Spider-Man: Homecoming Review

Starscream here, and I am the lord and master

of the Geekcast radio network. Don't tell Megatron.

Hello, and welcome to episode 142 of the Cinema

Geeks. I'm one of your Cinema Geeks optimists,

Solo, and joining me today... As always, this

is Hard Candy Matey. Uh, hey dudes. You're here.

I'm here. And we are dudes. You are. Move your

volt, Dan. Hello. Hello. And Mr. Fridley Sant.

How's it going, Matt? I'm a dude. He's a dude.

She's a dude. We're all dudes. Hey. All right,

and we are here to give you a review of a new

movie. That's right. Dude Burger 2. No. That

would be the Spider -Man Homecoming movie, the

newest film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

slash Sony Pictures, I guess you can call this,

if it's a mashup of sorts. Released a couple

weeks ago here, directed by John Watts, starring

Tom Holland, of course, as the new version of

Spider -Man, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya,

Donald Glover, Marissa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr.,

and I could probably name a couple others, but

that's good for now. This movie is making a lot

of money at the box office scoring real well

on Rotten Tomatoes But ignore all that the cinema

geeks are here to tell you what is good and bad

about spider -man homecoming So before we get

to actual homecoming talk Amanda, what's your

experience or fan level as far as spider -man?

Do you like spider -man? Do you not like spider

-man? And what was your take or rough feelings

on the first five movies? Love the cartoon from

the 90s. I was on Fox or whatever Love that watched

it a ton I've never read any of the comics, but

I've seen all of the spider -man movies and I

always liked them. I thought they're pretty great.

Are you a fan of? Before going into this one.

What did you like the best the original three

spider -man or the amazing spider -man or what?

I did enjoy the Tobey Maguire Spider -Mans, but

getting Andrew Garfield was super cool, too.

I liked him. I'm not able to really pick between

the two, I guess. I think I liked maybe Andrew

Garfield better as Spider -Man, but I liked the

content of the Tobey Maguire movies better. Fair

enough. Matt, what about you? What's your fandom

level for Spider -Man, and what's your take on

the previous films? Well, I also grew up with

that same Spider -Man cartoon, but I've read

just a bunch of comics, because that's my thing.

I really loved Spider -Man as a kid. Loved him.

Probably my favorite one. Like, if you would

ask my parents as a kid, they'd be like, hey,

what superhero does Matt like? Spider -Man would

be the one. That's who they always got me the

toys of. I have a thousand Spider -Man toys.

Like, I've got the six -armed dude. I've got

the half -Spider dude. Like, I've got them all.

With the old movies... I think I lost interest

with the Tommy McGuire, each one a little bit

less, and I didn't even see the third one. I

remember going to the theater and it being sold

out and being like, yeah, that's good. I don't

need to see it. But the Andrew Garfield ones

were amazing. I was pre -ordering tickets. I

needed to see those. I loved that they went back

and did Gwen Stacy, something, again, that the

cartoon just skipped right over. um... that's

great from the classic history i think they did

a really good job saying true and you know i

i've i've always been the guy says like a state

true to the uh... the the the comics like stages

source material to get a may be a reference only

what i can reference it properly right uh...

you know in the lecture thing got a little weird

and i didn't like that but ultimately i like

the amazing spiderman movies a lot more Okay,

Spider -Man for me was the only comic book character,

or the only superhero comic book character I

liked as a kid. I had some Spider -Man coloring

books and whatnot, and I for some reason just

liked Spider -Man more than Batman, Superman,

etc. I didn't even know who Iron Man was at the

time. But I didn't watch the cartoon. I've never

read any of the comics. My only experience was

just kind of just knowing who he was until the

Tobey Maguire films. I've liked almost all of

the Spider -Man films. There's not been very

many that I've just outright Disliked so but

there's none that I've been like over the moon

like in love with so I've liked them I know a

lot of people put spider -man 2 is probably one

of the best comic book superhero films of all

time I need to rewatch all the original ones

because I was never blown away by any of them,

but I think they're all good. So I like aspects

of Tobey Maguire's Spider -Man and I like aspects

of Andrew Garfield's Spider -Man. I like Andrew

Garfield better in general just to watch on screen

as an actor, but I think you can separate them

from the content of their movie a little bit

in some ways. And I did like the Gwen Stacy story

and stuff with that, but like I said, I think

there's aspects to like and dislike. throughout

both series. I would have liked to have seen

what they did with the Andrew Garfield series

if they were allowed to, but obviously they weren't

because of all kinds of different things. Dan,

what kind of level of Spider -Man fan were you?

And I know you're a big fan of the Tobey Maguire

film, so how do all the previous films stack

up for you? Yeah, I am a pretty decent sized

Spider -Man fan. I've read a... I saw an amount

of Spider -Man comics, mostly from the 90s. I

just recently started reading some of his more

classic stuff I've been going through, starting

with Amazing Fantasy XV and working my way through

it, which is honestly a little rough at times.

