I kinda liked Madame Web. It worked fine as an origin story for Cassie:
1. I know they were some weird plot holes and things that could have been executed better. And since this movie was not a part of the mcu, the writers didn't have the excuse that they'd have to go through 50000 movies and shows to make sure there's no plot holes. They could have focused on their story and ensured it was solid. But alas in this house we give female led superhero projects a chance.
BUT
2. I liked how originally the disease was supposed to take her sight, and her mother fought to prevent that and she did. She'd have lost her sight and been a mutant (according to the comics) if her mother wasn't so dedicated to saving her. But she couldn't really escape her fate and eventually lost her sight in the final fight and the spiders gave her powers.
3. Ezekiel was a fun 'spider people' villain. There was something a little more scary about having a villain that uses physical combat and powers to fight 4 heroes with no powers / only precog or mental powers. And him brutally killing the 4 of them in Cassie's visions was kinda dark. Ezekiel is a dope villain name for some reason too.
4. Peter Parker being only the side plot was kinda fun. I loved a young Mary Parker played by Emma Roberts and the constant little hints about who her baby is. The last scene where Anya (I think) tells Cassie that Ben is enjoying being an uncle with none of the responsibility and Cassie responds with like.... that's what he thinks. That was oddly depressing bc she knew Mary wouldn't live long despite her being perfectly fine.
5. The time setting was a win for me. And all the 2000s bops. I need a coat like Cassie's.
6. The teens behaved like teens. They weren't over the top like Pretty Little Liars or Euphoria or something. But they also weren't as unique as Kamala. They were just normal girls, who were good enough people that I'd believe they'd become the superheroes Cassie envisioned.
If the rumor is true that Tom Holland!Spidey is going to show up in “Across the Spider-Verse” (I think it’s likely given that the trailer referenced NWH), I can see Tom showing up in two ways:
1) Miles is at his lowest point, leading to him transporting to a new universe in order to escape Miguel O’Hara and the Spider Society. This universe turns out to be the MCU (Earth 199999), where he encounters Tom. The two have a conversation and Tom gives Miles a pep talk. Something about how even though he lost Uncle Ben, Tony Stark, and Aunt May, as well as being forgotten by all his friends, he still continues to fight. So, Tom becomes the Spider-Man who represents what Miles fears will happen to him, losing his loved ones. But Tom is also there to tell Miles that life didn’t end for him despite his losses.
2) Tom appears as the mid-credits/post-credits scene surprise. Either it’ll be a funny gag or a tease to live-action Miles Morales. Or, even a tease to Spider-Man 4.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Quickfire Review
So I am out of the cinema, and I have thoughts
We've finally reached the sequel to the epic Spider-verse movie, which in itself rewrote the rules on animation while being able to juggle a large cast outside of the Marvel machine.
So let me tell you my experience with the movie
Spoilers for the movie, you've been warned
Okay, this was a lot
It was really good, but it was a lot
I really don't want to speak badly about this movie because it is not at all bad, it's a visual spectacle with many twists and great characters. But I think the plot lost me.
The main reason I think it lost me was the crux of 'Canon Events', which I will get more into, but given that last movie was about anyone being a Spider it was irksome that the story is also 'yes but you also have to have the exact same experiences which strips your story of agency'. I also think that the retcon that Peter A would've survived is wrong, and if all Spiders are meant to have the same chain of happening then why is Miles, the anomaly, subject to that rule in a universe where that chain has already happened? Also if he's an anomaly why didn't the universe disappear after a year of him and the Spider from Earth-42 being in this world? In a way it does threaten to lose the heart of what made the first movie so good too.
I also feel like it was two or three movies stitched together, Gwen's story was great, albeit with so much angst, Miles' story in his universe barely got going and Miles vs Spider Society was the main part of the narrative, and while it was woven together well I think the magnitude of it all took me out of it a bit, a lot of the times I felt like it was gonna end and then it went on for another 10-30 minutes, and it is a bad sign when you can feel the length of a movie. Honestly we could've easily gotten away with a Spider-Gwen movie of her own, let it cliffhanger with the cold open we got then have the final interaction with her dad and the infinite amount of colour palettes in this movie with just the Miles stuff going on.
