spike

I’m so sick of saying this about superhero movies, I liked this for the first like 30/40 minutes until the plot really kicks in and the “villain” is revealed. I’m sick of these movies being overstuffed, with pacing that is so over the place. Same for the visuals, and the writing. As usual, just reeks of reshoots and heavy studio interference. For that first portion I was excited to say that this actually looked like a real movie but like the last F4 movie, the texture, the stylisation just dilutes and dilutes as it goes on. I don’t have much to say. Just felt mostly nothing for the majority of this. I wish this was a real, fresh restart. I wish they didn’t feel the need to include MJ and Ned, especially since I don’t (and never have) cared about MJ and Peter’s relationship in these movies. Wish this wasn’t one of the most predictable movies I’ve seen in a long time. Destin Daniel Cretton said in an interview right before this came out that “nothing about this movie felt safe”, but that is my biggest issue, it’s a safe movie, by and large. **Spoilers: ** But we don’t care about any of that, Spider-Man… pffft whatever. But Jean Grey… well that’s a different story. I did read a lot of ASM before watching this movie since despite actively reading comics for a while now, I had never read a Spidey comic. Read just over 100 issues from the Lee, Conway, Wein, Wolfman, and Stern runs. Reading very sporadically and dipping in and out because I didn’t like the majority of it. Why I read so much of it, I don’t know. I’m stubborn and I think I have something wrong with my brain to be honest. Basically, those stories had little impact on the way I watched this movie, but I will read more because I think I actually will like the 80/90s era, at the very least Kraven’s Last Hunt should be decent. Jean Grey is a character that means a lot to me though, like most Mutants and X-Men. I cried a million times during X-Men Vol. 2 #30 when she got married okay, I have the credentials. I’m at least happy that she wasn’t Firestar, I think I would’ve killed myself if that’s who she was after all that mystique and anticipation. And the reveal of her and the confirmation with her name, did get by far the biggest reaction from me out of the whole movie. And sorry, again, I don’t have much to say other than that. She’s not bad here, Sadie Sink tries her best and I don’t think she’s a bad casting for a younger Jean but, this isn’t Jean Grey. She is Jean Grey only in name and occasionally with powers. Which is why I say it’s not bad, because it’s just a different character, at least in this moment and time. There really isn’t much attempt to adapt Jean Grey as she is in the comics. I should have fully anticipated this, since the MCU likes to tweak and change characters all the time. But my brain is just racking with the potential for this character. But even more so, Rachel. That seems like such a slam dunk and works so much better with the context of the movie, if Jean Grey was Rachel Summers instead. And I promise I’m not just saying this because Rachel is like top 5 Mutants for me. Her backstory works so well with the themes of this story and the grief that Peter is going through. Sadie Sink is perfect for the young, oftentimes laid back, punk girl. And she’s a character we haven’t seen before, who’s fresh and inclusion clearly sets the MCU apart from the old Fox X-Men universe. This Jean to me is incredibly dull and boring, I don’t feel a single thing for her, like everything else in the movie she’s incredibly predictable. I will say I think it is quite disappointing that her origin and introduction in the MCU is now tied to Spider-Man and Department of Damage Control? I’m also not that excited to see the original 5 in the new X-Men, which seems to be what they’re setting up. I like the O5, but I don’t love them. I want a mature team, and I want a more diverse team. I also really really want Kitty Pryde, like you don’t understand. And Storm needs to be in the team, she needs to be done justice for the old movies. Okayy, since you asked, my dream lineup is: Cyclops, Storm, Kitty (protagonist/audience surrogate), Nightcrawler, either Psylocke (pre-siege perilous Betsy) or Rachel or Jean, so long as there is a telepath, Rogue, and finally Colossus. And of course Emma Frost joins the team in the second one. And Forge is a prominent supporting character. And and we get a spin off Excalibur show, as well as an adult/older teens animated New Mutants show. Sorry that got off track. Doomsday looks crap. This movie mid, with some of the best moments I’ve ever seen in a Spidey flick. But an overall bloated, messy, inconsistent package. Not bad, not particularly good either. Better than No Way Home, way better than Far From Home, probably not better than Homecoming for me (though it’s been so long). Also was that THE Anna Marie?!

What y’all know about grits, dog, and time clock?

That final shot of him walking through the palace alone…. damn

This movie [fucks](https://youtu.be/H3cNUJK-u64?is=wSydPLElDsc0eiUZ). Didn’t know this was a sequel, which is annoying but whatever, I’m well down to watch another slick pool movie with Newman as the lead. Tom Cruise was also the kind of unhinged and manic sleazeball that I find so fascinating. And incredibly punchable. Good shit.