MOVIE REVIEW: SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

 

MOVIE REVIEW:  SPIDER-MAN:  NO WAY HOME

Our Webhead returned in a MASSIVE way with this latest installment from the join Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures venture, Spider-Man:  No Way Home.  I gotta tell you, gang....this was THE greatest Spider-Man movie I've EVER seen!  It had it ALL:  emotional beats with loaded drama, damn good action scenes, and lots of great surprises (even though the internet tried to ruin it all), it STILL it all the feels that you could ask for, and it set the tone for Spidey going forward from here on out.  It elevates Tom Holland's version of our web-slinger going forward in this Phase 4 of the MCU.  

This movie picked right back up after No Way Home, in the fact that---thanks to Quentin Beck---everyone now knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.  This forces Peter and MJ to flee, but they eventually have to face the music.  As for Peter, he's haggled by the police about Beck and the drones that were used for his nefarious plot in Europe, but Beck was careful enough to ensure that the man on the hook for ownership of the drones where Peter himself.  Because of his association with the late Tony Stark, Peter is automatically implicated in Beck's death, plus any other forms of destruction Mysterio was responsible for.  But, with the help of defense lawyer Matt Murdock, the chargers against Peter are dropped.  However, the same can't be said to Happy Hogan, as he is STILL employed by Stark Industries, that makes HIM on the hook for the drones (and, by that measure, Pepper Potts as well).  So, Happy will have to deal with that.  Meanwhile, due to J. Jonah Jameson's yellow internet journalism, public opinion has been swayed against Peter, as he, MJ, Ned, and even Happy and Aunt May have to face the public with the situation regarding Peter's dual ID.  It's hard on MJ and Ned, who've been implicated in Peter's activities as accomplices, while May herself is grilled by the cops about enabling a minor into dangerous activity.  Either way, it gives the public reason to hate on Peter, and for everyone else that he's gone to school with, reason to just follow him around.

Frustrated by everything that's transpired, and knowing that his friends and Aunt May shouldn't have to suffer the fate of HIS mistakes or deal with the fallout of HIS dual ID, Peter seeks the aid of Doctor Stephen Strange at the Sanctum Sanctorum, where he asks Strange to cast a spell to make the world forget that Peter is Spider-Man.  However, in the process of casting the spell (which Wong has warned Strange against, before taking off for China, where we found him in Shang-Chi), Peter can't keep his mouth shut, wanting Ned, MJ, Aunt May, and Happy to remember he's Spider-Man.  But the spell is messed up, and Strange has to work to kill it.  However, as it turns out, in the process of messing up the spell, it allowed the multiverse to be opened up, and some new people started coming through to their world.  Peter didn't get into MIT, as MJ and Ned were also denied, and Peter went to go plead with the dean of MIT to allow Ned and MJ to get in, but as he catches up to her, the bridge is attacked by Doctor Octopus, whom has come over from another Earth, and battles Peter, but he notices that this is NOT the Peter Parker HE knows, but mangaes to absorb Peter's nanotech through his Stark suit.  Peter manages to stop him, but also has to face off against yet another villain who's come through:  the Green Goblin.  Octavius recognizes Normal Osborn, and he attacks, but Peter manages to fight him off, and he disappears.  Strange pulls Peter back to the basement of the Sanctum, and captures Octavius.  He tells Peter that since the spell got screwed up, people have been coming over, and he needs to stop it.  

First on Peter's list is Max Dillon:  Electro.  He heads out and manages to not only run into Dillon, but into Flint Marko as well.  Having captured BOTH of them, they get a bead on Norman Osborn, who's found his way to F.E.A.S.T., where Aunt May works.  There, he grabs Norman, and they are all in one place.  Strange shows up, and says that each of them will be returned to their proper worlds, but they must suffer the same fate that they had on those Earths:  namely, they die fighting Spider-Man.  Peter can't sit well with that, and he and Strange battle over the box that will send the villains home without curing them.  He traps Strange in the Mirror Dimension.  So, Peter, MJ, Ned, and Aunt May move them to Happy's apartment.  Peter then begins working on a way to "cure" them, in order to prevent them from dying on their respective worlds.  However, Norman has played Peter, and has been looking to plot against him the entire time.  While he DOES cure Otto, Electro, Sandman, Curt Connors, and Norman attack Peter, and in the process of the battle, Aunt May is critically injured.  She tells Peter that "With great power, there must also come great responsibility", and she dies in Peter's arms.  Distraught with her death, but also facing the cops, Peter takes off to escape capture.  