Some of the 60s comics don't hold up super well,

but it's interesting just seeing how much he's

changed as a character. I love the Raimi film,

the Spider -Man one. You know, there's some things

that maybe they don't hold up as well. You know,

the Green Goblin costume obviously has its issues,

but I still think that as an organized film works

extremely well. I think Spider -Man 2 is one

of the best, still one of the best of all of

any comic book movie period. I liked the first

Amazing Spider -Man enough. I enjoyed it. I wasn't

a big fan of like The Lizard. I actively disliked

Amazing Spider -Man 2. I think what the Amazing

Spider -Man films did right was the relationship

between Gwen and Peter in large part due to the

performances of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

I just felt the cast around them was never as

strong and also wasn't a big fan of the way that

Peter Parker would act at times. He felt very

jerkish and it felt like he didn't have that...

Like, I don't know, there was something that

was missing from him a little bit. But like I

said, I did feel like they didn't have elements

that worked really well. And I'd be curious,

I was actually kind of curious where they would

go with it, because I know they were building

the kind of the Sinister Six. And I think there

are, I've only saw Amazing Spider -Man 2 once,

and I've always wanted to go back and re -watch

it and see, because there are some bits I think

that get lost. You mentioned some that was probably

the only reason I was or one of the main reasons

why I was interested in the amazing series was

because of the sinister six Teasers that they

had kind of I don't kind of wanted to see where

they go with that But obviously that is not to

be but let's get into homecoming a little bit

here Get your guys initial reactions and what

were your first thoughts just right away when

you were watching this film You got done. You're

leaving the theater. What was the initial take

from you Amanda? felt young and fresh and I want

to say hip it had that kind of vibe for me and

it was definitely like a modern take on things

and I liked that Peter Parker was able to be

like a kid in this I think that was you know

one of the shining spots in this this rendition

so fan or not fan right away oh yeah I would

say I enjoyed myself throughout Okay. Matt, what

was your initial take on Spider -Man Homecoming?

My very first thought coming out of the theater

was, hey, that was a pretty good movie. They

did a good job making a movie. I enjoyed this

as a movie. I wasn't super wowed, but I wasn't

disappointed in any way. Fair enough. Dan, what

about you? It was interesting as we and then

way back when we talked about our most anticipated

movies for this year and I know I wasn't super

anticipating homecoming I think you know it was

the third reboot and uh I don't know I was I

think mostly worried about vulture like I didn't

like love the look of him and I'm just like I

don't know I don't know if it was going to work

and I ended up really enjoying this quite quite

a bit uh I noticed that like maybe put it as

the best part of my movie but I think it definitely

definitely has elements that certainly work very

well, especially the cast. I think the cast is

what really sells this film and they elevate

the material, especially Michael Keaton. But

I walked away very happy. It was, you know, enjoyable,

maybe a little, you know, quote unquote, lightweight

per se, but as an entertaining. Movie was very

successful. It's obviously definitely or obviously

a different take on Spider -man in a way as far

as what age and what time period and kind of

the feel of spider -man and spider -man that

we're going for Let's get right into that first.

How do you think Tom Holland played Spider -Man

in comparison to Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield,

or just on his own? What aspects did you like

and dislike about Tom Holland's portrayal of

Spider -Man, Amanda? I think that he had the

wit and the... I don't know, like the... The

way he moved and how he presented himself physically,

I feel like it was a good representation of Spider

-Man. I didn't get his brains as much as I would

have liked. Like, he didn't seem like the smartest

Spider -Man. I don't know if that was just me

not picking up on it or what, but I mean, you

could tell that he was smart and based on, like,

he was in this, like, what was that little club

he was in. Some kind I don't want to call like

a debate team, but they they knew trivia breakfast

was a breakfast No, she hasn't seen that she

wouldn't know anything about that the academic

club basically. Yeah, the cat the cat one or

whatever Yeah, so I mean you knew that he was

smart because he was in this but I didn't see

him using his intelligence really Obviously with

all the Spider -Man we have differences as far

as where their web comes from and some of the

actual physical parts that has been portrayed

in different ways, different suits that they've

worn, etc. How did this version of that stack

up for you, Matt? Were there aspects you liked

more that were different from the other versions

or was there some stuff that you thought was

a negative? We like we I just like we don't know

where his web formula came in from like we just

assumed that he came up with it Because he like

because at one point is shows him like hey web

formulas Version 6 .0 or whatever and he's like

jotting down notes and he and he's like testing

things in chemistry But it's not going well or

is going well. I don't know. It was webby and

sticky and everywhere so And yeah, and he has

like web juice just like in old like booze growlers

or whatever stashed throughout the school, right?

So like, I feel like we don't get nearly as much

like this is not an origin movie, right? This

is a reboot, but it's not an origin story. So

we don't really, you know, like we don't know

the circumstances of like Uncle Ben's death or

the web formula. We get to see the earlier costume

for sure. But this new one is from Tony Stark.