My main character critique is probably the sourness that they did EXACTLY what I feared they would do to Miguel O'Hara. Spider-Man 2099 is my favourite Spider-Man but they really did decuple down on the edginess over the basis of his suit and powers. I mean sure, he has trauma that has killed off the last of his lighthearted value we saw in last-movie's post-credits scene, but most Spiders have trauma, and he did essentially steal another man's life for his own. I think the fact that he puts a ton of pressure on himself to uphold other timelines didn't quite come across so well, because they needed him to take over as the primary antagonist and 'the guy who tells Miles the stuff his mother warns him people may say to him'. Also, Miguel is different from most spiders because he doesn't have his Uncle Ben moment, he was a dick who caught conscience and Alchemax tried to silence him and accidentally gave him spider powers, so that also hinders the 'Canon Events' plot of Uncle Ben and Captain Stacy moments happening. Jessica Drew I struggled to get around to, loved her at the start but then she just started being cold, same can be said for Miles' parents towards Gwen, they picked one thing she couldn't have known they'd dislike and that was their tone towards her for most of their interactions after.
B U T !
Do I intend to watch Beyond the Spider-Verse? Yes! Absolutely.
Because even with the narrative flaws and the irksome nature that some characters are just being cold for little reason and that one of your favourite comics Spider-Man is not represented the same way, there is an extremely good movie in here. The art was amazing, in between all universes, the music was AMAZING, like Gwen vs Vulture just had an amazing soundtrack on its own. And gods all the Easter eggs; game and live action continuity weaved in, Ben Reilly, Unlimited Spidey, Julia Carpenter, adult MayDay Spider, Venom movie shop, even Prowler Donald Glover! There is so much to enjoy and the more you know about the several iterations and media of Spider-Man the more you find to enjoy.
But Hobie (Spider-Punk) stole the fucking show, everything he did was gold, Pavitr was fun but we needed more of him same with Spiderbyte and really Peter B and Miguel, Spot was hilarious too and then terrifying-looking when he reached his full potential, also Penny has an EVA now. The Spiders chase was well done with its clever quips and dynamic use of other spiders, the cold open was also inventive with Renaissance-verse Vulture. And then of course we got a very gripping cliffhanger, I like the squad we have for Gwen to rescue Miles and I can only beg that Lord and Miller manage to tone down and bring Miguel around in a satisfying manner without having to compromise the integrity and heart of the plot as Miles seeks a way to save his father without erasing his universe.
If anything this movie will keep you on your toes, it is stylistic beyond anything you might have seen before, but it can easily get overwhelming. I personally enjoyed as much as Guardians 3, maybe more by a slight margin (the highs are higher but the qualms are greater so hard to tell), but I also feel like it's not better than the first plot-wise just because of that feeling of being overwhelmed. It is worth a watch though for sure.
So, just like with Morbius, I watched Madame Web before forming an opinion, and can someone explain to me all the hate? I get the memes, but why all the hate?
Was it groundbreaking? Absolutely not.
But it also wasn't bad.
It was good enough. Nice popcorn movie. Has definitely flaws, but those are mostly just revealing themselves after the movie is done and the small collection of plotholes the re-shoot moths chewed into the film becomes obvious.
It had phenomenal visuals, an amazing soundtrack, great casting and acting. The writing lacked in places given the plotholes and the occasional over the top scene, but it's not enough to hate the movie into the ground?
It's Morbius all over again. Not groundbreaking, but not everything can or even should be. Not bad either. Just. Good enough.
TIL that Eminem did the official song for the Morbius movie, which is his second Marvel-themed song after the one he did for Venom. What’s funny to me is that he’s done songs for two different Marvel characters but not the one who he was actually in a comic with:
(but like...can you imagine Jon Bernthal’s Punisher actually meeting Eminem lol. That’d make for a fun, one-off episode)