Geektified's spoiler review of Spider-Man: Homecoming

By Jim Scroggs
July 16, 2017
JHScroggs on Twitter and Instagram


             Those who know me know that Peter and Spider-Man have been a huge part of my life going back close to 25 years. I loved the Raimi movies(not the 3rd), the first Amazing Spider-Man and Tom Holland’s first appearance in Captain America: Civil War so much that I teared up multiple times. So, I’ve really been looking forward to writing this review. With all that said, let’s dive into what Marvel Studios has to offer in the latest chapter of the MCU, Spider-Man: Homecoming.

What I liked

Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man    

         I can’t start this sentence any other way: Tom Holland IS Peter Parker. Holland's performance in this film captured everything that I picture Peter being --both in and out of the suit. Spider-Man is always trying to prove himself and he certainly did that in two very big ways. On a class trip to Washington, D.C. he saves his classmates from a falling elevator in the Washington Monument and then later in the film while taking on Vulture himself in the middle of a plane hijacking. He showed shyness when he asks out Liz to Homecoming -- Peter didn’t know how to close out the conversation so he just said “I’m going to walk this way." Peter showed genuine excitement when finding out everything his suit can do each time he put it on and that's an aspect that we haven't seen until now. 

        Then there's the moment I think he truly became Spider-Man. A warehouse roof collapses on Peter and he's crying for help, scared for his life. I couldn't help but feel  every  second of that. He wills himself by saying, “Come on, Peter” over and over again. Nothing. He’s still trapped. All he does is change one word. “Come on, Spider-Man” and he pulls himself from under the crumbled concrete. After listening to a recent interview with Tom Holland on The Nerdist podcast, this role of Peter and Spider-Man couldn’t be in more capable hands.

Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/Vulture

       When Keaton was cast, It was already assumed that he would give a good performance so I was not worried at all if he would be a good Adrian Toomes/Vulture. What I wasn’t expecting was how convincing he was that he truly was the hero of his own story. He runs a salvage company that cleans up all the alien destruction around the world (mainly the Battle of New York from The Avengers but there’s also some pieces that can be seen from the London Battle in Thor: The Dark World) but Damage Control, which is a pretty deep cut in the comics, takes over.  And who else would own it but Tony Stark. So, Toomes has more of a reason to hate him. 

       One of the twists/surprises in this film came when Peter goes to pick up Liz for the dance and who answers the door? Adrian Toomes. Turns out, he’s the father of Liz. While I was surprised at that, there were rumors that one of his classmates was related to Toomes but I never read who that could have been. What follows after the door opens is a pretty awkward conversation (like any father would have with a guy taking his daughter out) but things got really tense in the car ride over. Toomes started to figure out who Peter really was. The exchange between Holland and Keaton was easily the most tense moment in the entire MCU and I applaud Jon Watts for getting that tension right in the scene. 

       The final battle between Vulture and Spider-Man is when Vulture is trying to hijack a Stark Industries plane and ends up on crashing (on Coney Island I think). As Vulture is trying to get away, Spider-Man tries to stop him because he notices some of the same explosions from the D.C. trip and he ends up saving Vulture’s life. In a mid-credit scene, Toomes is confronted by Mac Gargon in prison (he becomes Scorpion in the comics), who we saw earlier in the film, and he’s asked about who Spider-Man is. Toomes denies knowing his real identity which could lead to a future battle between the two in a later film. 

     I’ll end with this: Toomes is the best MCU villain since Loki.

The supporting cast

     All the people that Peter came in contact with never seemed out of place. Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May is that stability that Peter needs because at times, his life can get out of control balancing being Peter Parker and Spider-Man. I was a little surprised that she found out that Peter is Spider-Man but that’s what Kevin Fiege, the head of Marvel Studios, set out to put on screen with this new version of the character. I’m really interested in seeing how her knowing will affect Peter going forward.

     Jacob Batalon really stole some scenes as Peter’s best friend, Ned Leeds and I’m glad Peter will have that “Guy in the chair” in the future. Ned, like almost any 16 year old kid, wants to tell the world that his best friend is a superhero and almost does that in a scene in Midtown High’s gym. But, Ned’s good at keeping secrets, even if he puts himself in trouble's way by covering for Peter. 

     Flash Thompson, played by Tony Revolori, wasn’t your typical bully. He’s very mental in his bullying of Peter and you can tell by the way he dresses and carries himself, he’s that arrogant bully who has rich parents -- and we all know how those kind of spoiled kids can be. 