And I kind of like that element, especially because

There's a there's a couple of moments in there

like one the Tony Stark armor and how much it's

tracking him and and watching his movements GPS

and visual and how he rebels against that plus

some of the elements of him being an Amateur

superhero, right? Like he's not an Avenger. He's

just you know, a friendly neighborhood spider,

but he's also kind of like pissing off the actual

authorities, you know, like like he butts heads

against the police and the FBI and things like

that that actually just ring very true of the

original comic version of Civil War to the point

where I'm almost upset that we already got the

Civil War movie and That we won't be able to

get it with this spider -man because like in

the original ones spider -man eventually rebels

against Tony Stark and switches sides like So

it's almost like they're bringing in certain

elements from the comic books that weren't addressed

in the other movies at all and giving us a different

take. And I can't say that I like it more or

less, but I really do enjoy it versus now. Another

thing that sometimes people differ on is whether...

some of his powers or whatever are more organic

or more kind of like in his DNA versus armor

or objects that he controls. You know, like whether

the web's actually coming from his body, his

arms or whether it's from a web shooter or I

think a lot of people have been talking about

the Spidey sense and you know maybe a lack of

that being shown possibly at least at this point

in this film. Not to say it's not going to come

in later on. So how do those things also Play

into it Dana and how do you kind of stack up

this version of spider -man? comparatively I

Mean, I know that piece like I think in a way

Yes, this isn't an ordinary but in a way it is

it's kind of like Batman year one and like but

we just kind of skipped the first chapter of

Kind of like how everything begins and I was

okay with that cuz I'm like it's it's a really

challenging situation You're kind of put they're

put in and then this it's like they kind of put

themselves in but whatever Where you know? How

much do you kind of harken back to what to the

origin? And I think they like lightly tapped

around it Which I think makes the most sense

and I think I just kind of let the let opportunities

to kind of Dive deeper into that maybe in later

films like there's some mentions of like, you

know Aunt May's going through something right

now, which could obviously be a reference to

Uncle Bay Uncle Bay Uncle Ben they're They talk

about how he was bitten by a spider. We don't

see how he built his suit and things like that,

but I feel like at this point... We didn't necessarily

need to, but what I really liked about this Spider

-Man that I think we didn't get, and yeah, Tom

Walton has the charisma, he has the quips, but

he also has a vulnerability that none of the

other Spider -Mans have. He feels like a kid,

and there's specific sequences where that really

pays off, where you can see the fear and fright

in his eyes where he seems like... He feels like

he might actually not get through this, where

you don't necessarily get that with a lot of

the other villains or characters. Captain America,

you never feel like he's going to fail. Iron

Man, the same way, but for Spider -Man, you could

see why, largely due to the performance of Tom

Holland, why he would think that maybe this is

it. Maybe this is thinking of a specific sequence

where you find something out, Regarding the vulture

that is expressionally powerful in that so I

agree Yeah, I think a lot of people too have

commented on the fact that we actually have a

young person playing spider -man I don't remember

what the exact ages Toby McGuire and Andrew Garfield

were when they portrayed spider -man compared

to Tom Holland but I think a lot of people were

kind of pointing to the fact that this was more

believable as a teenager as a high schooler obviously

when we got Tom Holland as this compared to the

other two who were a little bit more well known

at that point. Getting into because one of you

guys mentioned that Iron Man had given him a

suit and a lot of the quibbles or people's thoughts

as far as things that they thought they might

dislike was the level of involvement of Tony

Stark Iron Man in this film and if he was going

to be too much or not enough. I don't know what

people wanted exactly but how do you guys feel

like the involvement from Iron Man was? the right

amount, did he interact in a natural way that

made sense to the film? Did you feel like it

was shoehorned at all, or how did you feel like

that worked? Matt, start with you on this one.

How do you feel like the interaction between

Tony Stark and Spider -Man worked? I thought

they did a perfect job including, like showing

that this was in the Marvel Universe, right?

Like, I think that Tony Stark... like was a perfect

character in this movie like his interactions

were were exactly what we needed and they helped

drive the plot along they weren't just like hey

look we've got a cameo from from Robert Downey

jr but we've put it in there three times like

it like he did a really good job of moving along

the plot but beyond that the other characters

like like you get you know you see a Captain

America on the background like you see happy

Like you see these other characters and it feels

like it's in the marvel universe But not like

forced in and they didn't just shoehorn spider

-man in Like it just feels like and they don't

even address the civil war movie Like and it

feels real and like he belongs and like he's

been here the whole time amanda agree or disagree

Um, yeah, I think that the only thing that i've

found a little disappointing in The interaction

with Tony Stark or the amount that he was involved

was we didn't get to see much of him as Spider

-Man figuring stuff out on his own without this

hindrance. I think that would have been in like

an origin story, so it's not like a super detriment,

but it was just weird to not see him, you know,

starting on his own and figuring stuff out. He

was figuring things out around these new parameters

basically that are on his life. with Tony Stark's

involvement. Okay. Makes sense. Dan, what did

you think about the involvement of Iron Man and

the percentage of the film that he's in, I guess,

or the impact he has was at the right level,

or do you think they took any missteps in that?

