This movie (plus small segments in Captain America: Civil War) represents the third depiction of Marvel's flagship hero Spider-Man in fifteen years. The first, starting in 2002, was Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3. Andrew Garfield rebooted the role in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Now Tom Holland takes up the webslinging role. Unlike the prior two incarnations, this version of Spider-Man doesn't bother us with the origin story. In that, I think the movie does depend on the viewer having [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Doctor Strange
December 13, 2016 By 3 Comments
Well, technically "soon to be on my shelves" since the movie hasn't been released to video yet! Capsule summary: A near-perfect adaptation of the origin of Doctor Strange, updated without losing what made it work in the first place. Excellent acting, fine pacing, and clever scripting make this one of the better Marvel offerings, with only a few relatively minor flaws marring what is otherwise a stellar work. Cumberbatch was made to play Doctor Strange, continuing an amazing streak of beautiful casting decisions by Marvel. I look forward [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Iron Man – the Anime
January 15, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The Japanese have a somewhat … peculiar track record in adapting American properties. One need only look at the Japanese version of Spider-Man, in which he ends up with a giant transforming robot, to realize that one might have a bit of trepidation in knowing that another Marvel property is to be adapted into an anime. Even in current day their track record is rocky; I'm really not sure that the world needs a bishonen Wolverine, and the X-Men anime has serious flaws. So Kathleen and I were a bit dubious about [ Continue reading... ]
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