'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Review

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse doesn't release for another two weeks (December 14th for those curious), but I saw the film at an early screening tonight, and since the embargo's already been lifted, I figured I'd review it early!

'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Review

Nominated For: Best Animated Feature.

Won: Best Animated Feature.

Bitten by a radioactive spider, teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into Spider-Man. He then must team up with Spider-Men from other dimensions to stop a threat to all reality.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is co-directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman and features a screenplay penned by Rothman and Phil Lord. Believe it or not, but it's actually the first feature-length animated Spider-Man film to be released in theaters, and as a devout reader of the initial 2015 Spider-Verse comic series run, I was very excited by the announcement of this project. Though I remained skeptical since it would be produced and distributed by Sony's animation division, whose two most recent films were Hotel Transylvania 3 and The Emoji Movie... Not to mention that Sony has done a disservice to Spidey fans many times over the years... 

So it is with great pleasure that I say Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is an experience like no other! Not only is the hybrid animation style a vibrant and refreshing-of-pace, but it's unlike anything I'd ever seen in an animated film before. Into The Spider-Verse resembles a three-dimensional comic book in the most interesting way imaginable. You get everything from text blurbs and speech bubbles to the web-slinger's trademark thwips and spidey sense. Just as The LEGO Batman Movie was for Batman, Into The Spider-Verse is a fitting tribute to everyone's favorite web-head because there are plenty of easter eggs and references to Spidey's longstanding history across all forms of media. There is, of course, a Stan Lee cameo, and since it's the first time Lee's voice has been heard in a film since his unfortunate passing, my entire audience erupted with applause while I admittedly shed quite a few tears. On that note, stick around through the credits not only for a hilarious post-credits scene but also to read a heartfelt dedication to Lee. 

Though there are multiple versions of Peter Parker to be found in the film, this is Miles Morale's story first and foremost. Fortunately, Morales' cinematic debut offers a very faithful depiction of the character and his origin. However, this strict adherence to the source material may make certain major twists and reveals a tad predictable for any comic book readers already familiar with his backstory. It's admittedly a trade-off because fans would probably be up-in-arms if anything were to be substantially altered, but integrating his story with the Spider-Verse hi-jinks kept things engaging.

Into The Spider-Verse is charming from the outset thanks to the inclusion of so many Spidey-iterations, and the combination of differing animation styles and an A-list vocal ensemble really bolster this group of spider-people. Shameik Moore lends a youthful exuberance and vulnerability to Miles Morales while Jake Johnson portrays an older, burnt out Peter Parker (there's another actor who voices Peter Parker which hasn't been disclosed yet, so I'll preserve that casting secret). Meanwhile, Hailee Steinfeld, Nicolas Cage, John Mulaney, and Kimiko Glenn voice a self-reliant Spider-Gwen, shady private eye Spider-Man Noir, the porky Spider-Ham, and anime-inspired Peni Parker. Cage's Spider-Man Noir and Mulaney's Spider-Ham are honestly a treasure trove of comic relief, but that core ensemble had excellent chemistry between the six of them. Other notable actors are Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, and Liev Schreiber as Miles' easy-going uncle Aaron Davis, strict father Jefferson Davis, and hulking mobster Kingpin.

After previously webbing up baddies in seven live-action features, the beloved wall-crawler's assuredly swung into the medium of animation, and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse captures the spirit of Spider-Man better than any of its predecessors. In a surprising turn of events, Into The Spider-Verse is not only my favorite animated film to be released this year, but one of 2018's best films, period. Determining exactly where it ranks in relation to my other favorite comic-book movies will require at least one more viewing, but one thing's for sure, Stan Lee would have been very proud. 

Film Assessment: A+ 

'Tag' (2018) Review

Tag follows a group of friends who have been playing the same game tag for over 30 years. The five highly competitive friends annually travel across the country, willing to go to whatever lengths lengths necessary to tag one another so they can keep the game and their friendship alive. However, when the untaggable Jerry is looking to settle down and get married, the group see it as their golden opportunity to finally pin him down and tag him once and for all. 