It was a lot less than I was expecting, and I

think maybe this is from watching the trailers

or certain sequences where I'm like, okay, when

is that going to happen? It still hasn't happened

yet. Maybe it'll be the end sequence. Maybe it'll

be the secret chance. Like I was just waiting

in it, you know, never occurred. I thought it

was a decent amount. It was effective when it

was there and they didn't overdo it. I think

he was probably in the trailer more than he was

in the actual movie. So, yeah, I didn't have

any issue with the way they utilized him. I thought

it was. I wasn't expecting to see as much Happy

Hogan as we did, and maybe they kind of went

to his, like his jug maybe ran a little stale

by the end, but I enjoyed the interaction between

him and Tony and Peter. Do you agree with Matt

that they succeeded in making this feel like

a natural part of this universe and part of the

Marvel cinematic world? Definitely, I think so,

and how he fits in it. And I think specifically

in utilizing the smallness, if that's a word,

of Spider -Man's world and how he's not the character

that's down and swinging around Avengers Tower.

He's in the middle of Queens, he's in Long Island,

even in DC. It felt like he wasn't... Even though

this is the third... We're in the third edition

of Spider -Man. I felt fresh because they really

kind of took him out of the scenery we've been

kind of accustomed to seeing him in, which I

think allowed that to work even more. Dan, you

had also mentioned that one of the highlights

for you was Michael Keaton's Portrayal of the

villain in this film vulture is something that

you were kind of apprehensive about at the beginning

how do you think vulture works as a villain and

and is this one of Marvel's better villains or

How do you think that all came about and without

giving spoilers away for obviously? towards the

end. I think Marvel was smart in the fact that

the opening sequence, we understand the motivations

of the villain. They're not very complicated.

They're in a way timely. They very much reflect

that of the Marvel universe, and especially when

you look at Tony Stark versus the Vulture and

there's that, he probably go into spoilers a

little bit more and explain how those relate.

But I think a lot of it too was the performance

of Keaton and how he was able to make it work.

And, you know, he was a character that, you know,

you understood what he wanted. He wasn't too

evil maniacal. He wasn't going out to end the

world. He was just trying to kind of, as he said

multiple times, do it for his family. And he

wants to watch the Fast and the Furious movies

over and over again. But so I think he works

in that. Exactly, exactly. So I like that. I

do think when it came to his functionality and

the action sequences as a character, that's made

me where it faltered a little bit. I felt like

the fighting between Vulture and Spider -Man

worked, but it didn't have that visceral reaction

I was hoping for. But I think on a more character

standpoint, it was... much more effective than

I thought it would be. I agree. First of all,

I think Michael Keaton should play more roles

like this. I think he's a good villain and I

really believed him as this character. I like

the look of him as Vulture, but I agree with

you. The functionality of it caused maybe some

of the biggest problems I had with the film because

some of those action sequences involving him

as Vulture were almost... Impossible to decipher

like what was going on at least for me ever One

of our friends that we watched the film with

said it reminded him of the first Transformers

film actually when all you can see is just shards

of metal going every which way and you have no

idea what's happening who's hitting who or what

to make of it I got that feel a couple times

with the vulture in action, especially obviously

on the aircraft. That to me was hard to discern

at times what was going on. But maybe that's

just me and I'm getting old and becoming a seen

out old man. But Amanda, what do you think of

Vulture as far as a villain goes? I think that

Michael Keaton was great in his role. I think

he is like a good villain. And with this villain

too, like you said, the stakes weren't super

high. It's not like he was trying to drop an

entire city on the planet or anything like that.

