James' Reviews -Fantastic Four (1994 series)

 

Hello, true believers. The Crazy Video Game Wizard is back, with a review of another Marvel show from decades past. It started well after my dad and I finished watching SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, and we watched the first episode of FANTASTIC FOUR (1994) together. My dad didn't enjoy it, and wouldn't watch the rest, so I watched the rest of the show without him.

This show follows Dr. Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny, and Ben in their superhero adventures as the Fantastic Four, as they battle against dangerous foes as a family no matter the odds. For its time, the show has aged pretty well, and the gang is well depicted, faithful to their comic counterparts, and the action is engaging with many epic intro sequences for the first half of season one and the second half of season one. Despite the quality, Fantastic Four only lasted one season and was cancelled, due to low views.

Let us not forget, the voice acting is pretty good. Ben aka The Thing has a good voice, provided by Chuck McGann. Villains like Doctor Doom make an appearance, voiced by Simon Templeman, and he is pretty intimidating. Alongside the other antagonists the Four face in the series, the world-devouring Galactus crops up in a couple episodes, voiced by the deceased Tony Jay. Galactus' appearance reflects his comic book design, and his voice is heavily intimidating to the core.

Alongside SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, and the 2005 Fantastic Four movie, the 90s show is an engaging, colorful product of its time, and deserves the attention in this day and age. I would highly recommend you see it if you have the chance. In fact, its on Disney Plus, so watch it there, if you have Disney Plus. The overall rating for this is a 9.9, especially since it was engaging to the end.

-James M

James Review -Deadpool (2016) w. Deadpool

 

Oh, hello there. So, you may be wondering who the fella in red and black is, and why he's cussing and killing bad guys with blood going everywhere. The name's Deadpool, real name Wade Wilson. Most people call me "The Merc With A Mouth", and I'm a big deal. 

You know Marvel Comics, right? Let me give you the f***ing beats, buster! I was created in the 90s with my big damn debut comin' in 1991, even though it took a while for me to develop my fourth wall-breaking $#!@, and it took longer for me to get into the movies. 2009 may have been my lucky day, BUT THEY SEWED MY DAMN MOUTH SHUT!!!

However, 2016 was the game changer, when they knocked it outta the park with my movie. And get this, that Ryan Reynolds guy who played the other me, HE PLAYED THE REAL ME! That's right, baby! My actor is THE Ryan Reynolds, and you know him from $#!* like the GREEN LANTERN movie and a bunch of others. Sooooooo, what's the story of my movie, baby?

Well, it starts with me riding with Dolpinder, high-fiving him, goin' after that bastard Francis and killin' his goons. However, the story really starts a few years prior, before my face gets real messed up, when I bust a pizza-delivering stalker. Man, the look on the other guy's face when I threatened him with a gun, and the stalker knows that if he went near his ex-girlfriend again, he will know I got some hard spots. Ok, that came out wrong.

So, after that, I hit a bar and, there, I meet the babe of my dreams. Her name's Vanessa, and she's a real hooker. So, after I pay her, off we go to put some balls in the hole. Big twist: I took her to the arcade for some fun. After that, we had a hell of a lot more fun on every holiday imaginable all the way to Christmas, where I pop the big question... before cancer pops up. $#*^! Looks like that love montage is over, and crap is getting real.

News flash. Not only do I have cancer, but it's gonna kill me. So, what to do, what to do. Luckily, this guy in a suit offers a solution, and, eventually, I take it. In fact, it seems they're gonna make me a superhero. Lets hope my superhero costume isn't green and animated like Green Lantern's outfit, and that's when we meet Ajax. Oops, that's not his real name, its friggin' Francis Freeman. And it turns out, The Workshop is real %$#@ed up and makes "super slaves", and they torture me in an effort to wake up my mutant genes.

A while passes and, BOOM, they wake up, and my face gets real messed up in the process. Francis is so toast, even though I lose to him after trying to fight him naked. Don't worry, I lived to tell the tale to my buddy Weasel. One look at my face, and he compares it to an avocado who had a hate fling with an older and more disgusting avocado, then as we discuss plans on what to do with my situation, I decide to get a mask and we agree on my new name: Deadpool, Captain Deadpool

*record scratch* No, just Deadpool. Sounds like a franchise, amirite?