Ned and MJ try to find him, but are unable to.  Ned uses one of Doctor Strange's sling rings in order to open a portal to him, but instead, bring across a Peter Parker from another world, whom they call "Peter-Two".  Ned tries again, and then brings in yet another Peter Parker..."Peter-Three" from another part of their world.  Both are at first leery of each other, but then learn that this Earth's Peter just lost his Aunt, and they need to find him in order to stop the villains from whatever plot they've hatched.  They do find him mourning atop a building, and both Peters Two & Three discuss their own tragedies, in which they both share that they lost their Uncle Ben, and have felt guilty about it, because they take the blame.  Peter Two also talks about his girlfriend Gwen dying because he couldn't save her.  But they encourage him to pick himself up, because there's a job to do.  So...with that in mind, all three Peters put their scientific minds together in order to come up with cures for each of the villains at large.  They then realize they're planning on making their grandstand play at the Statue of Liberty, where they're doing renovations.  

The three Spideys engage the villains, and despite some early setbacks, manage to subdue the villains posing a threat, depowering them, or curing them outright.  Otto is the only villain who didn't go along with the plan.  However, this brings back Norman with upgraded Goblin gear, and attacks Peter One.  MJ gets caught up in the melee and begins to fall off the statue.  Peter Two, however, manages to save her from death, thus getting some semblence of peace for saving this world's MJ.  Peter One and the Goblin battle, and Peter One gets the best of him, and then begins to pummel him, and then destroy him with his own glider.  However, Peter Three manages to stop him before he makes that critical mistake.  Peter One relents, but this allows Norman to recover and stab Peter Three.  Norman is then cured by Peter One.  As the villains are defeated, Doctor Strange shows up, as the skies start to open up, and we see the bits of the multiverse seep through.  Strange tries to hold it off, but he can't.  Peter One then realizes that the only way to stop it is to complete the original spell.  And this means that EVERYONE will forget Peter Parker...not just that he was Spider-Man.  Strange asks him if he's sure, and he says yes.  Strange casts the spell, and it works.  The multiverse seems to have been held back, and things are looking like their going back to normal.  But Strange warns Peter One that he only has a little time to say "goodbye" before the spell takes hold.  So, All three Spidey's hug and give their goodbyes, as they take their leave, and they---along with their villains----are sent back to their rightful Earths.  Peter then tells Ned and MJ that he's going to find them after this, and he and MJ kiss and admit their love to each other before he takes off.  In the process of everyone being returned to their proper Earths, this also included Eddie Brock, who'd been transported to this Earth from his own movie, but as he's returned home, a piece of the Venom symbiote is left behind. 

Two weeks later, Peter finds Ned and MJ to help them remember, but he decides against it...allowing them to have normal lives.  He then visits his Aunt May's grave, where he bumps into Happy, who has no idea who he is.  They say they both met her through Spider-Man.  Peter then finds a new place in the city, and creates a new costume, as he continues the fight as Spider-Man. 

This movie REALLY gave us that sense of nostaliga, brought back some classic villains, and two guys we admired for their portrayal of Spider-Man.  Bringing back Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Rhys Ifans , and Thomas Haden Church as the villains from Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's universes gave the movie a genuine threat, but allowed Tom Holland to play with villains he hasn't quite had to deal with (as yet).  All of them did a fantastic job, and Dafoe especially a treat to see, as he seemed like he did NOT miss a beat as Norman Osborn.  Being the true heavy of the villains seemed appropriate.  Molina was amazing as well, and Jamie Foxx looked MUCH better with HIS upgrades in this movie.  To see Andrew and Tobey back just pierced our hearts, but in all the right ways.  Andrew's Peter was still tortured...even moreso.  His is the darker Peter...the more tortured Peter, as he's still not managed to get over Gwen.  Tobey's Peter is still trying to do better, and still trying to balance everything in his life with HIS MJ.  But he's also the eldest of the bunch, and the one with the most wisdom to provide.  The interaction between the three was just the stuff we dreamed of as youths, and they worked well together.  I could see them work together forever, and never tire of it.  