He was just trying to, you know, stay greedy,

stay hungry and, you know, put his kid through

college and crazy stuff. And I think that I liked

his motivations. I think it was more real. Like

I can relate to a villain like that a little

bit more than I can some. Villain who fell in

a vat of toxic waste or something so I think

that portrayal was pretty nice and also it fit

with the neighborhood spider -man vibe to where

the stakes were Were not too high, but then you

know bystanders were getting hurt and it got

serious It got dangerous and the stakes did jump

up a bit when other people were involved so I

think that it was the right level of danger and

it all kind of fit cohesively together with the

vibe of him staying local and him doing stuff

in his neighborhood and then the villain being,

you know, on the same level. Matt, how high in

the ranks do you feel like the Vulture flew himself

up as far as Marvel villains goes? Well, when

I walked out the guy I was with immediately said

that was the best villain they've had like besides

Loki like he's probably the best villain they've

done they've done it right they just they did

it right um i and i don't know i guess i don't

ever feel like they do a terrible job but i do

think they did a great job with the i i do just

love the down home feel like it Like after after

the Guardians of Galaxy like saving the gal like

like what they did one movie where they fought

a god and another movie where they fought a god

Like the the Avengers like bringing together,

you know, like just all of these giant movies

into one big thing and their fight like like

to have this like low -key feel of like yeah,

we can have just you know, a working stiff fighting

a teenager and it's like in the same universe

and it's still a good movie and I love that they

managed to do that feel but what I also love

about the vulture is like I you know I've always

said it like if you want to follow source like

if you're gonna do a thing follow source material

but the vulture is a wonky one right like he

could fly he's an old man and then he like steals

youth from people and I don't even know how that

works but they did what they did with this one

is they took the vulture And they're like, how

can we make this guy work? And they're like,

well, vultures, you know, pick apart the dead

bodies, you know, like, so they just made this

guy a scavenger. Like he's a scrappy scavenger.

He is a vulture. Like they managed to keep elements

that worked and still made it believable and

in their universe. And I like that they could

manage to do that without making it hokey and

without making it terrible. Nice I hadn't even

thought about it from that angle, but that that

makes a lot of sense to I kind of agree with

you That's a nice touch to it Getting into some

of the other characters or just general thoughts

to anybody that we haven't talked about yet before

we get into some other elements of the film you

know we have people like MJ and Ned and Aunt

May and a variety of others who worked who didn't

work or what were the other highlights for you

Dan as far as the cast of characters I mean,

I love the friendship of Ned and Peter. Like

that was to me, like that brought a lot of the

life to the movie, I feel. And it did feel like,

you know, what if two kids and two teenagers

or, you know, one became a superhero and the

other one was his best friend? I did love their

interaction a great deal. And the whole lot of

that, the high school stuff was a big part of

what worked for the film. Was it, you know, but

yeah, that was probably. The biggest standout

character to me. I agree. I like Ned a lot I

love the fact that he like tells him this and

you almost immediately know that he's not a person

that can keep secrets But you know that there's

gonna be some way that he like Outs you or some

way that he says something that he's not supposed

to or whatever because he's just so like enthralled

with the idea that you know He knows the Avengers

or that you know His best friend is gonna up

his social status in some way shape or form so

I thought he was hilarious I it's probably one

of my if not my favorite character in the film

Amanda any other characters or did you like him

too or who else stood out or maybe who didn't

work for you? Definitely Ned I think MJ was a

little bit of a mystery in this Which maybe she

was supposed to be though, so we'll see more

from her I bet Matt any characters that stood

out more than others for you or any one that

didn't work gotta agree with Dan on Ned These

short names, man. Like, I think they did a great

job with that. Honestly, I think throughout the

movie, like, MJ, I was like, where's MJ? And

the reveal, and it's like, oh man, MJ's a great

character. I love MJ. Like, I didn't expect her

to be in this. Again, a little sad that they're

going straight to, you know, like, throwing in

Mary Jane before Gwen Stacy. But we'll see what

they do, because you know there's gonna be more,

because this one's just doing, you know. bonkers

at the box office. Absolutely. Are there elements

that you guys want to talk about the film, maybe

the comedy, the action, favorite moments, favorite

scenes, things that worked, things that didn't

work? Amanda, to start with you, what other things

would you like to mention about the film? In

the most non -spoiler way possible, so the test

that's at the end, or what he perceives as a

test, I almost wish he would have accepted the

offer instead of you know, you know, conceding

what he's going to or what he does. I think it

would have been cool to see that next step then,

but, you know, I get why it didn't happen. Anything

else about the film that you want to bring up?

Moments that you loved, liked, disliked, anything?

I think I like the look of the suit. I like the

functionality. I am one of the fans of having

the web actually come out of his body. But, you

know, you gotta take it for what it is when it's

with the web shooters. I think maybe it adds

another element of tension or something if he

runs out of this fluid or whatever. But I wish

it wouldn't come out of his body like he's a

legit spider. I think one of my favorite scenes

was probably when he was testing out all the

different functionalities of... the shooter and

the different ways it could in the warehouse

or whatever you want to call that bunker type

place warehouse that he was at. I thought that

was a lot of fun. I could have even watched a

few more versions of what he was able to do with

that. As far as the programming, I thought that

was a lot of fun. Dan, other elements of the

film you liked, disliked, things that worked

or didn't work? I thought that this movie had

a really tight rope to walk in a way where they're

trying to reintroduce this character to this

new Marvel universe. Do that in a way that you're

not rehashing the same things you've done for

two franchises previously, you know, make it

an entertaining movie, bring in this new villain,

create a new world. And there were a lot of different

things it was trying to do and I felt like it

pretty much accomplished all of them. And maybe

like there are a few things they can probably

increase, but it does feel like maybe that's

playing for the long haul. I think what really

works for it is the cast of characters that kind

of are built up and ones that like are all feel

very unique. all feel like they exist in the

Spider -Man universe, but in a more modern time

in different ways, especially the high school

characters. I enjoyed the relationship between

him and Aunt May and with Marisa Tomei, but I

wish we got a little bit more of that. I feel

like that was maybe one thing that was a little

bit missing was the kind of how family in a way

or motivates Peter, but I liked how it... Ultimately,

this is the same lesson that Peter has to learn

in the first Spider -Man films, learning the

power of responsibility and understanding his

role and utilizing it the best way he could.