Makin' my costume takes some trial and error, and the suit being red came from the fact the white suit I wore got stained with my own blood at one point. Okay, so, back to the start of the film. After I kill his goons, I find Francis, and reveal my face to him. However, the studio sends two X-Men to get me, Colossus and, uh, Nega-Sonic Teenage Warhead? Weird name, anyway. They try to take me to the X-Mansion, but I slice off my arm and escape, with my severed hand givin' Colossus the finger. Oh, and Francis got away. GOD FRIGGIN' DANG IT!!!

I retreat to my friend Blind Al's place so I can heal, and once my hand grows back, Weasel and I go to a, er, pole-dancer club to find Vanessa, who gets nabbed by Francis and his goons. Looks like its rescue time, but I need help, and I get it from Colossus and the Nega Sonic Warhead girl. And where is Francis holed up, the ruins of a battleship which looks like a broken down SHIELD ship for some reason. Cue his goon Angel Dust doing a superhero landing and battling it out with Colossus.

Now, we've reached the final battle with Francis, and we try to kill each other with Vanessa on the line. I am so determined to get my face fixed at this point, and here's a catch, Francis doesn't feel pain. Heck, he can't feel anything. So, I kick his ass, and Vanessa is saved. Now to get my face fixed, but this is where we run into a problem, there is no cure. Okay, looks like its time to kill Francis, but cue Colossus comin' in with some speech about being a hero and sparing your enemies.

Well, I got one thing to say with my gun.

BLAM!

Just like that, I got Francis, even though my face may never be cured. At least Vanessa is safe, and she doesn't mind how my face looks. We part ways with Colossus and Nega-Sonic Teenage Warhead, and our story concludes for a time with me and Vanessa kissing like we miss each other. Good film, yeah?

Oh, trust me. DEADPOOL (2016) is fantastic, in so many imaginable ways, and it isn't every day when the world sees an R-rated "superhero" film, even though I am no superhero by a long shot. Solid 10/10, and you gotta admit there are so many funny moments throughout just as there is so much good action scenes with solid special effects, and I got a sequel a few years later... even though it took longer for my third movie to get off the ground. Ryan Reynolds was born for the role of me, amirite, folks? Oh, and Cable shows up in Deadpool 2, and we got Josh Brolin as him, but that is a story for another day. 

Catch you suckers next time!

Marvel Monday -X Men (2000) review

 

Hello, true believers. Welcome to Marvel Monday, and today, we're going to be discussing an iconic superhero movie. Nearly 25 years ago, before we got Sam Rami's Spider-Man trilogy and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 20th Century Fox put out something unforgettable. We're talking about X-Men, which brought Marvel's world-famous mutant team to the big screen along with Wolverine.

Little interesting story, my parents and I first saw this in 2020 and I barely sat through the whole film b/c I was having sleep issues at the time. Later, I rewatched it and sat through all of X-Men without having any sleeping issues whatsoever. So, what do I think of this nearly 25-year-old superhero movie that helped cement the superhero craze?

Well, I really like it. From the musical score, to the action, and the cast. Hugh Jackman, an Australian actor, nails Wolverine, and Patrick Stewart, known for playing Captain Picard in Star Trek, makes for a good Professor X. Oh, and James Marsden as Cyclops is a cool little treat, not to mention you can never go wrong with Ian McKellen as Magneto, he was incredible. The film's story is gripping as it brings you into the world of the X-Men, where people with special abilities face scrutiny along with many other hardships, and the focus is on both Wolverine and a young girl named Rogue.

Magneto serves as the primary villain of the movie, and, light spoilers, his motivations are driven by the traumatic suffering he endured at the hands of the Nazis as a young boy. Yep, he lived through World War II, and the events of the Holocaust drove him to become the extremist that Magneto is today. Ian was the right pick for the role, and I can hardly imagine anyone else playing him, at least for now. I won't spoil the rest of the story, especially as there are those who haven't seen the rest yet.

9/10. In my fairest opinion, X-Men is one of those superhero movies that is legendary for its time, and it deserves a chance from newcomers in the Marvel fandom. Good luck, and make sure you see the other movies.

Hope to see you on Marvel Monday again soon.

-James M

James M's review of SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1994)

 

Face front, true believers. 

It's your old friend, and I'm here with a review of the Spider-Man show that ran from 1994 to 1998. Recently, me and dad finished watching the show, and it was gorgeous for it's time. You can never go wrong with a fun superhero cartoon about the adventures and heroics of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes.

