Movie Review - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Director: Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Genre: Adventure/ Action/ Animation
Runtime: 140 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Laura Velez, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, Mahershala Ali, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, Andy Samberg, Rachel Dratch, Jack Quaid, Jharrel Jerome
 
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 39: A ANIMATED MOVIE THAT IS NOT DISNEY
 
Description: Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounter a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.

Review: It’s hard to top predecessor “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, but the sequel is another innovative experience that I loved just a much.

I guess people are still not sick of Spider-Man stories. And I’m so glad they aren’t, because then this amazing animation would maybe not even exist. Every superhero movie is directly or remotely based on a comic book. The makers of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” don’t just sprinkle in source references, they go further. The film’s eclectic look is a downright homage to Marvel Comics’ comic book artists, each of whom have their own style, with their own choice of mediums to work with. Some work with old-fashioned pencils or pen, others create airbrush art or use digital programs. And this is exactly what makes this film so unique and fresh. The clever thins is that the film brings all these styles together into a whole, completely original yet recognizable. And following such a great first film with an equally amazing sequel is very rare.

I loved everything about “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”: its unique mix of styles, the voice acting, the soundtrack, the whole experience was fantastic!

Rating: 5/ 5

Movie Review - Nope

Director: Jordan Peele
Genre: Horror/ Science Fiction/ Mystery
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun, Wrenn Schmidt, Brandon Perea, Keith David
 
    
Description: The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Review: Director Jordan Peele manages to give his film projects something special. All of them are pleasant genre films that do not rely on scare effects or other cheap effects, but are completely based on atmosphere, mutual tension and subcutaneous fear. At the same time, the director constantly holds up a mirror to us by addressing themes such as racism and the state of American society, without beating us over the head with them. Peele’s third film is not thematically a repeat of “Get Out” and “Us”.

Everyone knows the first well-known footage of a black man on a galloping horse from 1878. Its creator became world famous, but no one knows the name of the rider even though it was really the first real movie star. In “Nope”, his (fictional) descendants are a brother and sister who manage a horse range. Their noble animals are used for movies and commercials, but when OJ shows up with his horse for the filming of a commercial, he is hardly taken seriously and is even belittled.

Six months earlier, the two lost their father during an unexplained shower of objects. Their father was killed by a coin that pierced his eye, while a horse was pierced by a falling key. When OJ witnesses a strange presence in the sky one afternoon, it takes little effort on his part to convince his sister Emerald. They decide to capture the phenomenon on camera, but just at that moment, let every electrical appliance fail. With the help of a tech salesman, they still try to get a handle on the matter.

When OJ is chased one evening, gets out of his car and then looks up at the sky, his brief response is a confident ‘nope’, after which he safely gets back into his vehicle. With this, Peele seems to want to say that you shouldn’t look for something behind everything, which is in star contrast wo the messages he wanted to convey with his other two movies.

One of OJ’s potential customers is a former child star who once had an extremely traumatic experience with a murderous and vengeful chimpanzee. Why exactly Peele brings up this storyline remains somewhat unclear, but he seems to want to convey that man is powerless in the face of nature. This ties in with the manhunt that OJ and Emerals make for the unknown presence above their ranch. And balloons are somewhat of a factor as well, but I will not elaborate on that, for spoilers sake.

Jordan Peele proofs with “Nope” that he doesn’t only have a great talent for content, but also as a true visionary. The visuals are impressive. With its leisurely build-up and slow pace, “Nope” may not fully appeal to seasoned horror fans, but it’s certainly a skillfully crafted unconventional blend of genres that colors delightfully outside the lines. I truly loved “Nope” and considering Jordan Peele as one of the best modern horror directors.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Widows

Director: Steve McQueen
Genre: Thriller/ Crime/ Drama
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Viola Davis, Liam Neeson, Jon Bernthal, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Coburn Ross, Michelle Rodriguez, Alejandro Verdin, Baily Rhyse Walters, Elizabeth Debicki, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Jacki Weaver, Molly Kunz, James Vincent Meredith, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Cynthia Erivo

Description: Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities, take fate into their own hands, and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