He may not be hearing that with great power comes

great responsibility, but you have this mechanical

suit in a way to represent that, which I thought

was very effective. there are a lot of or one

specific twist, which was one of the best moments

in this film. Like, like, you know, your things

are working right when, you know, being stuck

in traffic leads to one of your best scenes of

any Marvel film. And yeah, I know a lot of people

make kind of the comparison to John Hughes. And

I get that. I mean, but I think the one thing

that John Hughes films had that this didn't necessarily

was like John Hughes and they utilize how he

utilizes music. especially music of the time,

where this didn't, and maybe that's something

they could, maybe they didn't want to harp it

on what Guardians of the Galaxy does, but I think

that's something to consider for the next movie,

because I think when it comes to teenage film,

modern music is a big part of that, because it

certainly defied a lot of people in their high

school years. But ultimately, I think the thing

that makes it work is that it's just unequivocally

fun and entertaining. and from seeing him trying

to swing through Long Island or whatever where

there's no buildings and how great that was.

It gave me that excitement I look for when it

comes to a Marvel film. Absolutely. Matt, what

do you think? Any other moments, scenes that

stood out to you or anything you didn't like

about this film? I do like... Okay, I just always

want to say that I love I just love how Down

-to -earth this movie is like and like I said

at the beginning like when I walked out of I

was like hey That was a good movie and the more

I think about it the more I talk about it the

more I'd love it Like I think they did it a great

job I don't want to say best spider -man movie

ever but good enough that I could consider it

right it's like that good but like Nope, I lost

it Dan's right though All right final thoughts

before we get into a spoiler section We'll do

final thoughts and we'll give it a grade and

then we'll kind of get into a tiny bit of spoiler

talk So Amanda anything else to say about spider

-man what kind of grade would you give this film?

I would have liked to see a little bit more of

him Action involved in and day -to -day saving

of people more than that one little montage that

we get I would have liked to see more web singing

and you know helping get dogs out of the trees

or cats on the trees or whatever it is and More

than just one little blurb of that. I think I

would have liked a little little bit more of

that and I think that Dan's right the soundtrack

was a little weak and it didn't really use any

popular music that really engaged you so that

that's something i didn't even think of until

dan brought it up but um grade uh i'll give it

uh i'll give it a seven and a half eight eight

which is it eight all right matt what do you

think final grade and any other thoughts you

didn't get out uh Yeah, I mean I I still haven't

found that thought that I was chasing last time

So I'm gonna just I'm gonna go I'm gonna go with

eight as well Like it's it hasn't rocked me to

my core like any other movie But it is real good

and I and I love it and I would see it again

Dan. What about you? Yeah, I'm right there as

it is well like it I think this is a good starting

point for this new world of Spider -Man. I think

it makes me excited for what they can do. It

sets up a lot of pieces without it being super

obvious, without it bringing down this movie

to try to build up another movie. Like I said,

I think the one thing it was missing, there are

some sequences here and there which we'll get

to which were dramatic, but it didn't necessarily

have ... the weight of Spider -Man 2, and maybe

I'm being nostalgic or what have you, or overly

fanboyish for that film, which is fine. But for

people saying that there's superhero fatigue,

I think this kind of proves that that doesn't

exist as of yet, because it's what? The sixth

Spider -Man film, the third... Person doing it,

you know, this is what the fifth spider comic

book movie of the year and you still get this

amount of enjoyment It still does this well and

people still like it as much as they do So I

don't know where that fatigue is, but it's certainly

not affecting this yet. So yeah, it's just the

people that speak the loudest I think are the

ones talking about the fatigue but not the not

the money or the actual reception that these

films seem to be getting especially like you

said how many different spider -man films we've

got different people different reboots different

comic book films in one year it's still being

received well in all ways shapes and forms so

I think I'm gonna be a touch below you guys just

barely I guess maybe like seven seven and a half

I'll go with seven and a half I did enjoy it

it didn't wow me or anything like that it didn't

like necessarily it did wow me I guess with one

scene or whatever but it didn't I guess maybe

I just didn't have as much fun as I was hoping,

but maybe my expectations were too high. I still

really enjoyed the film. I still think it's a

good film. I still really like Tom Holland as

Spider -Man, and I like the way they interweaved

this into the Marvel Universe. So I don't have

anything necessarily specific bad I want to say

about it. It didn't necessarily have me jumping

up and down, I guess, as I was leaving the theater,

which might have gotten it up to like an eight

and a half, nine. But I think I'm right around

seven and a half for me. We're going to take

a quick break. When we come back, we're going

to get into a spoiler. talk and a few more superhero

rankings maybe that we'll throw out there as

well. Hey guys it's Dr. Masolo and Hard Candy

Mandy and we just wanted to let you guys know

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if you listen via iTunes, do us a favor and leave

them a five -star review. And don't forget to

let them know that the Cinema Geeks sent you.