The show ran for five seasons before it was cancelled after the Spider-Wars two parter, which ended up serving as the grand finale to the overall show, and it was the last time anyone saw this version of Peter before he made a triumphant return in X-Men 97. Yeah, this show shares a universe with the other 90s Marvel shows such as Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, basically the original Marvel Cinematic Universe before 2008's Iron Man.

Okay, quick little summary of the series. 

After getting bit by a radioactive spider and losing Uncle Ben when someone broke into the house, Peter becomes the superhero Spider-Man and fights against crime, also leading to some complications with his personal life. As Spider-Man, he battles the likes of Scorpion, the Lizard, Kingpin, Doc Ock, Hobgoblin, Morbius, and various other villains. In his regular life, Peter works at the Daily Bugle and lives with Aunt May. Oh, and he gets a girlfriend in Mary Jane later on... until she falls into a portal during a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin.

Following this, Peter has a sort of relationship with the Black Cat aka Felicia Hardy, and, eventually, MJ comes back, but it turns out she was a clone. In the show's third season, Peter meets Madame Web, who tests him, which leads to many scenarios, including one from the comics where Spider-Man meets a terminally ill kid. 

In the final season of the show, Peter teams up with Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and Storm of the X-Men, a team he met earlier in the show, to fight against Doctor Doom and other villains on a desolate planet. This leads into the two-part finale, which is basically Into The Spider-Verse before we get Into The Spider-Verse, as Peter teams up with variants of himself to save the multiverse from Spider-Carnage. Long story short, the heroes saved all of reality.

For a show in the 90s, Spider-Man is well-animated, with plenty of 2D animation and an occasional inclusion of 3D animation, and no superhero project would be complete without any action and there is a lot of action sequences throughout the series with plenty of high stakes at times. As for the other characters, no offense to JK Simmons, but Ed Asner as Mr. Jameson is really good. The soundtrack kicks butt as well, and when the music kicks in during an action scene, that's when you know things get very serious.

 I say this would be my favorite show yet, and, despite certain issues in some areas, Spider-Man (1994) deserves a lovely 10/10. Oh, and if you don't know, Peter DID find MJ. How and where? We don't know. See you next time, true believers.

-James M

James M's review of Fantastic Four (2005) and Rise of The Silver Surfer (2007)

 

Hi, it's me, here to review FANTASTIC FOUR from 2005.

Before we start, I have quite the interesting relationship with this movie as this was the first live-action superhero film I ever watched, the first Marvel movie I saw, and one of the first PG-13 rated movies I ever watched. Heck, the first time I watched it in 2009, I was sick and was reading the novelization for the film with my mom at the time.

Okay, so what is the story behind this film?

Starring Ioan Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman, Chris Evans (the future Captain America) as the Human Torch and Michael Chiklis as The Thing, Fantastic Four sees Reed Richards and Ben Grim preparing for a space mission with Victor Von Doom, Sue Storm, and her brother Johnny. During the mission, a solar storm hits ahead of when Reed and Victor initially predicted it and the whole crew is drastically affected by it.

After returning to Earth, everyone appears normal, until the effects of the storm kick in as Johnny bursts into flame harmlessly during a skiing trip, Sue turns invisible, Reed stretches his hand, Ben mutates into rock, and Victor starts to develop metal under his skin. The rock monster that was Ben tries to talk to his girlfriend, only to scare her off, and travels to a bridge, which becomes the site of a traffic accident.

Reed, Sue, and Johnny, who come to the bridge looking for Ben, wind up performing heroic acts along with the rocky Ben and earn the respect of the public with the group being called the Fantastic Four. Reed starts running tests on the group while trying to figure out a cure, and Victor, discovering how bad his infection is, begins a path that leads to villainy.

Usually, I go further and talk about the last act of the film, but its easier to stop in case some of you haven't seen this. Anyways. I have watched FANTASTIC FOUR multiple times and it's really incredible. Fun fact, this was the SECOND Fantastic Four movie adaptation if you count the unreleased 1994 film, which I will watch at some point. The casting for this movie was decent along with all the action, the music, and the writing. 10/10, and I will give this film more credit. Without FANTASTIC FOUR, I wouldn't be a Marvel fan.

How about we discuss RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER a little?

