4k-UHD/Movie Review: Spiderman: Far from Home

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from Homecoming and Endgame, but no major Far From Home giveaways.+++

Spiderman: Far From Home is one of the 2019 films in the massive MCU slate of movies. It stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marissa Tomei, and Jon Favreau (reprising their roles as Peter Parker, MJ, Ned, May, and Happy). It also features MCU alumni Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders (in smaller roles) and brings in Jake Gyllenhaal as the film's antagonist, Quentin Beck/Mysterio. It picks up months after Endgame when the world knows Iron Man, Black Widow, and Vision (and thinks Captain America) are all dead. The snap is referred to in the movie as "the blip" because the people who were snapped out of existence came back to the same place they were instantaneously, as far as they were concerned. May (who, of course, learned Peter's secret at the end of Homecoming) and Peter are using his identity as Spiderman for charitable fundraising, and he is getting ready to go on a summer trip to Europe with his class and has an entire plan to tell MJ how he feels about her. In the process, Peter gets sucked into a mission from Nick Fury involving the character Mysterio, played by Jake Gyllenhall. I will not say too much about the movie itself to keep from giving too much away, even though the trailer gave away a lot, both with footage that ended up in the film and footage that was cut. However, I will say it strikes a good balance between mourning Endgame's events and the first movie's comedic elements. The writing and acting were again great, and it sets up a lot of what is to come.

The 4K set is a two-disc set that includes a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The AV quality of the movie in UHD is wonderful, and it looks and sounds great as you would expect. The extras include previews that play after the disc loads before the main menu pops up. There are some different previews on the 4k disc vs. the regular blu-ray disc, which has all the other extras on it. Then there are deleted/alternate scenes, a gag reel, and multiple behind-the-scenes and making-of clips. It amounts to a little over an hour's worth of material. Overall, it is an excellent continuation of the MCU storyline. Thankfully, the spat between Sony and Disney was resolved so Spiderman stays in the MCU because the movie was clearly setting up a direction for the character which would have had to be scrapped if Marvel lost the rights again. I definitely recommend it.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avengers Infinity War

 

Avengers: Infinity War is the first of the epic two-movie crescendo to tie up the initial run of MCU films. The movie was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and brings back the entire slate of MCU characters and actors, including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Mackie, Tom Hiddleston, Don Cheadle, Chris Pratt, Sebastian Stan, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, and Karen Gilian. It also, finally, sees the arrival of Josh Brolin's Thanos after multiple teases in various movies or end-credit sequences.

This, as most are aware, is the movie that the entire MCU slate of movies has been building up to. As I said above, Thanos finally arrives, making good on his threat in the post-credits scene in Age of Ultron to do things himself. It starts where the end-credits scene in Thor: Ragnarok left off, with Thanos attacking the Asgardian ship. The movie then finds a way to weave in most, but not all, of the characters from the other movies in an attempt to keep the various infinity stones away from Thanos. The "main" Avengers lineup get the most screen time, while the amount of time the other characters are in the movie varies. I won't spoil anything for those who may not know how it turns out, but it has massive repercussions for the MCU storylines going forward.

The 4k set is a two-disc set. The UHD disc has just the movie itself, which looks and sounds great, as you would expect. The extras are on a regular blu-ray, with about 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a commentary track on the movie. It is definitely one of the best movies in the group 19 or so movies in the MCU that had been released up to that point. Even if you have a bit of superhero movie burnout, it is worth checking out to see all the stories finally tied together.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Captain America Civil War

 

Civil War is one of the 2016 entries into the MCU. It was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and brought back nearly all of the MCU main characters/actors. This movie was really a sequel to all the various movies that have come before and was as much an Ironman sequel as it was a Captain America sequel. I will not go too much into the story because to do so would be to give too much away. But there are elements of revenge, misdirection, and, most of all, consequences for the things that came before. It is really the first attempt in the movies to deal with the collateral damage done to the ordinary public after the big climactic battles like those of the two Avengers movies, the second Thor movie, etc. The fallout of that collateral damage leads some characters to agree to let the United Nations decide when and where to deploy the superheroes, which begins to fracture the team. What ultimately causes the biggest rift is a much larger storyline involving Captain America (Chris Evans), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).

This transition movie is bridging what has come before with what we know is coming, specifically the Infinity Wars movie. This movie leaves the Avengers team very much tattered, with Thor and Hulk conspicuously absent. It leaves a question about where those characters will fall when they are brought back into the storyline. As most know, this movie also introduces Black Panther, which I think is very well played by Chadwick Boseman, and yet another incarnation of Spider-Man, this time played by Tom Holland. In the main battle between the two teams, Spider-Man and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) very much steal the scenes, both in terms of comedy and with what they bring to the fight.

For those who get the discs, the movie looks and sounds great on Blu-ray. For extras, there is a commentary track on the film by the filmmakers (none of the cast), about an hour plus of making-of and behind-the-scenes material, and a gag reel. There is also a short feature introducing the Doctor Strange movie. Ultimately, this movie is not so complex that you would have no idea what is going on if you have not seen the other movies, but given the movies and, to a smaller extent, the various TV series are all telling a large overarching story, the events of this movie will be easier to follow the more you have seen what has come before. The acting is very good, and the special effects are top-notch. If you have superhero fatigue with all the various movies or are just lukewarm to them in general, then this will probably not be for you. For everybody else, while liking it or not will be subjective, most will find it enjoyable.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Spiderman Homecoming

 

Homecoming is the newest incarnation of Spiderman in the Marvel universe. Of course, the first live-action version of the character was played by Toby McGuire back in 2002 and arguably jumpstarted the superhero movie genre which had been on life support since Batman and Robin flopped in 1999. This version of Peter Parker/Spiderman, played by Tom Holland, was actually introduced during Captain America Civil War, fighting on the Iron Man side. This movie is mostly set after the events of Civil War, with Peter Parker going back to life as a high-school student, still being mentored by Stark (mostly from afar), and being watched over by Happy Hogan (played again by Jon Favreau). The movie also has ties to the first Avengers movie with the Chitauri technology playing a large role in the plot of the movie. Peter becomes more concerned with fighting crime than he is with school, which does not always work out well for him. The movie also sees the return of Michael Keaton to the superhero genre, this time in a much different role. The rest of the cast is very strong and includes Zendeya, Jacob Batalon, Donald Glover, and Marissa Tomei, as Aunt May.

For those who get the 4k-UHD set, there are two discs, the UHD disc, and a regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is great, and the movie looks and sounds wonderful in the format. The UHD disc has one extra, the Spidey Study Guide, that allows the movie to be played with pop-ups that have trivia and facts about the movie. The rest of the extras are on the regular blu-ray disc. Those include a short gag reel, about 16 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, eight different making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes that run about 45 minutes, give or take, all totaled, a photo gallery, the movie trailer, and trailers for other Sony titles.

Overall, the movie is very good. It has a nice blend of action and humor and is a bit more light-hearted than some of the other MCU movies. Of course, Sony actually owns the rights to the Spiderman character (because of some licensing deal made years ago) and they allow the character to appear in the MCU. Holland does a great job as the lead, and you can buy him as a teenager even though he was in his early 20s when the movie was made. Robert Downey Jr. is always entertaining as Tony Stark (especially when he was hitting on Aunt May), and both Batalon (playing Peter's best friend, Ned) and Zendaya (playing Michelle/MJ) were great in the younger roles. For me, however, Keaton really stole the show and seemed to really be enjoying his return to the superhero genre. It is a great movie that is definitely worth checking out.