This movie also provided us the chance to move Peter forward into full adulthood, as the death of Aunt May (which didn't sit TOO well with me, but understood WHY they did it), allowed him to fully become Spider-MAN.  Peter, while guilt ridden, will find the way to push forward as the hero.  And for him to NOT tell Ned and MJ about who he is...it's his cross to bear to live this life alone...and realize that, as the hero, it's the mission that matters, and the protection of those he loves---even if it means keeping it a secret from here on out.  He truly is a loner now.  All the world knows is Spider-Man.  Peter Parker is a nobody...a stranger to the world.  So, this opens up a new avenue to Spidey for the future, and doesn't tie him to Tony Stark anymore.  For the firs time in awhile, Peter gets to be his own man, on his own terms, and is not attatched to the legacy of Iron Man anymore.  It's a clean slate that is needed for the MCU, but for Spider-Man mostly.  It's the kind of reset needed for Spidey for Phase 4, as it elevates him for what's to come in the future.  As for Peter and Strange's interaction was terrific as well.  Plus, this also sets up Doctor Strange for what's to come for HIM this coming May.  

What did all of YOU think of this Spidey movie?  Subscribe and deliver me YOUR insights on this movie.  

Until next time...

T

SERIES REVIEW: HAWKEYE

 

SERIES REVIEW:  HAWKEYE  

It's been awhile since I've blogged....taking a break to collect myself, and being able to find a way to put words to page in a way that I wanted.  So, while I just finished my movie review of Marvel's Eternals, it was also around this time we had yet another fabulous MCU TV show in the form of Hawkeye. Out of all the other Avengers, we never really got a chance to tell Clint Barton's story post Endgame.   This six episode arc was nothing short of a wild romp, with some great action, a fast-paced story, and introduced us to the newest members of the MCU:  Kate Bishop and Maya Lopez, who are known in the comics as the new Hawkeye and Echo.  Plus, we got some other interesting characters, as well as a reintroduction of a fabulous old-school Marvel villain in The Kingpin, as we see what HE has been up to since the events of Season 3 of Daredevil.  So, it's about time we got to see Clint's story, and see how he and Kate Bishop meet...and the new villains on the landscape...as well as an appearance from Yelena Belova...who's got some issues with Clint Barton.  

This series begins with us taking a peek back at 2012, when The Avengers battled the Chitauri, and little Kate Bishop, who'd been at home, had her family penthouse struck by the aliens in the attack, killing her father.  She watched as Hawkeye was on a roof across the way, fighting the aliens.  She's rescued by her mother Eleanor, and they get out of the path of danger.  Her father is later buired, and Eleanor raises her daughter on her own.  Years later, a grown up Kate Bishop is busted after using her bow and arrow on a dare to hit a church tower, causing it to collapse.  She attends a gala with her mother, where she meets Armand and Jack Deuquesne, and finds out she's engaged to Jack.  Across town at this time, Clint Barton is attending a Broadway production of Rogers: The Musical with his kids, and is getting flashbacks of his past battles with The Avengers.  He bails on the performance, and later goes to dinner with his kids.  He's looking forward to spending time with his family, as his wife Laura is back home until they get there.  

At the charity auction, Kate noses around, and finds out there's a secret auction going on that Jack and Armand are attending, where some special items are being sold---such as Barton's Ronin suit and sword.  She senses something is wrong, when the auction is disrupted by a group calling themselves the Tracksuit Mafia.  They're trying to obtain a watch amongst the other items.  Kate disguises herself in the Ronin suit, and attempts to stop the Mafia, and ends up rescuing a one-eyed stray dog she later names "Lucky the Pizza Dog".  She makes her way to her apartment, and drops him off there, while she goes to track Armand down.  But when she does find him, he's been murdered, and the Tracksuit Mafia tries to capture her, only to be rescued by Barton himself, who can't believe she has his Ronin suit. 