     Donald Glover didn’t have as big of a role as I thought he would but he did set up something in the MCU that a lot of people are looking forward to. Glover plays Aaron Davis aka The Prowler and he mentions in a conversation with Spider-Man that he’s got a nephew living in the area. If they stay true to the comics, that means that Miles Morales is in the MCU and I really hope we get to see both Spider-Men in this amazing world. 

     Zendaya's role of Michelle was a mystery leading up to the film because there were so many conflicting reports of who she was but she revealed in the film that her friends called her “MJ”. If they go down the road of a relationship with her and Peter, great. If not, that works too. I was hoping Mary Jane wouldn’t be seen in this film because I feel like her and Peter’s best stories are later on in high school and into college but I thought she was funny and really did a great job. I’m glad they didn’t do the typical high school movie thing of turn her into a beauty queen at the end, ala “She’s All That” but I’m excited for what she can bring to the franchise.

     There was an additional character that wasn’t advertised in the cast list but they are definitely a major part of the MCU and that is Pepper Potts. Yes, she makes an appearance when Tony brings Peter to the Avengers facility for a surprise. Tony was so pleased with how Peter handled himself in that last fight, probably from reports through Happy Hogan, that he unveils a new suit for Peter and it looks to be the iconic Iron Spider suit. Peter is obviously surprised at the new duds and then on top of that, Tony offers him a spot in the Avengers. Peter turns him down, much like in the books, and Tony jokes that there are reporters in the other room waiting for announcement, which there are. Pepper walks through a door, much to everyone's surprise, and turns out that her and Tony are back together and Happy has even been carrying around an engagement ring since 2008. 

Not so much

     This is going to be a little short. Like many effects heavy movies, some of the CG was a little off. Not horrible like a Syfy channel movie but maybe they didn’t have enough time to perfect it so I won’t kill it for that. Having two people play “The Shocker” was a little annoying because it wasn't necessary to have two people in that role. Toomes has an argument with Logan Marshall Green and ends up vaporizing him by accident so he tell’s Bokeem Woodbine that he’s the new Shocker now. I’m still going back and forth on Michael Giacchino's score so the jury is still out in that aspect.

Final Verdict

     I think seeing Peter and Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War was the perfect way to introduce him but I can’t say that my excitement exceeded that when I went into Homecoming. I think it’s a really great movie and I love seeing these little corners of the MCU. On a personal note, I’m really happy and proud to see my favorite character's stand alone movie being shot in my hometown of Atlanta. 

     Tom Holland is the best overall Peter and Spider-Man we’ve got and as of right now, I’ve got Homecoming neck and neck with Spider-Man 2. I’ll have to see it one or 6 more times to see if it exceeds the Raimi sequel. I can’t wait to see what the sequel will bring us with my - and I hope your -  favorite web-slinger.



Spider-Man; Homecoming is in theaters now

Spider-Man: Homecoming Final Trailer review

   

By Jim Scroggs
May 24, 2017
JHScroggs on Twitter and Instagram


       The third and final trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming is on the inter-webs (What, I can't make cheesy puns?) and we've got plenty to talk about this very fun glimpse into the life our favorite web slinger from Midtown High.

           The trailer opens on Peter putting on his suit from Tony and the confirmation that he does have a Spidey OS, if you will. A voice welcomes him and tells him the amount of web shooter combinations that he has available so it's a nice little touch to add into this Avengers universe. We've all seen the scene with Tony talking to Peter in the car but this time, Peter asks when the next "Retreat" is and Tony speeds away leaving Peter in the middle of the street. There's a few new shots of Spider-Man in action in the streets like stopping a bike thief and helping a woman find out where something is. She rewarded him with a churro so that's a nice comedic moment. The bank robbery scene is added with a few new shots including a look at a really intense piece of alien equipment so that could be a pretty impressive force against Spider-Man. Peter is seen admiring the Avengers facility then that's where the action picks up. Vulture snatches Spider-Man out of the sky and to everyones surprise, the fat spider on the back doubles as a parachute so Tony really has thought of everything. Vulture is seen from head to toe in his full wings and armor suit and it's quite glorious if I say so myself. We finally get to hear Atlanta's own Donald Glover speak as he talks to Spider-Man in a garage of some sort as they discuss Peter not being great at the new gig. Shot of him landing in a yard next to some kids camping is a nice touch in the edit. There are some new quick shots of Peter running down the hall taking his tie and coat of, a great exchange between Peter and "Michelle" and she wants to know where he's going and asks what he's hiding. Some quick action shots that we've already seen follows and Peter looks a little shocked. Her response: "Just kidding, I don't care. Bye." The trailer closes out with Ned and Peter trying to find out more about the suit and the see that Tony has some training wheels on it. Peter complains about how Tony treats him like a kid but a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands.