On the Simplistic Reviews podcast, we talk movies.

We talk TV. We talk. Hello Julie, what the heck

are you doing? Trying to make our spot sound

more exciting by adding explosions Yeah, I'm

pretty sure you could have got the point across

with sound effects. Not the real thing Download

the show on iTunes or if simplistic reviews dot

blog spot dot com I'm sure your insurance company

will cover that. No, they won't. No, they probably

won't Alright, thanks for sticking with us. We're

back to talk a little bit about spoilers with

spider -man Homecoming Dan you alluded to them

the most I think during the regular discussion,

so I'll let you go first What did you think about

some of the more spoiler rific elements of spider

-man homecoming did they work did they not work

and? expand on that a little bit Yeah, well the

Michael Keaton twist was I think like genius

honestly on for different for many different

reasons it you know it automatically made that

character more interesting. It added more personal

stakes and it was led to one of the most intense

scenes of the entire film and one of my favorites

of the year so far. And a large part because

of the performance of Keaton and Tom Holland

who just like, the fear on his face throughout

that time, it was palpable. And also kind of...

was repeated again in a scene that was very,

very reminiscent of an infamous scene in a comic

book in one of the most infamous Spider -Man

scenes in comics, where he's stuck under rubble.

And just the fear that's coming out of his voice,

it's like, wow, this is a kid. This is a kid

who's scared. And I don't think I've ever seen

a Spider -Man character in a movie before be

scared, or really any superhero. I think that

kind of... That's kind of why Spider -Man is

so relatable, I think, as a character. And I

think they really nailed it there. I think another

thing that made that so successful is how much

they did not telegraph that. I don't know when

the last time I was that much thrown off by a

twist in the film where I had absolutely no idea

that that was about to happen. I don't know what

I necessarily thought would or would not happen.

Maybe nothing. I just thought they were going

to continue on as they were. But I thought they

did an excellent job of not necessarily dropping

hints, clues, foreshadowing that much. At least

for me, maybe I'm dumb, but I did not see that

coming in any way. So I thought it worked phenomenal.

And I think you used a perfect word that was

that scene and the emotion. coming out of Tom

Holland were definitely palpable Amanda what

did you think of that little twist that they

threw at us yeah I didn't see that coming either

I was pretty shocked by that I thought it was

an awesome tie -in though and definitely bumped

up the stakes and it the the whole culmination

of the film You know coming to a head there at

homecoming it made sense for the title then I

didn't really Get what the homecoming tie -in

was with the title, but then how everything kind

of came to the head on that night Definitely

made sense afterwards I think it would have been

fun to have a camera in theaters to get the reaction

of people at that exact moment because it was

like an audible gasp or silence or shock and

awe from at least the people that we were with.

Matt, what did you think of the twist with the

vulture and how did that work or elevate the

film overall? I'm going to have to throw my hat

into the people that didn't see it coming at

all. It was one of those moments where it's like...

