the story that is supposed to be a surprise, and the first half of the movie is dependent on you not seeing this twist coming, but it is so telegraphed that you know it from the moment the movie begins.

Not having seen it, there is a "twist" I expect to happen with 100% certainty from the moment I saw the first trailer. If it's what you're thinking of, it's tough for me to imagine that the writers would really expect it to be surprising.

bigperm13
07-02-2019, 04:30 AM
Just saw the 12:01 showing. Good end to Phase 3. 2 credit scenes after and both are pertinent. Enjoy y’all.

JasonEvans
07-02-2019, 07:27 AM
Not having seen it, there is a "twist" I expect to happen with 100% certainty from the moment I saw the first trailer. If it's what you're thinking of, it's tough for me to imagine that the writers would really expect it to be surprising.

Yes, I think most folks know what I am talking about. The great pity is that by using a different name or even outfit, they might have been able to make this surprise a bit more surprising. Frankly, being a slave to existing comic book storylines does not serve the MCU well.

PackMan97
07-02-2019, 01:32 PM
Frankly, being a slave to existing comic book storylines does not serve the MCU well.

In general they have taken considerable liberties with their source material. I'm a bit surprised they couldn't think more outside the box on this one.

JasonEvans
07-02-2019, 01:53 PM
In general they have taken considerable liberties with their source material. I'm a bit surprised they couldn't think more outside the box on this one.

Yeah, and like I said, the whole first half of the movie revolves around this "shocking twist." This is one of the major reasons I thought the movie was sorta weak. I just could never get into what was happening while I waited for the inevitable to happen. Marvel is usually much better about this stuff.

Native
07-03-2019, 08:57 AM
Yeah, and like I said, the whole first half of the movie revolves around this "shocking twist." This is one of the major reasons I thought the movie was sorta weak. I just could never get into what was happening while I waited for the inevitable to happen. Marvel is usually much better about this stuff.

Saw it last night. I agree with you in that the first half of the movie is very slow until the "big reveal" — which is obvious to anyone who's ever heard of these characters — but I found the second half of the film really enjoyable, so I'm willing to give the movie a pass on this one. I thought Gyllenhaal killed it as Mysterio.

JasonEvans
07-04-2019, 08:52 PM
I think, to be polite, we should wait to talk spoilers until the weekend is over, or at least until Sunday. I look forward to discussing it with all of you then.

DU82
07-04-2019, 09:35 PM
I think, to be polite, we should wait to talk spoilers until the weekend is over, or at least until Sunday. I look forward to discussing it with all of you then.

If you start talking spoilers, please at least change the header.

Udaman
07-05-2019, 11:53 AM
obviously for those who have seen the movie.

Once again, it seems that JE and I are brothers from another mother. Pretty much fully agree with his take on this movie, in that overall it was good, but also pretty disappointing. I would probably still put it in the Top Tier of Marvel movies (and better than anything DC has put out except the Bale Batman movies, Wonder Woman and (maybe) Aquaman. It blows the doors off of Dark Phoenix. But, I left the movie feeling pretty underwhelmed and feeling like they took a step back and kind of blew it with their chance to start the next phase of the Marvel movies. Again, overall I liked it, but I won't go see it again in the theaters.

So what did I like:

* The humor. It's just consistently funny, in a way that only Marvel seems to fully understand how to do. Laughed at times from the beginning to the end.

* Happy and Spidey (and Aunt May - except for two things, more on those in a bit). Part of the funny.

* The Tony Stark love. They did it just right.

* The introduction about the blip and the return. Loved the footage of the people disappearing and then returning in the middle of the game (although, it did cause me and my 15 year old to debate what happened to people in airplanes, did they all reappear at 30,000 feet? He said yes. I said no way would Banner do that). Also loved the "and we still had to take the entire school year over."

* The last third of the movie. The pacing and editing and fight scenes were great. Really liked the illusions that Spidey faced the first time he fought Mysterio, and how Spiderman beat him at the end.

* Jake G's acting. He's one of the best around today.

* Tom Holland. Great Spider-man.

* The focus on what it's like to be a teenager and trying to fit in and wanting to be a grown up, but also wanting to be a kid, and feeling attracted to other people and being awkward. All well done.

* Bringing back JK Simmons as JJ Jameson from the Daily Bugle. Did not see that coming. It was easily one of the highlights of the movie!

So what didn't I like (in reverse order)

10. Mr. Dell (JB Smooth). What was the point of his character. Just comic relief, and it got old. And wasn't believable.

9. MJ. My spouse kind of liked her arc. I didn't. She just seemed to be the object of desire, and someone who desired Peter. There was no depth. She's super smart. That was basically ignored. There was no character development, or growth, or anything. She was just a cute girl that Peter liked and that liked Peter.