We see that Clint's past has come back to haunt him, and wants to get the Ronin suit back from Kate, so he can dispose of it, and put that part of his past to bed.  He sends his kids back home to their farm, and tells them he'll be home in time for Christmas.  Turns out, when he goes to get the suit with Kate, they're tracked by the Mafia, as they set her apartment on fire.  Clint and her escape, but the Ronin suit is left behind.  When Clint goes to retrieve it, it's been taken.  He finds out that it was taken by a man named Grills, who is part of a LARPing group.  He gets the suit back, and allows himself to be captured by the Tracksuit Mafia.  Meanwhile, Kate tries to expose Jack as not being who he says he is by fencing him, but it's all for naught.  When she tries to contact Clint, he's preoccupied.  And as the Mafia tries to interrogate him about Kate Bishop, she files through the roof and crashes the party.  

It's there that they meet Maya Lopez...a deaf female assassin with an artificial leg who goes by the name of Echo, who interrogates Barton about the Ronin, who had killed her father years ago.  Barton says that Ronin was killed by the Black Widow (Natasha effectively ended Clint's run as Ronin when she found him during Endgame).  Clint gets free, and a fight breaks out, in which Maya breaks his hearing aid (Clint's long-term exposure to massive blasts, and explosions during his time with the Avengers, has caused some serious hearing loss), and he and Kate escape, managing to evade Echo and the Tracksuit Mafia.  Maya's Lieutenant - Kazi - warns her that any more of this kind of action will NOT make her uncle happy.  They head back to Eleanor's, so that they can hack into Eleanor's security company website to get more info on Armand and Jack Duquesne, only for Jack to catch Clint snooping around with his own Ronin sword.

Eleanor arrives, and Clint says that he's just been conducting an investigation, and Kate offered to help, but Eleanor knows he's an Avenger, and doesn't want Kate involved.  Clint is okay with that and leaves, and Eleanor makes a call after that.  Clint managed to get his Ronin sword back, but contacts his wife Laura, and she helps him find out that Duquesne is the CEO of Sloan Limited, which is a shell company that's laundering money for the Tracksuit Mafia.  Kate figures out Clint was Ronin, and also helps him retrieve his trick arrows with the help of the LARPers.  Clint manages to meet up with Kazi, to ask Maya to stop her vendetta against Ronin.  Clint also informs Laura about the watch, and he and Kate go to retrieve it, only for it to set off an alarm, as it's Maya's apartment.  Maya shows up, and there's a fight that breaks out between her, Clint, and Kate.  Just then, a mysterious woman shows up to join the fight, and is trying to take out Clint.  Maya is injured by Kate and bails, while the mystery attacker is revealed to be Yelena Belova - Natasha Romanoff's sister.  Yelena takes off, and Clint has now figured out that this has gotten WAY more serious, and tells Kate to go home before she gets killed.  He'll take care of this mess.  

Kate heads home, and feels miserable about Clint telling her to leave, and she mopes at home.  Meanwhile, we take a step back to 2018, where Yelena and another Widow locate yet another of their old team named Ana, and try to get her to take the antidote to the programming done to them.  Ana is fine, and they talk for a bit.  Yelena goes to the bathroom, but she's Blipped.  She comes out, and she discovers that it's 5 years later.  She says she needs to find Natasha to let her know she's okay. Kate reveals to Eleanor about Duquense's company is a dummy corp for the Tracksuit Mafia, and Eleanor has him arrested. Kate goes back to her apartment, where Yelena is waiting.  She's looking for Clint, and Kate has no idea where he's at.  She was hired by someone to kill him.  She tries to defend Clint to Yelena, but Yelena has no interest in hearing it, as she feels Barton is responsible for Natasha's death.  She warns Kate that she'll kill her if she gets in her way.  Clint visits the site where the battle of New York happened, and apologizes to Nat about what he's going to do.  He suits up as Ronin and confronts Maya again, saying that if she comes after him or his family, he'll kill her.  He then tells her that he was tipped off the night her father died, and that her boss wanted her father killed.  She doesn't believe him, and goes to attack, but Kate saves him.  They head to Grills to help Clint recover.  Meanwhile, Yelena follows Eleanor, who's entering a building, and Yelena texts Kate, letting her know that it was her mother that hired her to kill Clint.  She also shows a video to her of who she's meeting with.  When Kate shows the video to Clint, he reveals to her that the man her mother is meeting with is the guy they've been trying to ward off this whole time:  The Kingpin of Crime. 