Tag's premise is as about as zany as it gets, so it may surprise you to learn Tag is actually based on a true story (stick around through the beginning of the credits to see some footage of the real life friend group that inspired this film). Jeff Tomsic directs Tag as his first feature film while Mark Steilen wrote the screen story based on the Wall Street Journal article "It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being It" in addition to penning the screenplay alongside Rob McKittrick. As a comedy first and foremost, Tag needed to deliver plenty of laughs to be deemed a worthwhile venture, and I feel it was successful on that front as I hardly stopped laughing once the over-the-top hilarity ensued. 

The extremes which these adult men are willing to go to in order to tag one another is funny in-of-itself, but Tomsic continually escalates the action to another level when things go full slo-mo and Jerry analyzes his friend's sloppy tactics with an inner monologue before thwarting their futile efforts to tag him. Just combine the fast reflexes of Neo, Spider-Man, and Guy Richie's interpretation of Sherlock Holmes and you've got Jeremy Renner's Jerry. Renner may have played a super-spy, government agent, and an Avenger elsewhere, but Jerry would probably wipe the floor in a brawl with Aaron Cross, William Brandt, and Hawkeye because the skillset of those characters doesn't come close to Jerry's. And that's precisely what made Tag such an enjoyable movie-going experience. It over-exaggerates the events to such an absurd degree that you'll have a difficult time keeping a straight face. The physical comedy is far-and-away what will leave you rolling over in laughter, but Steilen and McKittrick's script is full of some clever zingers as well. 

While the core concept of Tag is really ridiculous and ripe for comedy, I was glad to see the writers didn't forget to bestow Tag with a beating heart amidst all the insanity. At its core, Tag is about the value of friendship and how games ultimately bring friends closer together and I found that message ideal for such a crazy comedy. The cast's commitment to the absurdity makes a huge difference though, as the silly premise is certainly elevated by their willingness to let their inner child come out and play. Renner got so into it that he wound up breaking both his arms on set, wearing green sleeves for his arms to be digitally recreated with CGI in post-production. I kept my eyes open for any noticeably uncanny arms along the lines of Henry Cavill's mustache-less mouth in Justice League, but I didn't catch anything so I suppose that's a good thing? Regardless, these behind-the-scenes CG-stories just keep getting stranger and stranger. 

The ensemble functions as a tight-knit group and have convincing enough chemistry for you to believe these characters grew up together. Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson, and Hannibal Buress each attribute the proper personality to their respective roles and bounce lines off one another quite well. Helms is the every man, Hamm plays the cool business tycoon, Johnson is down-on-his-luck stoner, and Buress is the calm, collected awkward one. Though even outside the bro group, Isla Fisher manages to be a highlight as Hoagie's hyper-competitive wife. 

However, it's fittingly Jeremy Renner who runs away as the Most Valuable Player in this game. Renner delights in playing the all-star player and he bestows Jerry with a mischievous attitude viewers will relish in watching! 

Despite the all ages appeal of the game its based on, it should be known that Tag is not a film for the family. While it doesn't push the envelope of the "R" rating, the film's still raunchy. Regardless of that, Tag is truly a riotous time at the theater and the funniest film I've seen all year! Now that you've read this review, you're officially "it." I humbly request you see the film and tag someone else with your opinion to keep the game going!... And no tag backs of course!

Film Assessment: A

'The Mummy' (2017) Review

The Mummy follows reconnaissance officer Sergeant Nick Morton and his partner Chris Vail as they galavant across the Middle East looting any antiquities they can find to sell on the blackmarket. In the midst an Iraqi firefight, Nick and Vail unintentionally discover the tomb of an Egyptian princess. Reinforcements soon arrive along with anthropologist Jenny Halsey, who wants to explore the crypt and retrieve any interesting artifacts the team may come across. The group stumbles upon the sarcophagus of Ahmanet and upon extraction accidentally unleash an ancient evil.

The Mummy is yet another attempt to launch a shared cinematic universe following the footsteps of Marvel Studios' startling success. Other ongoing efforts include Warner Bros.' DCEU and Legendary's Monsterverse (Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island). Anyways, Universal Studios intends to dust off their library of classic creature movies and reboot each character to revitalize one of the very first shared cinematic universes around, Universal's classic monster universe. Their proposed rejuvenated world is being dubbed the Dark Universe and Universal intends to fill it with iconic monsters including the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, and the Invisible Man to name a handful.