8. Aunt May. The end of Homecoming saw her catching Peter as Spiderman. They then hinted that they could really dive into that with her worrying about Peter, etc. Instead they completely avoided it. She was using him as a prop. And packing his suit for him. Not consistent at all with last movie.

7. Aunt May Part II. One thing that Marvel really, really, really, really should dive into, is the effect of the Blip. It would be devastating to half the population. Jobs lost. Missing kids growing up. Surviving spouses remarrying. Homes no longer yours. The dabbled at this with some attempt at humor. But this is dark, dark stuff. They could easily make this the thing that creates a new batch of villains. It should be the centerpiece of everything moving forward. They barely touched it.

6. The Mysterio reveal. I liked that the bar scene was an illusion. But anyone who knows anything about Spider-man knows that Mysterio is a bad guy. So painting him as good at first was just dumb to me.

5. The relationship with Ned and Betty. Yeah, it was kind of funny, and it could have been great. But 16 year olds don't go from people who know each other to calling each other "dear" and "sweetie" after an overnight flight. It was forced. As was the breakup. And it could have been done in a totally believable way. But wasn't.

4. I'm sorry, but if Peter Parker gets hit by a train going 80 miles per hour...he's dead. This is not Thor or Wonder Woman or Aquaman (ie a God). He's human.

3. The big reveal at the first credit scene. Though it was shocking to have Mysterio reveal Peter Parker's true name (and I was shocked), after that wore off, I was pretty bummed. The essence of Spiderman is that nobody knows who he is. Now that everyone does, it makes him and his family unsafe. It becomes the story line in the next movie (which could be OK, if it works out) and just fundamentally changes SpiderMan. It would be the same way as if they did that for Bruce Wayne. You just don't out them - not without changing everything that you've ever associated with the characters. I guess some people might like this...but I didn't. And it seemed that Mysterio actually really did like Peter Parker. Didn't seem like he would out him like that either.

2. The illusions created by Mysterio. How did they actually work? For wind and fire and water, you need, well, wind and fire and water. The drones can't produce heat can they? Spiderman would have realized that the creature wasn't some giant thing made of lava, because it wouldn't have been given heat off the way it should. And later it showed Mysterio practicing the choreography in London. But the creatures had to react to things around them, like Spiderman and the people on the Ferris wheel. You can't do that spontaneously with a guy on a laptop watching. And the swinging arms of the elements broke things completely - not like what a drone would do. And he didn't have the drones until the end anyway. Fully completely unbelievable. And yes, I know I have to suspend my disbelief in these movies. But this was bad.

1. Easily the worst wast the last credit scene. So, so frustrating. We find that Nick Fury, who has been 100% Nick Fury the entire time, wasn't Nick Fury at all. This is lazy. And unbelievable. And beyond dumb. How would the alien know what "ghosting" was. How would they have access to all that Nick Fury had? How would they have been able to find Mysterio at the beginning? When Happy called with the surfboard story and "things aren't how they appear" how would the alien know to say it wasn't his surfboard, and then that it was actually a warning? And again, the entire movie is Fury being pure Fury, and now we are supposed to believe that it wasn't Nick at all. This scene damned near ruined the movie for me.

OK, diatribe over. Other thoughts?

Nick
07-06-2019, 11:22 PM
2. The illusions created by Mysterio. How did they actually work? For wind and fire and water, you need, well, wind and fire and water. The drones can't produce heat can they? Spiderman would have realized that the creature wasn't some giant thing made of lava, because it wouldn't have been given heat off the way it should. And later it showed Mysterio practicing the choreography in London. But the creatures had to react to things around them, like Spiderman and the people on the Ferris wheel. You can't do that spontaneously with a guy on a laptop watching. And the swinging arms of the elements broke things completely - not like what a drone would do. And he didn't have the drones until the end anyway. Fully completely unbelievable. And yes, I know I have to suspend my disbelief in these movies. But this was bad.



Overall, the movie was well-paced, directed, fun to watch, etc. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. The one big problem I had with it was the Mysterio operation. Udaman brings up some of what bothered me: yes, I know we have to suspend disbelief, but it's easier to believe in a Norse deity who's actually an alien than it is to believe in Mysterio. How DO those illusions work? And how come none of Mysterio's former Stark Industries coworkers recognize him when he makes the news? Where is he getting his funding from--is there an evil venture capital firm or something? What's his exit strategy, is he keeping people loyal with stock options? He's got a lot of people in his operation and they all look like generic mid-level management instead of like evil henchman. I halfway expected them to ask Mysterio about their 401k match.