We soon find out in Eleanor's meeting with Wilson Fisk, that her late husband owed the Kingpin a considerable amount of money, and she's paid it back tenfold.  She also framed Jack Duquesne for the murder of Armand, when it was she herself that killed him.  But since Kate is putting the pieces together, she feels it's time to bail on the partnership in order to save her daughter, but the Kingpin isn't liking what he's hearing.  Eleanor says she's got enough evidence to put him away, and walks out.  Fisk is pissed off and orders Kazi to kill her and Barton.  Meanwhile, Kate says Clint should go home, and spend Christmas with his family.  Clint refuses, and says that Kate is his partner, and he's in this until the end.  So, they go about making more trick arrows for the mission ahead.  Meanwhile, Maya----who's had some questions since Clint told her that her father was ordered to be killed by her boss----had questioned Kazi about why HE wasn't at that meeting the night her father died, and he lied to her about it.  She goes to meet with her uncle---The Kingpin---to say she's giving up going after Ronin, and that she needs some time off to clear her head.  Fisk is suspicious, and tells Kazi that she needs to go as well, since she's turned on them.  At Eleanor's holiday party, Clint and Kate enlist the LARPers to help them saving Kate's mom, but Kazi starts shooting up the place from afar, as he tries to kill Eleanor Bishop, as well as Clint.  As people scatter, and Clint tries to divert attention away from the party, Yelena follows behind.  Kate confronts her mother about her involvement with the Kingpin, and says that she's the reason this mess is all because of her, and to stay out of the way.  

Clint battles members of the Tracksuit Mafia until he bumps into Kazi.  Meanwhile, Kate runs into Yelena, and tries to delay her from killing Clint.  They fight a little bit, and Yelena takes off out the window, and tries to shoot Barton, but Kate warns him.  She dives out the window as well, only to be met by more Tracksuit goons.  She fights some off until Jack comes to her rescue.  The LARPers jump in to help out, and she orders them to get Jack and everyone else to safety.  Barton takes down Kazi, and dives out the window, only to land in the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.  Kate brings the tree down to get him out of the tree.  More Tracksuits arrive, and Kate joins the battle, as she and Clint start taking down the massive amount of Mafia coming at them.  Once having taken most of them down, Kate goes to look for her mother, as Clint is looking to stop the rest of the Mafia, only to run into Kazi again.  But before they have another round, Yelena shows up to take Barton down.  Kate finds Eleanor, as her mother is about to be killed by the Kingpin.  Kate does what she can to fight him, but takes some punishment in the process, but somehow manages to activate some of her broken arrows to blast Fisk, and knock him out.  This allows her to save her mom, but she ends up having Eleanor arrested for the killing of Armand Duquesne.  While Yelena is beating up Clint, wanting answers to Natasha's death, Maya shows up to face Kazi, whom she wants to give up working for the Kingpin.  Kazi says that this WASN'T supposed to be her life, but it's his, and there's no running away from it.  They fight, and Maya ends up killing him.  But before he dies, he tells her to run, as the Kingpin will be hunting her.  

Clint uses Natasha and Yelena's secret whistle to stop Yelena beating him.  She wonders how he knows that, and Clint says to Yelena that he and Nat talked about her all the time.  He tells her that Natasha loved her, and saved the universe, because she fought him for the right to die, and that she was better than he was.  Yelena feels she could've stopped Nat, but Clint said there was nothing that could've stopped Natasha from making the choice she made...and they have to live with that.  Yelena helps him up, and they make their peace, and she leaves.  The Kingpin manages to escape, only to run into Maya, who knows it was HIM that ordered the death of her father.  As he tries to reason with her, we hear gunshots, but do not see whether or not the Kingpin dies.