Okay. Firstly, at the time of this writing, this film is one of the only PG-rated live-action Marvel movies in existence. A PG-rated superhero film is rare these days, you only get either PG-13 or R-rated superhero content. And a little interesting fact, my dad asked me if I wanted to see this at one point when I was a kid and I initially objected. Usually, when I say 'no', I'm not interested, but this was also because I hadn't seen the first film yet.

Rise of the Silver Surfer is the last film in the original Fantastic Four series and the last time we saw this incarnation of the FF, until Chris Evans recently reprised his role as Johnny in a freaking Deadpool film. *spoilers* Okay, so let's talk the story of the movie here.

Taking place after the first FANTASTIC FOUR, Reed and Sue are preparing for their wedding when a cosmic entity known as the Silver Surfer appears and craters start to pop up across the world. As the wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm unfolds, everything goes south when the Silver Surfer pops by. Now, the Fantastic Four have to face the new threat, unaware that there is more to the Surfer than meets the eye, and reluctantly team up with Doctor Victor Von Doom.

Now for my honest thoughts.

Rise of the Silver Surfer is an interesting and kind of fun movie. The soundtrack is wonderful to listen to, and even with the PG-rating, the stakes are high even though you have to wonder why the heck they aimed for a PG instead of a PG-13. Either way, RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER delivers something engaging and worth a watch on many levels. We may not have gotten more projects set in this continuity, despite certain plans as evidenced by a mid-credits scene, but this film was a decent send-off for Reed, Sue, and their friends, even with many loose threads like Doctor Doom's fate.

9.6/10. Fox is a fine studio, and Chris Evans is my favorite superhero movie actor.

-James M

James M's review of Morbius (2022)

 

Hellooooooo, Spider-Man fans. We're back with a review of MORBIUS, released in 2022, and starring Jared Leto as Dr. Morbius and Matt Smith as Milo (respectively). Produced by Sony and based on the Marvel comics, MORBIUS bombed at the box office and was negatively received. However, what is the film about?

Dr. Michael Morbius carries a blood disease which sees him on crutches, and as he tries to make a cure for himself, he winds up turning into a vampire and attacks people. Later, his brother Milo drinks the infected blood that Dr. Morbius took to go into vampire mode and becomes a vampire himself, setting the stage for a battle between the brothers.

In all fairness, despite the issues that people have, Morbius isn't a bad vampire film and is one intense thrill, pushing the PG-13 rating with the vampire-related action. It may not be R-rated, but this film does not hold back with the blood and is scary. Matt Smith, who played the 11th Doctor in Doctor Who, is a treat to watch whenever he's on screen and his role as Milo is one of the many fun factors within Morbius. So, what's my verdict on this film?

Regardless of what the critics say, this is a comic book movie you should give a chance if you like vampires and the Spider-Man comics, even if Spider-Man doesn't make an appearance in this title.

9.8/10. Thank you for joining me in this review.

Farewell, true believers.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) -Movie Review by James M

 

Greetings to all of the true believers out there, we're diving further into the Spider-verse again with another Spider-Man movie. But this time, we're not in the live action realm, its the animation realm...WITH SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE!

Released by Sony and Marvel in late 2018 with the screenplay handled by Phil Lord, INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE focuses on the journey and struggle of Miles Morales (played by Shameik Moore) when he gets bit by a spider and has to navigate the ropes of becoming Spider-Man while teaming up with an alternate universe Peter Parker Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen and other Spider people to stop the corrupt Kingpin's plans before the multiverse collapses due to Kingpin's machinations.

You could say this is where the multiverse craze started, thanks to the success of Into The Spider-Verse, as we're getting a Flash movie about the multiverse and the MCU has been delving into the multiverse in certain projects set in the aftermath of Infinity War/Endgame. 

Even SEGA is distributing Sonic Prime, a Sonic cartoon about Sonic exploring the Shatterverse multiverse. Even though multiverse stories have been going on for years, Spider-Verse started the new multiverse craze.

We saw this film eleven months before the release of Spider-Man No Way Home (after we started hearing rumblings of the multiverse being involved with the movie) and, let me tell you, this movie is a blast. Into The Spider-Verse is perhaps one of the most beautifully made superhero movies and one of the best animated films ever, not to mention its a super cool animated superhero film.