        I've never been silent in my thoughts about how many trailers is too many when it comes to movies. I feel like if done right, two should be a significant number to market your film but still have some questions about the story. I think Captain America: Civil War did it perfectly so that's where I feel like the line should start. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a film I've wanted to see ever since Sony and Marvel announced their partnership and so far, the trailers have had a theme to them. The first one was an introduction to Peter's life as Spider-Man and in High School while the second one was tailored more to the villains and how they fit into the story. This third one, however, I feel gave away too many fun moments, especially in the International trailer. I won't reveal those here but I will say that I am a little upset at myself for watching both. With all that said,   I really feel like this should be a good official introduction of Peter and Spider-Man into the MCU


Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July, 7 2017

Geektified's review of Spider-Man:Homecoming Trailer #2

By Jim Scroggs

March 29, 2017

JHScroggs on Twitter and Instagram

The last time we saw Peter Parker, he was trying to deal with high school and trying to be the best superhero he could be. Even Tony Stark was able to get him a new suit but it seems like things have taken a bit of a serious turn for our favorite wall crawler so let’s swing (see what I did there) into what our friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man has to offer in this second and possibly final trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The trailer starts with Peter running across a New York city street into an alley to put on his suit. I like how when the suit is off, it’s really loose not that spandex material we’ve all been used to but there’s a little bit more footage of how the suit forms to Peter once the spider emblem is pressed, which is really cool. He swings through the streets and greets some on lookers in that typical Spider-Man fashion. Peter’s talking to Tony in the back of Tony’s car and Peter’s got a lot of questions, mainly about how to become an Avenger. Tony pushes back and says “ Can’t you just be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?” as Peter webs across trees, onto a roof and into a pool party. Tony then suggests “Just stay close to the ground” The same sequence of Ned Leeds finding out that Peter is in fact “The Spider-Man” follows. Peter and Ned are in science lab and Ned is peppering him with questions like “Can you summon Spiders?”, “Do you know him?” as they watch a Captain America fitness challenge video in gym class, which is just as campy as it sounds but it’s awesome to see. Peter, of course, mentions that he stole Cap’s shield to Ned and his final question is one we all have asked and that’s “Can I try on the suit?” We do see Ned Leeds in the mask for a brief second, which is a fun moment.

The tone changes when the voice of Adrian Toomes, played by Michael Keaton is talking about how people like Tony Stark “The rich and the powerful, they don’t care about us”. Someone's also holding the front plate of the Iron Man helmet. Based on the info that John Watts mentioned on Vulture's story, that's probably the helmet that Hulk ripped off in Avengers and the company that Toomes is involved in, picked it up after the battle. There’s an extended section of the scene with Donald Glover and I think,  The Tinkerer, shooting a weapon near a bridge and Toomes goes on to say” Times are changing, boys. It’s time we change, too” A quick shot of the Vulture suit is shown along with some other shots that has already been shown in the previous trailer. There’s a new section that takes place on a Ferry with Spider-Man encountering some bad guys saying “The illegal weapons ferry was at 2:30. You missed it” as he takes those guys out and one in a no look web shot, which sticks the last guy to the wall. The Vulture is shown with a similar weapon as the Tinkerer but flying through the ferry and splitting it in half. Spider-Man quickly swings to the impact point to try to hold the ferry together, which is a great shot but this is where I first noticed a possible unfinished CGI shot where it looked a little too animated.  I’m not a trained GFX artist by any means but I hope they can clean that up. Spider-Man is holding on for dear life but Iron Man is there to help keep the ferry together.

There’s another tonal shift here where Tony scolds Peter for being reckless. He asks “What if someone had died?” and Peter said that he “wanted to be like you”. Tony says “ I wanted you to be better” and he demands the suit back. Peter is devastated saying he’s “Nothing without this suit” This is where I think we get the MCU version of the great power speech. Tony then says “If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it”  We all know Ben Parker has already passed so Tony is Peter’s father figure now and it just makes sense that this is how Peter needs to be taught a lesson.