Review: The plot sounds a bit like “Ocean’s Eleven” or “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”. But it’s a heist movie, with a twist. After a group of robbers were killed, their wives team up to steal millions of dollars.
With director Steve McQueen being involved, you already know it’s not going to be a light film. He also directed heavy themed films like “Hunger”, “Shame” and “12 Years a Slave”.
Where in most heist film the testosterone is fed by greed, “Widows” changes it up a bit. Here the women have a necessity, they need to do it for their own safety. The three women don’t want to step in their husband’s footsteps, they simply have no other choice. One of the men left a ‘script’ which they women use to plan the job.
Steve McQueen is known for his fantastic camerawork and he uses it here too. But it doesn’t always work. In the opening scene, the traditional getaway is shot completely from the getaway van. This is original, minimalistic and works great. But a scene where we see the outside of a driving car, while the frustrated politician inside is arguing with his assistant, doesn’t work as well. I fit was a disposable scene, it didn’t bother me. But it’s an important scene with great acting, which you don’t see. It doesn’t make as much of an impact this way.
Viola Davis is the star of the film. Her icy focus is amazing to watch. Sadly, her character is the most developed and the other women don’t get as much attention.
The interaction between the women is strong, but there is also a lot of attention for the political games played in the city of Chicago.
“Widows” is a good crime thriller, but it has more potential.

Rating: 3 / 5

10s Movie Review - Kick-Ass 2

Director: Jeff Wadlow
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Crime
Runtime: 113 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Jim Carrey, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Iain Glen, Donald Faison, Morris Chestnut, John Leguizamo, Lindy Booth, Yancy Butler, Daniel Kaluuya

Description: Following Kick-Ass' (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) heroics, other citizens are inspired to become masked crusaders. But Red Mist (Christoph Mintz-Plasse) leads his own group of evil supervillains to get revenge, kill Kick-Ass and destroy everything he stands for

Review: The superhero film has made big developments over the past years. In the early days, it was cool enough to put on a flashy costume and impress the viewers with muscles. But nowadays it has to be more realistic, more emotional and deeper. Marvel and DC still crack out films each year, not all just as successful. So when in 2010 Kick-Ass came to theaters, it was a breath of fresh air. Antiheroes, everyday heroes becoming superheroes. It was such a huge success, that a sequel was something you could expect. It never lives up to its original, but it’s still a good film.
Matthew Vaughn directed the first and I think it’s a good thing that he didn’t make a sequel right after the first film. “Kick-Ass 2” is directed by Jeff Wadlow and the characters had time to grow and find their way. Mindy Macready, alias Hit-Girl and the scene steals of the first film, tries to live a normal life after her superhero dad Big Daddy died. Her guardian Marcus thinks she is leaving a normal teenage life, but secretly she is fighting crime with her partner Kick-Ass, for his friends know as Dave Lizewski. Dave also still manages to stay under the radar and no one knows he is Kick-Ass. In the meantime, rich kid Chris D’Amico wants revenge for his father’s death. And he tries a new alter-ego: The Mother Fucker. This way he wants to teach Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl a lesson.
Kick-Ass and The Mother Fucker each get a group of fellow superhero-wanabees together. Kick-Ass’ team is led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (a fun and unrecognizable role by Jim Carrey).
Where “Kick-Ass” scores the most points: Action and verbal. The action is fantastic, with one scene in (and on) a van as the highlight. And the dialogues are great! Like the firs film, Chloë Grace Moretz steals the show as Hit-Girl. I know everyone loves this character more than the actual title character.
There are some poop and vomit jokes that I didn’t really appreciate here, but thank goodness that’s just a few minutes of the film.
“Kick-Ass” is a bit of the same here and there, but it’s very entertaining and Hit-Girl still has it.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

Movie Reviews - Black Panther

Director: Ryan Coogler
Genre: Action/ Adventure
Runtime: 134 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurai, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis

Description: T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake.

Review: In “Captain America: Civil War” we saw how the king of Wakanda dies, due to a bombing. Wakanda is a country, secluded from the rest of the world. Son T’Challa is the rightful heir to the throne, but there are people that think otherwise. Because of this battle, Wakanda’s well-hidden secrets could be out in the open.
Wakanda looks like a normal third world country, but when you dig deeper you step inside a hidden world. Wakanda is far ahead when it comes to technology and it’s a very advanced nation. Their country is build on land filled with Vibranium (which is also the metal where Captain America’s shield is made of).
Gangster Klaue is one of the only outsiders that ever managed to enter Wakanda, which is also protected by the Black Panther. The second role the Wakanda king has.
Most Marvel film have loads of humor, which works for the most part. “Black Panther” doesn’t use it and that’s a good thing. It wouldn’t fit here. It’s basically limited to T’Challa’s siter Shuri and tribe head M’Baku, who steal the show comedy wise.
Chadwick Boseman fills in his role as Black Panther very well. “Black Panther” is the last piece of the puzzle, before “Avengers”Infinity War”.

Rating: 4 / 5