In regards to it being PG rated instead of being PG-13, that's fine, even though PG rated superhero movies and action films are very rare these days. Regardless, the writing of this movie is simple and fun, just like the characters and the action pieces of the movie. Even the animation style is beyond gorgeous, the writers had a blast making this and even the voice actors seemed to be having a lot of fun playing their respective roles.

SPIDER-MAN INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE is a fun ride with a lot of beautiful nods and Easter Eggs related to Spider-Man's long history, it is also a wonderful tribute to the late Stan Lee, who makes one of his last cameos in the movie and briefly voices J. Jonah Jameson. Stan died shortly before the movie came out, but hearing him here one final time is heartwarming, knowing that his legacy will live on.

The movie was so well-received and successful, its getting a sequel that is finally coming out in late 2022. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (which will be divided into two parts) will continue where Into The Spider-Verse left off and explore the multiverse even further. The final post-credits scene is even humorous as it involves Spider-Man 2099 visiting the 1967 Spider-Man universe, leading to the pointing finger meme and popularizing it to full meme popularity once again. 

After seeing this baby twice and thinking about how fantastic it is, I will gladly give Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse a sweet 9.8/10. May this movie be remembered as one of the best made superhero movies and I wish the crew behind this film good luck with the sequel and future superhero movies in the years to come. See you later, true believers.

-James M

James M's review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

 

Welcome back, true believers. We're diving into the Spider-Man multiverse again with the sequel to 2012's The Amazing Spider Man, The Amazing Spider Man 2. Released in 2014 with Andrew Garfield in the role, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn't do as well as the executives expected. The situation was so bad, plans for a third film were scrapped and Andrew would never appear again for a good seven years until 2021's SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.

So, what's the story of the second and (for now) final entry in this Spider-Man duology?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens up sometime after the first film with Peter swinging through New York City as Spider-Man when he hears that a police chase after a criminal with a truck is in progress. He heads to the scene and confronts the villain who is Aleksei Sytsevich, a Russian bad guy who will become The Rhino in the future. During the chase, Spider-Man winds up saving the life of an Oscorp employee named Max Dillon, who is a big fan of the web-slinger and sees him as his best friend.

As Spider-Man pursues Aleksei, he gets a phone call from Gwen Stacy, who is at the high-school graduation ceremony and tells Peter to hurry up. Peter catches the Russian criminal and apprehends him, with that settled, he heads to the graduation ceremony in time to receive his diploma and kiss Gwen. However, he's unsure about being with her due to his promise to her dying father. So, Peter and Gwen break up and their romantic relationship stops... for now.

Meanwhile, Harry Osborn returns from a school trip abroad to find his father Norman Osborn dying and assumes control of Oscorp after Norman's passing. Peter meets with Harry to console him and they discuss Spider-Man, unaware that a couple Oscorp employees are tracking them. Max Dillan later heads to Oscorp, on his birthday no less, and is assigned to fix a power generator. As he is working, Max falls into a pool of electric eels and, while in a morgue, he transforms into Electro.

Electro heads to Times Square and draws some attention from everyone, including the cops, as he tries to feed off electricity from the city. Spider-Man shows up and tries to talk with Max, however, things go south when a sniper shoots at the electrified man and chaos ensues when Max unleashes his fury. Spider-Man saves some civilians and is hailed a hero, enraging Electro, who becomes a full on villain. His rampage is short lived thanks to Spider-Man's efforts and Electro is arrested.

Harry soon fears he will die after learning he's inherited a disease from his father and asks Peter to have Spider-Man give him his blood. Peter visits Harry as Spider-Man and tells him he can't give him his blood, mostly due to the danger that Harry could die. This enrages Harry, mostly given that he's afraid that he will soon die from the Osborn Disease any day now.

This leads to Harry getting desperate and turns to anyone for help, such as Felicia Hardy (actually Black Cat and played by Felicity Jones), but ends up being discharged from power. Desperate for help, Harry heads to Ravencroft Institute and frees Electro, who is being studied. The two break into Oscorp and Harry injects himself with spider-DNA, which nearly kills him if not for advanced armor that turns him into the Green Goblin.

Meanwhile, Peter decides he loves Gwen, who is about to attend college in England, and meets up with her right as she's leaving. Just as they're becoming a couple again, Electro starts messing with the power grid of the city and everything is downhill from there. Spider-Man confronts the returned Electro at the power station and, after a lengthy battle and with Gwen's help, he defeats the villain by overloading him. With the bad guy is defeated and the city safe, all is well, right...?

Nope. Shortly after Electro's defeat, Harry arrives on the Glider and, upon seeing Gwen, figures out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. The deranged Goblin snatches Gwen and tries to make off with her, but Peter confronts him and Harry drops Gwen. Peter catches her and they wind up crashing through a glass ceiling into a clock tower where the web-slinger and his old friend battle it out with Gwen's life on the line as Spider-Man weaves a web to prevent Gwen's fall.

The battle is intense and the soundtrack sets the atmosphere for it all as the clock gears turn, the stakes are high. Peter defeats Harry, but the clock moves and the web snaps, resulting in Gwen falling. With every bit of strength he has, Peter dives after her and spins a web to catch Gwen. However, despite managing to catch her, it is not enough as Gwen hits the ground and dies. Peter is distraught by his girlfriend's death and, let me tell you, Andrew knocked the ball out of the park with that scene.

And yes, its The Night Gwen Stacy Died brought to life in live action again. Only this time, there's no MJ in Gwen's place and neither is the action at a bridge. Following the loss of Gwen, Peter gives up on being Spider-Man for a time but eventually gains his confidence again right as Aleksei, the Russian criminal from the start of the film, breaks out of jail as part of a plot by an imprisoned Harry and the mysterious man from the end of the first film and becomes the Rhino before going on a rampage.

Spider-Man arrives when hope seems to be lost and he confronts the Rhino, who is using a robotic tank suit. The movie (and The Amazing Spider-Man series) ends with Peter swinging into battle with the Rhino as Spider-Man.

Despite its flaws, despite being a failure and the problems surrounding it, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a not-so bad superhero movie. The plot is compelling, the action scenes are decently choreographed and there is some great acting from Andrew, Emma Stone and all of the other actors in the movie. Its too bad the film didn't get a follow up, but at least we finally get to see Andrew again years later, and it is possible that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 might happen after all with all of the fan demand out there.

So, what's my score for the film?

8/10, the film isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Just ignore the box office results and ignore what the critics said, TaSM 2 is memorable as long as you can handle it. After all, the failure of a superhero movie is not the end of the superhero genre or the end of the world. People overreact too much. Now, I swing off into the multiverse and bid you farewell. See you next time, True Believers. PEACE!

-James M

James M's review of The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

 

Salutations once again, we're diving back into the Marvel-verse and swinging our way into the Spider-verse with 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Marc Webb. Enough delay, lets dive into this chapter of Spider-Man history, which came to be at a time when the fabled Marvel Cinematic Universe was getting off the ground.

In the year 2007, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 released, serving as the final chapter in the Spider-Man trilogy that had been five years in the making, and was a box office success despite mixed reviews. After the movie was out, pre-production began on a Spider-Man 4. However, being displeased with how Spider-Man 3 turned out and after being frustrated with Sony's meddling, Sam Raimi quit the project and Sony green-lit a reboot with Marc Webb involved with the project.

The result, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. The film released in the summer of 2012, shortly after The Avengers came out and its success kicked the Marvel Cinematic Universe & its popularity into high-gear, and this film was very successful. The movie's performance paved the way for a sequel that came out two years later, only for that one to flop badly and TASM wasn't thought of fondly for many years until Andrew Garfield returned to reprise his role in 2021's Spider-Man No Way Home.

So, what's the story of this movie?

The film starts off with Peter as a kid living with his parents, Richard and Mary Parker, until they head off and entrust Peter in the care of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. (We find out in the sequel that Richard was working on a genetic experimental breakthrough at Oscorp and had to flee to avoid being bumped off.) Jump forward several years later and Peter (now played by British actor Andrew Garfield) is in high-school and has a crush on Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone).

One day, Peter goes to Oscorp and, during a tour where he meets Doctor Curt Connors, takes a detour into a room with radioactive spiders and gets bit by one. Shortly after, Peter starts developing powers. At school, Peter gets into a little fight with Flash Thompson and humiliates him in the gym. He meets up with Doctor Connors again and helps come up with a formula to limb regeneration, afterwards, Peter heads home and is lectured by his uncle for not being responsible.

Peter heads off to a store where a robber threatens the shop owner, only for Peter to not help him. Uncle Ben is nearby and runs into the robber as he's getting away, the thief shoots Uncle Ben and kills him, much to Peter's sad dismay. He then begins going after criminals after some time, but after a disastrous encounter with a group of bad guys, Peter eventually begins working on an outfit and a mask for himself. After enough work, his suit is formulated and Peter becomes the web-slinging Spider-Man.

Sometime after, Peter visits Gwen and joins her family for dinner, during which her father, Captain George Stacy, calls Spider-Man a dangerous criminal vigilante. Peter and Gwen talk on the balcony afterwards and Peter reveals his identity as Spider-Man to her, surprising Gwen as they share their first kiss. Meanwhile, Doctor Connors creates the formula and tests it on himself. Right as expected, his arm regrows. However, the formula has a sinister side effect as Connors transforms into a creature known as The Lizard and goes on a rampage on a bridge.

Spider-Man sees the scene and briefly fights with The Lizard before the reptilian retreats into the sewers. While visiting Doctor Connors' lab, Peter figures out that Connors is The Lizard after seeing a rat they used to test the formula on prior become a vicious creature. He tries to tell Captain Stacy, only for the policeman to dismiss Peter's claims, making a Godzilla reference when he asks Peter if he looks like the mayor of Tokyo to him. If only you tried to clarify everything, Pete.

The Lizard starts planning to mutate everyone in New York into lizards just like himself and eventually figures out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. One night, The Lizard hatches his plan and heads to Oscorp Tower to put his plan in motion. Captain Stacy captures Spider-Man, but ends up letting him go when he finds out who is underneath the mask. Gwen Stacy heads to Oscorp, willing to help Peter.

Peter battles The Lizard atop Oscorp Tower in a battle for the fate of the city and pretty much all of mankind. The Lizard unmasks Peter during the fight and taunts him, saying he's all alone with no parents and no uncle, until Captain Stacy comes in to aid Peter only for The Lizard to critically injure him. Peter stops The Lizard's plan and the reptilian creature turns back into Doctor Connors.

New York is safe, but at the price of Captain Stacy, who tells Peter to leave Gwen out of this with his dying breath. Gwen's father dies and Peter vows to keep his promise to him, even telling Gwen about it at one point. But a talk with Aunt May makes Peter reconsider. "If you are anything, its good." May tells him. The movie ends with Peter and Gwen attending school together. A post-credits scene shows Connors in prison while a mysterious man talks to him.

What do I think of this movie?

Well, overall, regardless of its flaws, its really good. My mother even said at one point that Andrew Garfield is her favorite Spider-Man and really likes The Amazing Spider-Man over the Sam Raimi films and the MCU Spider-Man. I actually do agree with many others that it is a good superhero film, its not too bad if you ignore the issues it may have. 

Andrew Garfield was a fine pick for Spider-Man and having him fight The Lizard in this installment was an alright idea. After all, Spider-Man 4 was going to see Peter fight The Lizard anyway and TASM is pretty much a fourth Spider-Man movie regardless of the continuity. And as for Gwen Stacy being Peter's love interest instead of Mary Jane Watson, that's fine, Gwen was Peter's girlfriend in the comics well before Mary Jane was Peter's love interest.

The Amazing Spider-Man has some fun action sequences and the tone of the film is quite interesting to take in, especially since it was apparently trying to emulate the tone of the well-received Nolan Batman trilogy. Marc Webb and crew set out to create an engaging Spider-Man reboot and they succeeded. Its an alright movie for its time with good acting, decent screenplay and engaging moments throughout. I give this film an 8.5 out of 10, go watch it if you want to see this. You'll not be put off by it at all.

Next time; The Amazing Spider Man 2 (2014). See you later...

-James M

James M's review of Spider Man 3 (2007)

 

Hello and welcome back, true believers. Today, we return to the Spider-realm to review the final entry in the original Spider-Man film series; Spider-Man 3 directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Hayden Church, Topher Grace, J.K Simmons, James Franco and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Released in 2007 a good few years after Spider Man 2, this movie served as the final entry in the Spider-Man trilogy and received mixed reviews while still a box office success. It was also the live action debut of Spider-Man's symbiote rival Venom (who'd made his debut in the 90s in the comics and cartoons beforehand). Initially, Sam Raimi wasn't going to include Venom in the movie, but Producer Avi Arid and the higher-ups at Sony made him do so.

So, what is the story about? Lets keep it short and simple.

