Spider-man: Homecoming

We all must leave home in order to discover ourselves but sometimes I'll return home is just what the doctor ordered. This is exactly what Spider-Man has done returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man was one of the best parts of Captain America Civil War and his character is built on in magnificent ways throughout homecoming. His witty charm, his lovable ignorance, and his comic book nerd like innocence is a breath of fresh air to the Marvel franchises. The one and only downside to the film is Tony Stark's inclusion, which to be fair was much less than anticipated. This film reiterates the problem with Tony Stark's Iron Man in all Marvel movies. In all films before Civil War he has been the Maverick or The Lovable Rebel to The Avengers but ever since Civil War Marvel have been trying to shoehorn him into the Now Noble hero. Instead of making him completely Noble they try to flirt with the line of keeping him Rogue like but also authoritarian. This comes off terribly when he scolds Peter Parker for going off and doing things on his own and blaming him for when things go wrong on plans he does not tell Peter about. Luckily Spider-Man is able to carry most the film on his own with his comedic dialogue and his new guy in the chair John something or other. Refreshingly his love interest is neither Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane and can be given a fresh take on prepubescent crushes. There an awesome Easter egg to his other love interests near the end of the film leaving it open for Marvel to either take a big leap from the comics or walk it back in the next film. This film critic cannot wait for the next film with Spider-Man and that is coming from someone who has become disillusioned with the idea of Marvel's Universe. A- rating

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is wonder-full. It has been said before me but it must be said as much as possible. Wonder Woman truly is a magnificent feminist film, from on screen to behind the camera. Patty Jenkins has been fighting to make this movie for the last 12 years and she was the absolute best choice for the job. She takes the character of Diana Prince back to her feminist roots and pushes back the decades of Diana slowly being delegated to eye candy. Throughout the film the traditional roles of women being ogled and the men being strong are flipped on their head where it is the male bodies that are emphasized and admired while Diana shows more strength than any of her male counterparts. There is literally a scene where Diana stares and admired Chris Pine's naked body in a hilarious reversal of Hollywood norms. She is also given tremendous agency throughout the film by her constantly choosing her own actions and forcing men to react to her, not the other way around. I will be the first to admit my fault in judging Gal Gadot's performance before seeing her in the film. While she still doesn't especially fit the Amazonian body type, she acts her butt off to make up for any issues, bypassing any hate and showing off her awesomeness and decisiveness. If this film is the model for what DC will be doing in the future then the future is bright. If this is an anomaly it is a bright one but will have to have all other films held up to it with what could have been. The biggest plot issue with the film is the emphasis on world war 1 because wonder woman claims to want to protect the world and help mankind know the power of Love but then there is absolutely no mention of anything after 1920. This was done to avoid comparisons to Captain America but it still doesn’t make sense. World War II was much more barbaric than World War I and we have to assume she did nothing. Ten there are the countless wars between then and now, from Vietnam, Nigerian Civil War, the Chechen wars and many others. At least Captain America had the excuse of being frozen in a glacier, what's her excuse? Other than that glaring hole, the film is fantastic and we absolutely need a sequel to be focused on more than any other planned DC movie.

A-