Movie Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming

There comes a time when a hero finally makes his long awaited return to a place he rightfully belongs to, and in the case of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man he is now at home with the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to the deal Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios a few years back that allowed the wallcrawler to join the multimillion dollar shared film universe filled with superheroes based on Marvel Comics. That meant rebooting and reintroducing Peter Parker/ Spider-Man to the MCU with a new actor, and that role fell right into the hands of one Tom Holland - a young English performer who has an extensive background on acting and dancing - qualities that befit a young and nimble Spidey!

Making his debut in last year's "Captain America: Civil War" where he was recruited by Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Holland's Spider-Man emerged as a quick fan favorite - becoming a witty, energetic, and very green addition to the MCU. After the fallout of that film and the division of the Avengers, it became very clear that we would see Tony Stark mentoring his new protege just like his comic book counterpart did - thus one of the key elements of the inevitable sequel was established. Add the fact audiences will see Peter's young High School and teenaged life fleshed out for the first time, and you have "Spider-Man: Homecoming" - the new Spidey film that certainly prioritizes the words "FUN" and "AMAZING" all around it.

Thanks to the folks at Columbia Pictures Philippines, I was able to see the film a weekend just before its release in a special "Spider-Man: Homecoming Fan Screening" where my team of webheads in Spider-Verse PH was invited! We went straight from ToyCon 2017 just to see the wallcrawler swing into theaters once more in young and rejuvenated fashion, and WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED. We loved the film and wore our respective Spidey suits to see it, and it was SPECTACULAR beyond words.

This review is meant to express how much I enjoyed the movie, and to invite fans new and old to see this wonderful film that redefines "Great Power and Great Responsibility" for a new generation with the webhead filling his rightful spot in the MCU!

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

When the first Sherlock Holmes movie strode into theaters back in holiday season 2009, I was blown away and mesmerized by the sheer brilliance and excellent performances given by its stalwart cast, notably Hollywood icons Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, who portray the titular character Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr. John Watson, respectively. In the same vein that Batman Begins and Casino Royale recreated the sagas of The Dark Knight and James Bond, this flick totally gave us a new and wacky interpretation of Mr. Holmes, and his methods are quite eccentric and comedic in nature that it proved to be a good choice by director Guy Ritchie to cast RDJ as the genius sleuth and detective, with the latter riding out his newly acquired fandom thanks to his unprecedented role of Tony Stark in 2008's Iron Man.

I've seen the movie twice to count, once in Hong Kong this past December (making it both films in the series I've seen in HK) and the other this past Thursday for the special advance local premiere, courtesy and thanks to Jay Gonzales and the people of Warner Bros. Philippines. It may be a few weeks late after its initial release in the US, but rest assured, if you're a fan of Guy Ritchie and RDJ's interpretation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's seminal fictitious work, you may want to give this a shot, as it opened this week as of this writing in theaters locally. With that said, here's my review of Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows!