I join NewsTalk 1010 host Amanda Galbraith to to talk about “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and who are driving the box office to pre-COVID numbers.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join “CP24 Breakfast” hosts Nick Dixon and Courtney Heels to talk about the web slinging antics of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the Netflix documentary “A Toxic Love Story” and the Crave series “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the web slinging antics of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the R-rated comedy “I Want Your Sex” and the android dreams of “Sheep in the Box.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres including the web slinging antics of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the R-rated comedy “I Want Your Sex” and the android dreams of “Sheep in the Box.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Andrew Pinsent to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the web slinging antics of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the R-rated comedy “I Want Your Sex” and the android dreams of “Sheep in the Box.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the web slinging antics of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the R-rated comedy “I Want Your Sex” and the android dreams of “Sheep in the Box.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: Set four years after the memory-erasing events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” sees Spider-Man anonymously protecting New York City as his superpowers evolve. “Spiders have three life cycles. And between cycles, it can leave the spider vulnerable to threats. Those spiders that survive… go through a kind of rebirth.”
CAST: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando, Mark Ruffalo. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.
REVIEW: The fourth standalone film starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a return to the Spidey movies of old. Without a multiverse in sight “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” delivers on the promise of the title and delivers a new, almost streamlined, character driven approach. In other words, you won’t need to check Wikipedia to understand the story and characters.
Last time around in 2021s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” supervillain Mysterio publicly revealed Peter Parker’s true Spider-Man identity, thus complicating the teen superhero’s life, and placing those closest to him in mortal danger. To protect his nearest and dearest and safeguard the multiverse, Parker convinces Dr. Strange to cast a spell to erase him from the collective consciousness. “Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing, even if it breaks Peter Parker’s heart.”
Now on his own, he keeps New York City safe, but misses his old life, particularly his former flame MJ (Zendaya). The stress of his new, anonymous existence and fighting against a powerful invisible villain, triggers a dangerous evolution in Peter’s arachnid DNA. “The spider is swallowing up the man.”
“We are faced with a danger we can’t control,” Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman), head of the Department of Damage Control, a U.S. government agency that handles the cleanup and regulation of superhuman-related incidents, tells Parker. “One we can’t even see. You’re the only one who’s immune to it.”
Big, long and loud, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” delivers the spectacle you expect from a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie but doesn’t forget that the ultimate appeal of the main character is his relatability. He’s blessed with superpowers—“He’s the hero every grown-up wishes they could be and every kid wants to be.”—but he’s not invincible and unlike many of his contemporaries he’s not a god, eccentric billionaire or soldier.
Instead, he’s an ordinary young man whose powers don’t solve his issues of insecurity, analysis paralysis and yearning. Then there’s the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing, a weight the character carries like a mantle. He’s driven to do the right thing, even if it comes at great personal cost.
“Are you Peter Parker,” asks MJ, “or are you Spider-Man?” It’s the question that lies at the heart of “Brand New Day” and the truth is he’s both, and that’s the push and pull that, as he matures, makes the character interesting and enduring.
Tom Holland, in his best “half man, half spider” performance nicely bridges the gap between the personal and physical, embodying the character’s emotional life, with a healthy dose of humor, while delivering the web-slinging action fans want.
The film’s emotional core, the relationships between MJ, Peter’s former best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and Peter, is intact, and it is here director Destin Daniel Cretton pulls off his best trick. MJ and Ned’s minds have been wiped of memories of Peter, and yet the connection between them still feels tangible, even though they spend little time on screen together. The sense of longing is central to Peter’s isolation from normal life, and grounds the story in its more high-flying moments.
A dynamic of a different kind is shared between Peter and Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher (Jon Bernthal). Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers shave down some of the Punisher’s rough edges, turning an R-rated character into a PG package, but Bernthal sparks with Holland and provides some of the film’s comedic highlights.
I’m carefully side-stepping a major spoiler, so I won’t make any comments on the future of the MCU, but make no mistake, there is some franchise-building happening here. Luckily it feels organic to the story, mirroring Parker’s own battles with isolation, loss and the internal struggle with the personal, profession and power aspect of having extraordinary gifts.
