Movie News

Spider-Man: No Way Home – Review

Published

2 years ago

December 19, 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home image — _{Marvel Studios}

The MCU’s Spider-Man: No Nay Home is the biggest, most anticipated solo-superhero film instalment of Tom Holland’s take on the web-slinging hero. This movie starts right after the events of the previous Spiderman film, Spiderman: Far From Home. Here’s our No Way Home review.

SPOILERS: If you’re reading this then you’ve probably seen the film, but if not there are MASSIVE spoilers ahead.

The set up

(SPOILER FOR FFH) By the end of the movie, Mysterio after being defeated by Spider-Man, tricked the world into thinking that Spider-Man was using Stark technology. But with Mysterio’s dying breath, he struck the devastating blow to the webhead’s life by revealing his real identity, Peter Parker.

Highs and lows

The first act wasn’t much about how the crimes he was accused of doing were still in the court process. Rather, it explored how this whole Mysterio situation affected Peter’s life and his loved ones. People were divided with their opinions whether he was innocent or not. This issue prevented his friends from being accepted into their dream school just because they were associated with Spider-Man. Thinking this was his fault, and with the want to make things right, Peter came up with, as Dr Strange puts it, an immature solution relying on magic and sorcerers.

Peter requested Dr Strange to cast a spell that would make everyone forget that he was Spider-Man. This was what they agreed upon, when midway casting the spell, Peter changed his mind. Requesting Strange to change the spell so that his loved ones would remember who he was. This happened multiple times, leading to the spell going out of Strange’s control. This opened the doors for the villains who knew Spider-Man’s identity across different Spiderman films (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield) to enter Tom Holland’s universe. Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Sandman, all from Sam Raimi Spider-Man films. Plus, we have Electro and Lizard who are both from Marc Webb’s Spider-Man movies.

Who’s in it?

With a roster of villains that big, it was only safe to assume that our favourite wall-crawler would of course be needing some help. What blew the minds of the audiences was when (SPOILER) the mind-blowing surprise happened in front of their eyes. Ned, after unlocking the ability to use the sling ring of Dr Strange, opened portals with the wish of seeing “Peter Parker”, leading to the crowd-pleasing entrance of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, both playing the same Spider-Man they played in their original franchise. This has to be the biggest fan service for all ages and eras of Spiderman films.

Easter eggs

It’s a film enjoyable both for film fans, and Spider-Man fans. Film fans would love how visually stunning the movie was. From web-swinging actions to reality-breaking spells of Dr Strange. And of course, the climactic final fight where Peter 1,2, and 3 (Tom, Tobey, and Andrew respectively) finally teamed up to try and cure the villains before sending them back home to their realities. It was an overwhelming, enjoyable blast to see three generations of Spiderman actors gather and fight as a team on one big screen. The musical scores were on point! It added tension and horror whenever the Goblin is scheming something, dramatic tones towards loss and presented problems, suspenseful use of silence at heart-stopping moments, and bright sounds at comedic moments, it all just always seem to hit its mark.

Strong performers

NWH ended with Dr Strange’s spell going worse than it already was. This was due to the Green Goblin bombing the magic cube that contained the spell that brought villains in the first place. As the corrupted spell went loose, it lead to the very disruption of reality as they knew it. People who knew who Peter Parker from all existing universe were surging into Holland’s reality. To counter this, Peter told Strange to cast a new spell, which is to just make everyone forget that he is Peter Parker. Overwriting the initial side effects of the first spell. It was a success, and the film ended where no one knew who Peter Parker was.

This instalment marks the end of Tom Holland’s teenage days. We first knew Tom’s Spider-Man from his debut on Captain America: Civil war, first appearing as a young recruit by Tony Stark. And now, is forced to fulfil his responsibilities as Spider-Man without the safety nets of being able to have access to Stark Technologies, nor use his Avengers privileges. It was a chance to give him the much-needed soft reboot, to ground Peter Parker back to his original street-level crime-fighting heroism.

What next for the characters?

Peter Parker is defined by how he keeps trying despite his loss, failures, and other humane problems that he has. He is an iconic hero for the same reason why he’s most lovable, it is because, despite his powers, he is still human who has to deal with personal problems. This made him very relatable, he’s an “every-man” as Stan Lee would say, from being bullied, having trouble with girls, finding jobs, and paying rents.

But, this was not the case for Tom Holland’s spiderman from the very beginning. He was just portrayed as a childish clumsy hero with something to prove to his idol Stark, but that is all about to change, and we are very excited to see how this Peter would grow given that he just faced multiple major losses in his life by the end of No Way Home.

We can expect a further crossover with the upcoming Morbius movie as we already know that Vulture will be returning. Plus is there the possibility of the Amazing Spider-Man series finally being given the conclusion it didn’t receive before? Perhaps in collaboration with Tom Hardy’s Venom, that is a Sony call.

CULTURE CROSSING SCORE 9/10

Thank you for reading our review of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Do you agree or disagree with our points or have anything to add? If so, leave us a comment below.