Like the movie slows down right before then and

it's like oh man like this is gonna be like it's

gonna you know it's going back to it's like the

stakes are lowering it's gonna be a nice refreshing

thing oh no everything is right back like everything

is right back like we're back to that tension

like there's like there's no reprieve we're just

immediately 100 % back on like i was looking

forward to him being a kid for a minute and it

was like no we're superhero this is a superhero

movie and it was one of those things where it's

like oh no like did he did he murder his girlfriend

or is it like what's going on like we're immediately

in a strange land and we had to find the clues

to figure out what's going on like it was such

a great Seeing done perfect. Like I loved it

I think you touched on a great point that they

definitely very carefully crafted it into a moment

that you thought was like a Relaxed moment. You're

like, okay. Now we're just gonna get some filler

where he gets to go to homecoming and gets the

girl You know the center center I don't really

need to pay attention and then all of a sudden

you're like, whoa I am on the edge of my seat

paying attention to every second of what's going

on right now So I think they did an excellent

job with that other spoiler things after credit

Comments or things like that that you wanted

to bring up? I don't know. I talked about the

action that didn't work. I guess one action sequence

that did really work for me was the moment on

the... Well, the fairy sequence, but specifically

the Washington Monument sequence. I thought that

was probably the best action sequences in the

movie. It should kind of be... Amanda mentioned

you didn't get to see... like the mind of Peter

working. I thought that was like one sequence

where you did see him try to have to figure things

out for himself and find a way to kind of maneuver

with limited resources and it was just really

very tense throughout. So I think that scene

and the one you mentioned before when he's really

has nothing to webbed onto where he has to more

so do it by foot. I thought, I mean I know that

was a little bit more comedic, but I thought

those were two scenes that worked very well as

well. Amanda, any thoughts on the after credit

scenes or anything else you couldn't talk about

due to spoilers? Not really, no. Matt, what about

you? I just love how he gets found out more than

once. And like how believable, because it's like

it's really hard for a 16 year old guy to just

keep a secret identity. And how each time he

gets found out like three or four times throughout

this movie, how well it works and how believable

it is. Alright, so that's our talk on Spider

-Man Homecoming, but before we go, I want to

real quick get your guys' thoughts because, Dan,

you mentioned superhero fatigue. Another thing

that I've heard over and over again is how bad

this year is as far as blockbusters go and things

like that, which is not uncommon. We seem to

hear that year after year. It can apply, though,

when people are talking to superhero films because

we've had... what four superhero films now that

have all been received extremely well um both

from a box office standpoint and from a critical

standpoint i mean is this a great year for superheroes

when they're supposed to be all this fatigue

and how do you try to rack and stack these four

films what is which one's on top and how do you

stack these up Yeah, I think it's been a pretty

solid year for you know for comic book movies

I mean we still have Justice League so that could

derail at all But we also Thor Ragnarok so that

could that's yeah, who knows maybe you know they

get finished out the year I still think for me

Logan is the best it's weird even calling that

a superhero movie because it's so it's so different

than any of these but I felt like that one I

had the best reaction to it that may you honestly

still be my favorite movie over the year thus

far I would probably put a homecoming after that

honestly and Then what comes next? I'm not sure

I Like both Guardians of Galaxy 2 and Wonder

Woman, but I think problems with both, neither

of them, neither of those issues, neither of

the problems were enough for me to not like the

movies, but they're kind of unequal footing a

little bit, but for me Logan is still far and

above the best, but it's obviously a very different

type of movie than Homecoming. Absolutely. Amanda,

what do you think? What's been your favorite

of the four so far and how do you stack them

up? Ah man, I would say Logan, then Guardians,

then Wonder Woman, then Homecoming. Alright,

Matt, what about you? What reigns supreme for

you so far in the year? Oh, man. Like, it's hard

between Logan and Guardians because, like, I

feel like Guardians did a lot of things that

I really enjoyed. Like, just as a superhero movie,

it's got more of what I want. I think Logan was

probably a better movie, though. So I guess Logan,

then Guardians, and then, like, Spider -Man,

then Wonder Woman? Alright, I think we might

be the most pro -Guardians group that I know

out there because I... can't deny the amount

of fun and the laughs that I got from Guardians.

I still put Logan ahead of it, but maybe that's

just because I'm more of someone that enjoys

more of the drama and more of that type of film

separating itself a lot from the genre in many

ways. So I think I would put Logan first, then

Guardians, and then Homecoming, and then Wonder

Woman just at the end. But I think they all four

were real good, and I think that's impressive

that we've gotten four superhero films that have

all basically not necessarily been a miss. They

haven't been bad movies. they've been successful

and it just seems to to go right against what

everybody's saying about you know these types

of films and and the superhero fatigue so we'll

have to see maybe we'll end on a sour note and

get two bad films with Thor and Justice League

or we'll have to see how those kind of play into

it but I think it's been a surprisingly good

year from all of the films we've gotten so far

that are related to comic books. So you guys

will have to let us know if you agree or disagree

with our rankings, if you agree or disagree with

our take on Spider -Man Homecoming. What is your

favorite Spider -Man film after Homecoming has

come out and you've seen that? Is it number one?

Do you still like one of the Tobey Maguire versions

best or what Spider -Man film ranks supreme for

you? You'll have to let us know on the website.

Go to geekcastradio .com. Find the episode post

there and comment and we'll definitely interact

with you there. You can also... interact with

us. Social media, Facebook is GeekCastRadio,

or Twitter, you can actually interact directly

with the show. It's at CinemaGeekCast. You can

interact with us individually as well. Amanda,

how do people tweet to you? At HardCandyMandy,

I is no wise. Dan, what about you? I'm at MovieRevolt.

Matt? I'm at FridleySat. And you can tweet to

me at Optimus Solo. Tweet to us, let us know

what you think. We'll definitely respond and

interact with you there. Also stay tuned for

some more episodes coming from the Cinema Geeks

as we close out the Hayao Miyazaki spotlight

and give you a chance to vote on our next spotlight.

Also stay up to date with our video game spotlight

as we try to get through the second half of that.

And we're also getting very close to revealing

our top 10 films of all time. So stay tuned for

all of those things. But that's it for this week.

Tune in next week for another... chance to listen

to The Cinema Geeks.