SPIDER-MAN 3 (2007)

Featuring: Tobey Maguire; Kirsten Dunst; James Franco

Director: Sam Raimi

It seems like obligatory for all super hero's to go through some sort of 'darkness' or 'dark-side' some time or another in their existence and Spider-Man is no exception.

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finally feels he is ready for a committed relationship with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). But then, through some sort of alien intervention, his Spider-Man suit starts to turn black. Not only does that bring out the not-so-nice-guy out of him, it also seems to magnify his powers and abilities. And that, in turn, is cause for inner conflict. He now has to choose between his good and evil self. To make matters even worse is that, at the same time, he has to contend with two new and very ferocious monsters, both intent on destroying him.

As was the case with the previous two films in this trilogy, this movie is actually pretty good in just about every aspect. It has a well thought out story line, good acting by the entire cast and breathtakingly good special effects. It is well worth its place in any respectable DVD collection.

I give it another 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTIP-Ih_GR0

 Director Sam Raimi (3rd from left) and the main cast members

 

 

SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)

Featuring: Tobey Maguire; Kirsten Dunst; James Franco; Alfred Molina

Director: Sam Raimi

Like a spider, an octopus has eight limbs. It is therefor fitting that one of Spider-Man's opponents should be just such a creature.

Two years after graduating from high school, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) struggles to make ends meet in order for him to pay for his collage tuition. On the other hand, his erstwhile friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco) who took over his late father's industrial empire seems to thrive. But when an experiment at one of his factories goes horribly wrong and produces the monstrous Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Spider-Man must use all his abilities and strength to prevent this machine-beast from destroying New York City.

The main focus of this first sequel in the franchise is the relationship between Peter and Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst). He is seriously conflicted between his love for her and his responsibilities as super-hero. Must he forsake the love of his life for his sense of duty or can he strike a balance? Like most super-hero movies these days there is a moral dilemma our protagonist has to deal with first before he is able to fully take up duties that come with his calling. 

Overall I enjoyed the movie and give it a rating of 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:

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

Spider-Man in the clutches of Doc-Ock

SPIDER-MAN (2002)

Featuring: Tobey Maguire; Kirsten Dunst; Willem Dafoe

Director: Sam Raimi

Although Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) didn't receive any Oscar nominations, it did win big at this year's Teen Choice Awards by winning no less that three major categories: Choice Summer Movie; Choice Summer Movie Star: Male (Tom Holland) and Choice Summer Movie Star: Female (Zendaya). May be not quite as prestigious as an Oscar but then again, taken its target audience, pretty good. And its performance at the box office is not too shabby either with way over $800M so far. But let us not get ahead of ourselves and start at the beginning - in 2002 to be precise.

The 'original' Sam Raimi Spider-Man tells the story of young nerdy-boy, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire)  who got bitten by a genetically modified (and not, mind you, radio-active as in the comic books) spider. Soon he realizes that he acquired spider-like abilities that gave him super strength and agility which, after a personal tragic incident, he starts to use in oder to fight crime.

At the time the Spider-Man movie did extremely well, considering that it had to compete with the likes of Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter. And even though all of these were aimed at basically the same audience, the former still held it's own and came in as the third highest grossing film of 2002. But all that aside; it was (and still is) a very good movie. Tobey Maguire fits perfectly in the roll of nerd-turns-superhero - much like the late great Christopher Reeve managed to do with Clark Kent/Superman a few decades ago. And the use of Willem Dafoe as the villainous Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was a stroke of genius on the part of director Raimi.

For my collection I give the first Spider-Man movie 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:

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

Tobey Maguire as the 'original' Spider-Man'

 

BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)

Featuring: Harrison Ford; Ryan Gossling; Jared Leto

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Nominated for five and winner of two Oscars, this movie is the sequel to the original 1982 film. (For a review of the latter check out the post of 12 October 2016.) It received awards for best achievement in Cinematography and Visual Effects at this year's ceremony. And if you watch the movie you will understand why. The visual effects are simply mind-blowing.

Ryan Gossling is Officer 'K', a young blade runner tasked with disposing of rogue worker androids, or 'replicants' as they are known in his world. But when he uncovers a secret that can destroy the lucrative business of manufacturing these 'machines', he becomes a target himself. And in an effort to survive, he goes in search of the original Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who disappeared thirty years before and who he believes has the answers he seeks.

You have to buy into the world of the blade runner to make any sense of the story. Fortunately these days is is a lot easier than what it was way back in the 1980's. With the huge advance of technology in general since those days the notion of a world on the brink of total ecological collapse and under the control of some evil mastermind has become a lot less outrageous. As a matter of fact it has become quite conceivable for our world to move in the direction as depicted in movies like this. And that is scary...

I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCcx85zbxz4

The world of Blade Runner

DUNKIRK (2017)

Featuring: Fionn Whitehead; Kenneth Branagh; Mark Rylance

Director: Christopher Nolan

In the beginning of WWII the German forces advanced so swiftly across Europe that it caught the Allies totally off guard. So much so that by mid 1940 some four hundred thousand British troops found themselves trapped on the beaches of the French holiday town of Dunkerque (Dunkirk). On the one hand this movie attempts to show what it must have been like to be pinned down like that. On the other hand it celebrates man's undying resolve to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds.

Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) is a young British soldier that, like the thousands of others around him, desperately tries to survive day by day, moment by moment while German fighter planes mercilessly mow them down like fish in a barrel. Their only defense is a few Spitfires bravely, but hopelessly outnumbered, attempting to keep the enemy's Messerschmidts at bay. Meanwhile across the English Channel a massive rescue operation, involving almost a thousand seagoing vessels of all kinds and descriptions, is underway in order to evacuate the unfortunate men back to England.

Although this is yet another war film of epic proportions, I do not think it will go down in the movie annals as being one of the greats. Make no mistake, technically it is very good but, emotionally it is not very memorable. It was a hoot though seeing an appearance by erstwhile One Direction-er, Harry Styles.

Still I rate it a respectable 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-eMt3SrfFU

Footage from the movie of the men on the beach waiting to be rescued

 Actual archive footage of the same event

This blog has always been (and still is) about the universally shared love for movies - never politicking. However, in recent years the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences came in for a lot of criticism for being too much of an 'old white boys club'. So I suppose this year's Oscars ceremony was dressed up and presented in such a way that it was all about women and minorities. And as always is was spectacular. It is therefor somewhat ironic that the majority of category winners were old(sh) white men!

But what I really appreciated about this year's Academy Awards was the fact that it was not dominated by one or two 'big' films as was the case on so many occasions the past few years. There was a good spread: from real Hollywood blockbusters made with mammoth budgets like Dunkirk to small independent little gems costing a mere pittance (by Hollywood standards that is) to make like Call Me By Your Name. (I hope to review both of these in the near future.)

So, let's hope that this is the trend for future Oscar Awards even if it wasn't the intended result of all the political grandstanding that accompanied the Academy's 90th Award Ceremony.

 2018 host Jimmy Kemmel