I believe Dracula Untold was originally intended to be the foundation of this universe, but after that film flopped the burden shifted to The Mummy. Naturally, Universal quickly went to work assembling as many A-list actors for their franchise as possible, recruiting the likes of Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, and Javier Bardem. Therefore, Universal has a lot riding on The Mummy if they want to actually get this universe off the ground in one piece.

Alex Kurtzman helms the monster movie as his second feature length film and the end result is an unfocused, tonally inconsistent film. On one hand, Kurtzman deserves praise for successfully piecing together some cool action sequences in his first big budget affair. It's well known that Tom Cruise is one of the most dedicated action stars around today, always insistent on performing the most outrageous stunts and the insane set piece this time around is a plane crash that was actually filmed in Zero-G. However, Kurtzman doesn't really allow for these stunts to appear as though they were actually filmed in-camera. The way cinematographer Ben Seresin shoots the action and editors Andrew Mondshein and Gina & Paul Hirsch splice things together doesn't provide Cruise the guise of authenticity he's offered by his Mission: Impossible antics. 

For example, in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol it is quite apparent that Cruise is a lunatic for actually dangling off the side of the world's tallest building. You can feel the sense of unease because Brad Bird allowed for longer takes and fewer cuts. The Zero-G sequence on the other hand, looks as though it were edited by a spastic five year old. 

Accomplished technical elements that are scattered throughout The Mummy include an exceptional union of visual effects, costuming, and hair and makeup utilized to fabricate Ahmanet's aesthetic. The technical crew managed to grant Ahmanet an unsettling, commanding appearance that works exceptionally well for the purposes of the film. Elsewhere, the surrounding vfx felt hastily made with a rough unfinished look (even though they're light years ahead of the 1999 version) and the score from Brian Tyler was forgettable to say the least. 

Where The Mummy fails most however is in prioritizing world-building over quality stand alone storytelling. The script simply had too many writers working on it with credits to a screen story developed by Jon Spaihts, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet and screenplay credits for David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dylan Kussman respectively. The screenwriting team were well intentioned in trying to incorporate elements of the overarching Dark Universe in The Mummy but it simply compromises the standalone nature of the story.

Imagine if Iron Man had been bogged down by constantly informing viewers other superheroes existed instead of telling a dedicated origin story for Tony Stark and simply teasing the viewer with the possibility of The Avengers in its infamous post credits stinger. The Mummy spends way too much time with needless exposition, much of which is repeated multiple times over the course of the one hour fifty minute runtime. If the overabundant exposition doesn't freak you out, then get ready for painfully unfunny one-liners and weak characters you aren't liable to care about.

Tom Cruise commands attention from the get-go as Nick Morton, throwing himself into the mix as he would in any Mission: Impossible installment. It's exceptionally rare that Cruise doesn't deliver a dedicated performance and thankfully that's not the case here. If anything, Cruise is held back by limits the screenplay places around his character. Annabelle Wallis' Jenny Halsey is unfortunately relegated to the confines of being the damsel-in-distress and spouting out anthropologist jargon but she makes a decent love interest with what she's provided.

And it is with a heavy heart that I declare Jake Johnson's Vail character to be the most annoying sidekick imaginable. Johnson was one of my favorite parts of Jurassic World so seeing him be written as an obnoxious obstacle here was incredibly disheartening and I hope to see him bounce back.

Sofia Boutella strides forward as Ahmanet and showcases an unwieldy creepiness, that's only amplified and accentuated by her undead army. Boutella brings out the most with what she's given but is portrayed with an over sexualized characterization that simply wasn't necessary. Rounding out the cast, Russell Crowe plays an enigmatic genius and entrepreneur heading up a shadowy society and is definitely the Nick Fury of this franchise (I won't reveal exactly who he's playing in case you haven't heard).

In my mind there's no question about it, this weekend you should definitely check out Wonder Woman if you haven't already or watch it again rather than digging up this mediocre monster movie. If you're dying to get wrapped up in watching The Mummy, then I'd advise not paying any more than matinee ticket price.

To wrap things up, The Mummy had plenty of potential to be an interesting standalone feature but it sacrificed that goodwill to establish future Dark Universe entries. Perhaps The Mummy would have been better left buried, but I'm admittedly intrigued by everything the Dark Universe has to offer.

Film Assessment: D+