Pulling off the things he pulled off in the movie would be monstrously complex with a high probability of things malfunctioning (just getting Windows to work regularly can be challenging). I respect their effort to try to say "He did this with technology" but it would have taken me out of the movie less if they had just said, "He's a bad guy with mysterious, unexplained magic powers of illusion. Like Loki, but greener."

Matches
07-08-2019, 12:53 PM
5. The relationship with Ned and Betty. Yeah, it was kind of funny, and it could have been great. But 16 year olds don't go from people who know each other to calling each other "dear" and "sweetie" after an overnight flight. It was forced. As was the breakup. And it could have been done in a totally believable way. But wasn't.


Eh, I dunno - I've got two teenage daughters and that seemed pretty believable to me. At least Ned and Betty were speaking in person - I've seen cases of entire "relationships" taking place over text messages.

acdevil
07-18-2019, 11:56 AM
Just saw it last night (a little disappointed there wasn't more discussion on this thread).

Quick thoughts in no particular order:

1. I really liked it. Not as much as the Infinity War films, but better than more than most Marvel movies.

2. I really thought it was going to be a reference to Stan Lee at the beginning when In Memorium popped up on the screen. Nice curveball.

3. Agree that it took a little away from the movie that I knew Mysterio was a villain based on comic book knowledge.

4. Agree with most that has been said on how Mysterio pulls off his shenanigans.

5. First end scene - That knocked me on my I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.. When the movie ended, I thought "I guess that video that was prepared will be in the next film". Nice to get a payoff right away. When Spidey said execute them all at the end of the movie, I had thought that was a weird phrasing but at least we know why it was done from a story point. Am curious where the next spidey will take us as he will be a wanted man under either of his identities.

6. Second end scene - When Fury was on the beach, I thought for sure it was going to be a Tahiti reference per Marvel: Agents of Shield. Unlike one of the posters above, I liked it. I've seen some interesting speculation for why the scene happened including being the pre-cursor of S.W.O.R.D. and the chance that there is an evil Skrull supervillain. Also brings in the possibility of story lines where some heroes have been secretly replaced with evil Skrull imposters.

Tommac
07-18-2019, 05:25 PM
obviously for those who have seen the movie.

2. The illusions created by Mysterio. How did they actually work? For wind and fire and water, you need, well, wind and fire and water. The drones can't produce heat can they? Spiderman would have realized that the creature wasn't some giant thing made of lava, because it wouldn't have been given heat off the way it should. And later it showed Mysterio practicing the choreography in London. But the creatures had to react to things around them, like Spiderman and the people on the Ferris wheel. You can't do that spontaneously with a guy on a laptop watching. And the swinging arms of the elements broke things completely - not like what a drone would do. And he didn't have the drones until the end anyway. Fully completely unbelievable. And yes, I know I have to suspend my disbelief in these movies. But this was bad.



OK, diatribe over. Other thoughts?

I thought that Mysterio had access to drones at the beginning of the movie, but in limited quantities. Didn't he say that he needed the Stark glasses so that he could acquire the additional drones to pull off the illusions in a much bigger way in London. That's how I remembered it.

JasonEvans
09-27-2019, 12:25 PM
Bringing this thread back to life to make sure everyone heard that Disney and Sony have cut a deal to keep Spidey in the MCU for now. There will be a third Spider-man solo film with Disney investing 25% of the costs and getting 25% of the profits. Disney will also get to keep Spidey in at least 2 other larger MCU films (I am sure they have to pay Sony something for the rights to do that).

This is basically the deal that Disney had on the table that Sony balked at over the summer... when Sony was reluctant Disney upped the percentages to 50-50 and that is when Sony walked away. I feel like Sony caved here (there is talk that star Tom Holland and director John Watts were very upset at leaving the MCU) but I suspect staying under Kevin Feige's oversight is well worth losing a bit of your profits.

Anyway, I'm just thrilled we are going to get to see this play out the way Feige had intended:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVr-J1ZPYOU

BD80
09-27-2019, 03:48 PM
... There will be a third Spider-man solo film with Disney investing 25% of the costs and getting 25% of the profits. Disney will also get to keep Spidey in at least 2 other larger MCU films (I am sure they have to pay Sony something for the rights to do that).

... I suspect staying under Kevin Feige's oversight is well worth losing a bit of your profits.

...

They may have lost some % of gross profit, but they probably GAINED in net profit.