Check out our Hawkeye episode one and two review HERE.

Read IMDB information about Spider-Man: No Way Home HERE.

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9 Bands You Forgot Played Themselves In Movies

Published

2 years ago

January 4, 2022

Aaron Phillips

Wayne's World image — _{Paramount Pictures}

There are more bands than you think that played themselves on the big screen. Here are nine bands you might’ve forgotten appeared in movies.

1. Alice Cooper – Wayne’s World (1992)

Being a teenager in the nineties was great for many reasons. Two of those being the release of the Wayne’s World movies. The genius that is Mike Myers created one of the best music-based films of all time. Plus, he convinced one of the greatest rock musicians of all time to be in it. If you’re not a geek like me, you may have forgotten that Alice Cooper was featured in the film. It had the iconic scene of Wayne and Garth meeting, Alice, backstage on bent knees. We’re not worthy, indeed. Alice himself pulls off the diva Rockstar brilliantly, even though he’s a genuine, down-to-earth guy who plays a lot of golf.

2. Primus – Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

Let’s try and erase the recent Bill & Ted movie from our memory and head back to 1991 for their bogus journey. They come from the future to kill the non-robot versions of themselves and ruin their performance at a Battle of the Bands competition. What’s cool is the band who are playing before them. Californian alt-metal kings Primus. Although the clip is only short, they play themselves and sound as you would expect. Epic.

3. Fall Out Boy – Sex Drive (2008)

You’d be forgiven for forgetting about this one. The teen sex comedy from 2008 is forgettable and won’t really appeal to anyone apart from its teen target audience. If you can sit through all the cringe-inducing moments, you will spot pop-rockers Fall Out Boy. They are performing in a barn in front of some drunk Amish teenagers. There’s a reason for that, but I won’t bore you with it here. What is good, is the soundtrack of the film. As well as Fall Out Boy, it features Airbourne, AC/DC and weirdly, Kenny Loggins.

4. Twisted Sister – Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

Paul Reuben’s character Pee Wee Herman made his big-screen outing in 1985. The children’s show star had a scene where he is being chased through a studio parking lot. Unbeknown to him, glam rockers Twisted Sister are recording a music video on a car. Lead singer Dee Snider is always up for a laugh, so it’s no surprise they’re featured. The clip is brilliant. Pee Wee’s prop-laden bike is just about to crash into Twisted Sister and the look on Dee’s face is genius. Go check out the clip.

5. David Bowie – Zoolander (2001)

Who can forget the brilliant Zoolander? Starring Ben Stiller as the dippy model, it’s one of the funniest comedies ever made. One of the best scenes of the film is the walk-off. This involved Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson’s characters doing a catwalk-off. Of sorts. Can you remember who refereed it? The legend himself, David Bowie. It’s not the first time Bowie was in a movie – remember Labyrinth? But this time, he plays himself. And does it with all the cool swagger you would expect.

6. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Clueless (1995)

I can’t say that I was a massive fan of this teen comedy at the time. The plot revolves around Alicia Silverstone’s character giving her friend a makeover. The premise doesn’t sound like it lends itself to a cool band cameo. You’d be wrong, though. There’s a scene where the lead characters go watch a gig. The band that are playing are The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The Boston ska-punk legends are only on stage for a moment, but it’s a slick clip. It certainly brings the film up a level on the cool stakes.

7. Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy (2010)

This sequel to the original sci-fi classic is a cracking movie. The visuals and effects are stunning, as is the atmosphere of the film. The music to the film is also rather special. A futuristic and dystopian movie could only have one act doing the score, and that’s Daft Punk. It works a treat. The music is intertwined into the movie and becomes a part of it. The delicious electronica is the perfect complement to the visuals. The French electronic masters also have a cameo at the end of the movie. They’re spinning the decks in a blink-and-you-miss-it scene.

8. Aerosmith – Wayne’s World (1993)

We’ve already had an appearance from the first film further up our list, and the second doesn’t disappoint either. The plot revolves around Wayne and Garth putting on their own music festival. Book them and they will come, is the advice given. And they certainly did. The headline band for the festival were none other than Aerosmith themselves. They do a sterling effort on stage as performers. And Steven Tyler also shows that he can handle his own on the acting front too.

9. Reel Big Fish – BASEketball (1998)

Trey Parker and Matt Stone star in this bizarre and hilarious sports comedy. Written by the king of spoof David Zucker, it’s become a cult classic. The soundtrack heavily features ska-punkers Reel Big Fish. They do a brilliant rendition of A-HA’s Take on Me, which they also perform in the movie. The band are the entertainment at the stadium where Parker and Stone are competing. You can tell by the footage that the band are clearly enjoying themselves. They add a touch more fun to an already hugely funny film.

That’s our list of nine bands who played themselves in movies. Did we miss any of your favourites? Let us know in the comments below.

Check out our list of actors in bands HERE.