Recent superhero movies have had a rough time at the box office but with its blend of humanity and superhero antics “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” even though it falls victim to an overblown final reel, is worth the trip to the theatre.
I wrote about “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” for CTVNews.ca.
“The fourth standalone film starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a return to the Spidey movies of old. Without a multiverse in sight, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ delivers on the promise of the title, offering a new, almost streamlined character-driven approach…” Read the whole thing HERE!
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and now playing in theatres, is a rarity. It’s a superhero origin movie that doesn’t suck. They haven’t all been terrible, but I still feel the burn of “Fantastic Four,” “Green Hornet” and “Catwoman” whenever I hear the dreaded ‘origin story’ descriptor.
But “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” doesn’t suck. It is a stand-alone origin movie with some of the best action sequences seen in the MCU jurisdiction, a couple of Hong Kong screen legends in the form of Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh and a winning performance from Simu Liu as the first Asian lead in Marvel’s superhero stable.
The story begins 1000 years ago with warlord Wenwu (Leung) taking possession of the mystical Ten Rings, each containing untold power. Now immortal and unbeatable, for the next millennium he amasses wealth and influence as his army secretly has a hand in controlling world events.
His evil ways come to a (temporary) halt when he meets Jiang Li (Fala Chen), a guardian of the mystic realm of Ta Lo. After a flirty battle, they fall in love. Wenwu puts the Ten Rings away as they welcome two kids, Shang-Chi and Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), to their happy family. But the salad days don’t last for long. When Jiang Li is murdered by a rival gang from Wenwu’s past, the immortal’s megalomaniac ways return. He trains Shang-Chi to be his number one assassin, and, at just fourteen-years-old, sends him off on his first mission.
Cut to present day. Shang-Chi is now an adult, living in San Francisco under the name Shaun. He and his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) work as hotel valets during the day, and most nights stay out too late singing karaoke. Katy has no idea of Shaun’s mysterious past until one morning on the bus a gang of daddy dearest’s assassins attempt to retrieve a jade pendant his mother gave him. Old instincts kick in and Shaun defends himself in what is probably the most fun fight sequence in any Marvel movie.
The action now shifts to Macau, as Shang-Chi, with Katy in tow, travel to China to warn Xialing that Wenwu’s assassins are likely coming for her pendant next. But questions loom: Why does Wenwu want the pendants, and what secrets do they contain? “I don’t know what he wants with them,” says Shang-Chi. “But it can’t be good.”
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” succeeds because of its action, its cast and story but most of all it works because of its sincerity. It is as epic as any other Marvel movie but it’s the small moments that really add up. The story’s emphasis on personal cultural details, relationships and family provides an earthbound grounding that helps balance out the mystical themes of the final forty-five minutes.
The charming relationship between Shang-Chi and Katy brings considerable comedic relief, but also helps differentiate Shang-Chi from his other Marvel colleagues. He’s not an alien, or a wealthy industrialist with a penchant for world saving, or genetically mutated. He’s a car valet with an extraordinary set of skills learned through years of practice. Liu’s performance is believable both as everyman Shaun and the heroic Shang-Chi, because the relationships that have formed him, with his mother, father, sister and Katy, are well detailed, showing us how and why he became the person he did. That backstory—the dreaded origin story—works, despite a reliance on flashbacks, and is distinct enough so as not to feel like Shang-Chi is being wrestled into the MCU.
The MCU influence becomes evident in the film’s busy climax. What was once a character drama, with great action sequences, that touched on issues of generational trauma via heartfelt performances—Leung elevates every scene he’s in with his majestic presence—switches gears to full blown, muddy CGI. The climatic world saving battle fills the screen with action, but compared to what came before—more up-close-and-personal fight scenes—it feels overblown and uninteresting.
Until that sequence, however, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has the heroics, heart, humor and homages to Asian culture to make it the best, and most fun, standalone Marvel movie since “Black Panther.”