Barton makes it home for Christmas, and brings Kate and Lucky along.  As Laura welcomes Kate to their home, she joins the rest of the Barton kids for Christmas.  Clint says he found the watch at a black market auction in New York.  It turns out that Laura was once a SHIELD agent, and Clint tells her to keep a better eye on her stuff.  He then takes Kate outside, and they burn the Ronin suit, while they discuss a new code name for Kate---which Clint suggests should be Hawkeye...as the title card comes up. 

This show had a GREAT "Die Hard" kind of feel to it, due to the holiday season, but for the sheer improvisation that both Clint AND Kate displayed during this 6 episode arc.  We also got introduced to Kate's mother Eleanor, who seemed sketchy from the beginning, and we found out why as the show progressed.  It was AWESOME to finally bring the Kingpin into the regular MCU, and Vincent Dinofrio was SUPERB in his portrayal of the Kingpin of Crime yet again.  The Tracksuit Mafia was amusing and annoying all at once.  I hope we get to see more of Grills and the LARPers, as they're a nice welcomed addition, and that they get to work with Kate Bishop more.  Jack Duquesne was also a nice welcome addition, as we thought he was a complete douchebag at the beginning, only to see the swordsman prove his worth by helping out Kate in the final episode.  I hope we get more of Jack as well.  He grew on me.

The introduction of Maya, hearing HER story, and seeing how she becomes a solo act from Fisk was a great story as well, and we'll learn more once HER series starts.  I'd NEVER heard of Alaqua Cox before, but she is such a presence, and I welcome more of Echo in the future....I dig her character, and want MORE.  I don't know if they'll be a 2nd season of Hawkeye, but if there IS....I'd LOVE to see her interact with Kate more.  That would be an interesting relationship to explore.  

The big story for me was Clint.  Out of everyone from the original Avengers...they all had their stories told (well....except the Hulk, but hopefully we'll get more from him soon when his cousin's series picks up), Clint was the only one with unfinished business.  To finally have his story told, to finish his story, and allow him to pass the mantle onto Kate Bishop---their relationship was funny, yet they showed they worked extremely well together.   When he asked Kate why she's doing this, and to hear her response...I think it sank into Clint that she's the real deal, and she's the perfect choice to take up the Hawkeye mantle.  We get to see Clint put his past as Ronin to rest, and to also confront Yelena, and explain to her what happened with her sister, and that it wasn't what Yelena had thought.  This allowed Yelena to finally put to rest her issues with Natasha as well, and make peace with Clint.  To find out that Laura Barton was once an agent of SHIELD...Agent 19 to be exact...wasn't so much an eye opener, as she's ALWAYS been understanding of Clint and his role as Hawkeye.  Now we know MORE....that she'd BEEN through that...as a Mockingbird.  Probably the original Mockingbird before Bobbi Morse took over the role.  Hard to say on that, but we got more insight into Laura Barton.  

The absolute BEST part of this show?  The developing relationship between Kate and Yelena.  Their interaction was just absolutely PRICELESS.  Florence Pugh and Hailee Steinfeld have such TREMENDOUS chemistry on screen, it just seemed so fluid and natural.  I SOOOOOO wanna see more of THOSE two on camera together.  Yelena and Kate play off each other so well, and I really hope we get to see these two become the best of friends...just so we can keep the friendship of Hawkeye and Black Widow going...with new people inheriting those roles.  I can NEVER get enough of them on screen, and I KNOW they'd be best friends down the road---driving each other crazy.

Overall, this show kicked ass on every level, and I can't wait for more.  If this was it for Clint, I'm satisfied, and I'm ready for Kate Bishop to take off, and see what adventures SHE will have.  I have a feeling she'll continue to be an integral part of this new MCU Phase 4 going forward.  I wanna see how she interacts with Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Moon Knight, and anyone else as we see Kevin Fiege and Marvel Studios build up the next big threat.  We're seeing the next crop of heroes come to the forefront, and I can't wait.  And I HOPE Kate Bishop is a huge part of it. What did YOU all think of this show?  Subscribe and drop me a line below.

Until next time....