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Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
No depth at all
First of all, the stuff I liked: Mysterio's costume and illusions! I loved the fact that it was more classic and not trying to put a new "modern real world" spin on it. I liked how they showed the illusion suit as well as the "behind the scenes" suit (which I guess is their way of making a real world suit). I think they nailed the illusions and gave good explanation as to how the illusions were dangerous by using drones. It was top-notch stuff. Jake also played the part well. I don't think it was a masterful performance, but you can never go wrong with Jake.
Unfortunately, aside from that, there's not much to the movie that I actually liked.
My biggest gripe in the movie were the jokes. A good Spider-Man movie needs a good amount of jokes. But this isn't Deadpool, not everything HAS to be a joke. It was as if they were worried that if there wasn't a joke every 30 seconds the audience would get bored. With the overwhelming need to insert joke after joke there was little room for anything else. There was no good buildup to important scenes, there was no deep meaningful dialog, no impactful plot development. Every scene appeared to be made just to get to the next joke.
For example: Spider-Man's identity is an intracal part of who he is and a well kept secret for fear of people he loves getting hurt. This movie (and the last one, which I thought was better) turned it into a joke. Aunt May finds out he's Spider-Man, it's a joke. MJ finds out, it's a joke. Happy makes a comment that could somehow raise suspicion later about Spider-Man's identity because it was funny and they wanted another joke. Mysterio tells the world who Spider-Man is, it's an end of credits scene. Nothing is impactful. It's all played off as nothing really matters.
Because they spend so much time making jokes there is little time to build actual worthwhile story. Peter gives Beck the glasses after 5 minutes of meeting him. Where was the build up, where was the emotional connection. There was none because they spent all the time before that making jokes. Again, nothing is impactful. (contrast all of this with a movie like Spider-Man 2 when his identity is reveled or anything else important happens, we feel it. It's heartfelt or suspenseful, everything wasn't all about jokes).
Beck makes a speech about why he's a villain. It's one of the poorest ways to go about writing a story. They should show us, not tell us. Jake did a great job with the speech but again, it wasn't impactful. They didn't have time to invest us in his character because then when would they make jokes? So instead the character makes a speech to bring the audience up to speed so they can go back to making jokes. What if in Spider-Man 2 half the movie was jokes and then Dr. Octopus made a speech about why he's a villain instead of them showing us and making us invested in the character? It wouldn't have been as impactful. We wouldn't have really cared.
The reasons he was a villain was also poor. He was an angry ex Stark employee. Had nothing to do with Spider-Man, Spider-Man just got in the way. Can we PLEASE have a Spider-Man movie where Stark isn't taking over?
Speaking of Stark taking over Spider-Man movies, in this one it's no different than the first. Spider-Man is being babysat by Stark, Fury, and Happy instead of being the awesome character he is in the comics or the other films. He's nothing without Stark tech and he's more like a foot soldier who's ordered around than someone who struggles and figures things out for himself. And when he wants to stop helping he sounds more like a brat than someone struggling with morality and the dynamic between is personal life and superhero life. He doesn't want to help when so much is at stake because he wants to hang out with his friends? He sounds like a kid who doesn't want to do his homework because he wants to go to a party. (again, contrast this with Spider-Man 2 and how impactful that one is because they took time to make you care about the things going on).
Spider-Man is supposed to be someone who struggles and grows because he faces so much on his own. It's one of the main things that makes him a lovable character. But in this movie everyone seems to know who he is, he has billion dollar tech at his fingertips, he never has to really struggle mentally and come to terms with himself being a superhero, whether he's Peter or Spidey he's the man, he's just a brat kid that wants to forsake all that because he wants to go on a field trip...are you kidding me? It's like in Transformers 2 when Shai's character told Bumbelbee (a totally awesome robot that wanted to be friends with him) that he didn't want to be with him because he wanted a normal life...what kind of idiocy is that?
There's more to why I think this is one of the worst Spider-Man movies (though I can still enjoy it) but these were the main reasons. They need to cut out a lot of the jokes and add depth and character to the next movie. If they did that it could go from entertaining to a masterpiece.
The Ranch (2016)
Why the laugh track?
It would have been so much better without a laugh track. It's not even a show that made sense to have one. I get why shows use them but it's so stupid. How about just making a cry track also for emotional moments so I know I need to feel sad. This trend needs to die.
Death by Magic (2018)
It's ok
It can be entertaining to watch but it's WAY over dramatic with things that we've all seen before or when we know he's obviously not in danger. I understand a bit of suspense for atmosphere but this was another level of intelligence-insulting drama.
He also tries to pay homage to other magicians by doing things they died doing which is pretty cool. But sometimes he changes it completely while making it seem like he's doing the same thing but because he changes it, there really wasn't any danger. That's kind of a slap in the face to the other people who died doing it by acting so dramatic about doing the same dangerous thing...when you're not.
Also, many times the people in the background act like background actors in a Sitcom. It's like they were told to ignore the fact that there are cameras and a guy doing magic and just act natural. It made it feel less genuine. At one point he interrupts a couple eating at a restaurant and says he's doing magic. When he goes and sits back with the other couple he's doing the trick for (2 feet away) the other couple don't even act interested or try to see what he's doing.
If you like magic you might like this but don't expect too much greatness here.
The Others (2001)
very refreshing!
I just finished watching this movie and it was very very refreshing. I am a big horror/scary movie fan and even though I didn't think this movie was very scary it was very suspenseful and very well made. The reason it was refreshing is it's not like most modern "lets scare them" type movies. The storyline was well done along with all other elements that go into making a movie. It didn't rely on sex/blood/gore/cursing or any of the other things that film making rely on to get people to watch. It was a VERY VERY clean movie and was a nice step back from most of the modern movies. It also wasn't corny. Many horror/scary movies are very corny but this one was well done and doesn't leave you saying, "I saw that coming an hour ago." It's plot and twists aren't obvious so it leaves you curious and keeps your attention. It is a slow build up till the climactic end and well worth waiting for.
All in all this movie will leave you very satisfied...I'm sure of it.