What do you do when you’ve made multiple successful films in New Zealand, graduated to Hollywood blockbuster franchise installments while maintaining your idiosyncrasies and then won an Academy Award? In the case of Taika Waititi, the answer is to make another blockbuster where the idiosyncrasies are even more pronounced, to an extent that may amuse…
In 2002, the superhero genre achieved an ideal form in “Spider-Man,” which built upon aspects from the Superman and Batman franchises as well as 1998’s “Blade” and 2000’s “X-Men.” Over the subsequent two decades, the genre developed and expanded, but a consistent aspect throughout is the cinematic expression of the experience of superpowers. This was…
The balance between innovation and homage is a difficult one to strike. This is especially so when dealing with established and beloved properties. Spider-Man: No Way Home takes on the formidable task of balancing the demands of a standalone film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and the wider presence of Spider-Man in cinema and popular…
Two beautiful people in a beautiful setting confess the beauty they see in each other, before creating something beautiful between them. There’s a lot of beauty in this scene, a scene that could happen in any number of films, but here it takes place in an entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Its presence…
The definition of “epic” is a work of narrative art in an elevated style that recounts the deeds of a legendary or historical hero. Such a hero tends to be legendary because of the backdrop, their individual acts taking place within a context that shapes or reshapes the world. Therefore, a truly epic realization of…
In the pantheon of Bond, James Bond, there are shots that strike from a golden gun and others that leave one neither shaken nor stirred. One film often regarded as being among the latter is 1969’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” infamously featuring George Lazenby as 007 who never returned to don the tuxedo. Despite…
It has become a cliché to identify that Marvel Studios combine the superhero genre with other genres. From conspiracy thriller in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” to buddy comedy in “Thor: Ragnarok” to space opera in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Kevin Feige and the various writers, directors, editors, actors, composers, cinematographers and more that work…