From here on out, a majority of the Spider-Man shots are in his prototype costume from Civil War so I really think Peter will have to rely on his brain and instinct. Aunt May tells Peter “You need to stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders” and Adrian Toomes is telling Peter that he would do anything to protect his family. Obviously, Peter feels like he needs to protect Aunt May and his friends which is one of the best traits about him. At this same time, we see the Vulture suit lower down onto him so that means the suit is probably remote controlled as well. There’s a shot of Shocker fighting Peter and sends him through a bus and that leads to what could be the final battle between Spider-Man and Vulture in an abandoned warehouse (I’m glad to see that concept hasn’t gone away) and it looks like Coney Island where Vulture grabs Peter by his metal claws and lifts him up with his wings. It’s a really powerful image if I’m being completely honest. The last leg of the trailer has Adrian's line of “Don’t mess with me or I will kill everyone you love” shows shots of Aunt May and Peter kissing Liz Allen. That’s followed by an explosion at the Washington Monument, Zendaya’s character saying “My friends are up there”, a possible look a Spider tracer, a web trying to stop an elevator from falling, Peter saying “I gotta do this on my own” and that leads to a battle of The Vulture and Spider-Man on a plane at say 30,000 feet. It ends with Tony telling him to not to do anything stupid and that immediately cuts to Spider-Man trying to steer a plane with a web that as a busted engine. Tony says “Alright? ” Peter answers with a “Yeah”

This trailer didn’t really wow me at first but like any fan, I’m going to watch it multiple times over. I don’t know why it took so long to click (probably my multiple jobs and everything else in my life)  but this is what I’ve wanted to see in a Spider-Man movie since Spider-Man 2. There’s plenty of action but there are some real stakes that are involved like can Peter find the confidence to take out an adversary like Vulture when he feels like he’s behind the eight ball,  how can he juggle the two lives he leads as a teenager that’s also a superhero, What’s his relationship with Tony going to be like and what new things will we discover in this new pocket of the MCU? I’ll still be there opening night, probably in my Spider-Man shirt but I hope this is the final trailer for a film I’ve waited 2 years for.

Spider-Man:Homecoming hit's theaters on July 6, 2017

Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer review

By Jim Scroggs
Twitter:@JHScroggs
December 12, 2016

As much as I keep up with my favorite fictional character, it was my brother who told me about the trailer premiering on Jimmy Kimmel when I was driving to work Wednesday morning. It's safe to say that was the longest 24-36 hours I’ve had in a while but we finally have our first look at what a Sony/Marvel Studios collaboration will look like so let’s take a look at what Spider-Man: Homecoming has to offer.

The trailer starts with classic city shots of New York because that’s a part of who Marvel is and I wouldn't expect anything less. That leads to a scene of an ATM robbery with some pretty intense looking tech, possibly Alien but low and behold, Spider-Man sneaks in the vestibule and just waits for the action to start. The robbers are wearing Avenger masks and of course, Peter uses that classic wit and then proceeds to deal with the group in his own special way. The next few shots are of Peter in high school where we see Liz Allen, Peter’s likely crush, in some generic shots of walking and hanging a Homecoming banner as well as Ned Leeds sitting next to Peter admiring her. They ask if starting too long is creepy and the voice of Zendaya, who is either Michelle, Mary Jane Watson or maybe another character but it doesn’t matter because she immediately chimes in and calls them losers.

Peter meets Tony in a car and gives him some pretty convoluted advice in only the way Tony can, which is a nice role for him playing the mentor to the spider-ling as he called him in Civil War. A voice over of Tony telling Peter that “school sucks” as Peter is watching video of the airport battle in Civil War in class and he knows that Peter wants to save the world but Tony thinks that he’s not ready yet. There are some shots of Spider-Man arriving on the scene of an explosion,  walking on the wall and then we see something that kind of shocked me. Apparently, Ned Leeds finds out Peter’s secret quite soon and when confronted, Peter denies it adamantly like he did when Tony found out in Civil War. One thing about the suit is that it’s pretty loose but the little spider on the front seems to be a sensor or button that when hit, tightens and releases it so that’s a nice touch.

The first time we see Vulture is when he’s coming down from inside a building (that building in real life is the Marriott Marquis in Downtown Atlanta) and the thing about the Vulture suit, is that it’s got the thrusters like the old SHIELD Helicarriers so that kind of confirms the rumor about some old Stark or SHIELD tech being involved with the villains. I like the Fighter Pilot look to him, especially the bomber jacket and how it represents the feathers around the neck to the original character design. Tony tells Peter, “Forget the flying monster guy. There are people that handle this sort of thing” as Happy Hogan walks in the background and It’s good to see Jon Favreau back in the MCU. Peter complains about not wanting to be treated like a kid but Ned reminds him that he is a kid. There’s a great shot of Peter jumping off the top of the Washington Monument and he flashes the first appearance of the web wings. I’m glad they went back to that touch, however, I would have made them a little shorter, maybe stop at his hip but that’s a minor thing.

The next few shots are Liz Allen being concerned about Peter, Donald Glover standing next to the Tinkerer, which leads me to believe that the Atlanta native is working with the Vulture, Spider-Man getting thrown into a school bus, Adrian Toomes, played by Michael Keaton, telling someone not to mess with him, Spider-Man possibly saving someone from an elevator shaft, one final action shot from the Vulture flying in a tunnel and then the definitive shot in this trailer, a Ferry getting split in half after an explosion and Spider-Man is trying to hold it together with his webs, ala the shot of Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 2 on the train. The final shot is Iron Man and Spider-Man flying through the air side by side. There’s an international trailer as well but the only thing that I saw that was interesting and different from the official trailer was a quick, and I do mean quick, shot of The Shocker, rumored to be played by Bokeem Woodbine.

This became my most anticipated film of 2017 when I found out Marvel and Sony came to a deal in February of 2015 and I’m glad to see an age appropriate Peter and see what he was like in high school. Two easter eggs that I saw were Bruce Banner’s picture on the wall in the classroom scene and Howard Stark’s face was on a mural in the background in the hallway. The fact that my favorite character would be in a milestone movie that was also shot in my hometown swells me with pride and yes, I know that this is just a small look at what to expect, but my confidence in this being the best Peter Parker and Spider-Man is pretty high.

Spider-Man: Homecoming will be in theaters on July 7th, 2017

2017 Movie Preview: Part 2

If you'd like to read Part 1 of this series, you can do that here: 2017 Movie Preview: Part 1

By Jim Scroggs
December 1, 2016

Wonder Woman

She was clearly the bright spot in Dawn of Justice, even with a small amount of screen time as either Wonder Woman or Diana Prince but this is the film that could jumpstart the hope and optimism of the DC Films universe that Geoff Johns has set to instill. The trailers have shown us a completely different world in the Island of Themyscira as well as a group of warriors who can really handle almost any threat. I’m excited to see how Diana transitions into her new environment during the perils of World War One and to see how powerful she really is both mentally and physically. Gal Gadot has taken this role with such seriousness but at the same time, she’s having a lot of fun with it, especially if you’ve seen that GIF of her twirling around on the set of BVS. I really hope that this film is not only what the DC Universe needs but what film fans need to show studios that strong, powerful women can be viable in this marketplace and all it takes is putting women in front of and behind the camera. I fully believe that Patti Jenkins and Gal Gadot will deliver on both of those statements. Wonder Woman will be in theaters on June 2nd, 2017

Transformers: Last Knight

This is a bit of a touchy franchise for me. I'm a child of 80’s and Optimus Prime is my favorite cartoon/toy character but after what I saw with Age of Extinction, I seriously doubted whether this would be a good series of movies again. I loved the first one for what it was, Revenge of the Fallen had it’s moments but that happened during the writers strike so I gave it a pass and Dark of the Moon was a slight improvement but it’s still Micheal Bay directed so you knew what you were getting. The only part I enjoyed with Age of Extinction was seeing the Dinobots and everything else was kind of forgettable. With this upcoming entry, there is a glimmer of hope with the addition of Sir Anthony Hopkins along with the return of Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson. I hope that Michael Bay heard the criticisms of the last film and will try to improve this struggling series of films but I still have my doubts. Transformers: The Last Knight will be in theaters on June 23rd, 2017

Spider-Man: Homecoming

When I saw Captain America: Civil War the 1st time, I teared up 4 times and 3 of those were because of Peter and Spider-Man so yeah, this is my most anticipated movie for next year by far. I think we've finally got the quintessential Peter/Spider-Man in Tom Holland and the cast is certainly nothing to overlook. Some of the names you've heard of already in Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/Vulture and Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark but the younger/supporting players are pretty solid. Donald Glover, Kenneth Choi, Martin Starr, Abraham Attah(who I believe will be Miles Morales) and depending on if you believe the rumors, Zendaya playing Mary Jane Watson. I love that Peter is being focused on when he’s a 16 year old kid since his High School stories are some of the best ones, which makes the John Hughes like style that is going to be portrayed quite brilliant if you think about it. I'm aware of the criticisms that this character has had with the 2nd and 3rd chances that he’s gotten but this is Marvel’s flagship character. As a fan, I want to see him done right and hopefully, out of the ashes of Sony’s mishandling, comes a perfect version of Spider-Man. Spider-Man:Homecoming will be in theaters on July 7th, 2017


Part 3 of this series will be available tomorrow