Well after Spider-Man 2, Peter's life seems to be going smoothly for him, especially now that he finally has Mary Jane as his girlfriend and is about to propose to her. However, things shift when Uncle Ben's real killer Flint Marko breaks out of prison and becomes the Sandman before causing trouble.

Then Peter's friend Harry becomes the next Green Goblin and attempts to kill Peter, only to lose his memories after an injury and then gets them back later before ruining Peter and MJ's relationship, which gets strained after MJ sees Peter kiss Gwen Stacy as Spider-Man during a ceremony in his honor. 

As all of that is happening, Peter bonds with a symbiote that came down on an asteroid and gets a black suit. But when Peter realizes what is going on as its changing him, he gets rid of the symbiote suit and the creature known as Venom bonds with a journalist named Eddie Brock, who then teams up with Sandman to kidnap Mary Jane and try to kill Peter. Peter teams up with Harry and they defeat the bad guys, but the battle comes at the cost of Harry's life while Peter reconnects with MJ.

So, what do I think of the movie?

Its not that bad as people think it is, Spider-Man 3 is quite good and ends the trilogy off on a good note to an extent. Had Spider-Man No Way Home not happened, this would've been the last time we ever got to see Tobey Maguire's version of Spider-Man. Spider Man 4 was meant to happen at some point, but due to issues between Sam Raimi and Sony, it never happened and thus Spider Man 3 is the final one. After this movie, we would get the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man films, which we'll talk about later.

Overall, the action sequences are well created, the acting is decent and the musical score's perhaps the best of the best in this film. The tone was fine as well, it knew how to be light-hearted and when to be serious. The CGI and special effects were very good too, Sandman looks spectacular and Spider-Man's swinging through the city is still phenomenal. I salute Raimi's team.

Spider-Man 3 gets an 8.5 out of 10, now I say farewell. See you next time in another universe...

James M's review of Hulk (2003)

 

Greetings again, true believers, we're back to review somethin' green. Its... HULK!

Released in 2003 and starring Eric Bana as the scientist Bruce Banner and his alter ego known as The Hulk, this movie made a lot of money and was kinda mixed with both fans and critics. However, this movie's legacy lives on to this very day, but plans for a sequel were scrapped and the next Hulk movie titled The Incredible Hulk released five years later as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I saw this film back in 2018 when dad got it on DVD and I watched it again a few years later. And despite what the critics say about films like this, Hulk isn't too bad. Its actually fun, just like every film we've seen that never performed well. Eric Bana was the perfect fit for Bruce/Hulk at the time, even though Mark Ruffalo does play him well nowadays in the MCU.

So, what's the story?

Scientist David Banner, after running experiments for the millitary, getting canned by General Ross and experimenting on himself, has a son named Bruce who picks up some of his father's mutating DNA. David gets into a fight with his wife and kills her when he tries to kill Bruce, who is then put into foster care. Years later, Bruce attends a college and winds up getting dosed with gamma radiation during an experiment.

After a reunion with his father, who has aged since Bruce was a boy, and learning the truth that was hidden from him, Bruce becomes angry and turns into a green monster, he wrecks the area and terrifies David before going on the run. David is then visited by Bruce's partner Betty, who questions him about his work, and later experiments on his dogs, turning them into monsters and sending them after Betty.

Bruce turns into the Hulk and saves Betty from David's dogs, but then Betty calls her father General Ross a day later and the army takes the now-captive Bruce to their base in the desert. But not long after, Bruce transforms into the Hulk again and breaks out, going to San Francisco. Once there, after a fight with the army, Bruce sees Betty and calms down. Meanwhile, David runs another gamma experiment on himself and becomes an entity similar to the Marvel villain known as the Absorbing Man.

David visits the captive Bruce and has a chat with him, revealing that he's become insane and bites down into a power cord, which triggers his transformation into an energy creature when Ross powers it up. Bruce turns into the Hulk and battles his father until he gains the upper hand and the general deploys a Gamma Charge Bomb against both Hulk and David. However, Bruce survives and goes into hiding in the Amazon as a medical doctor.

Many months later, during Bruce's exile, a group of regime soldiers arrive to harass a group of locals and Bruce confronts one of them. "You're making me angry..." He says, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." And the film ends with the roar of the Hulk.

That's pretty much the movie. And as I've said before, I think its a decent movie. It may have some issues and dated effects, but the experience isn't as bad as some people would try to make it out to be. The acting and the dialogue looks fine by today's standards and the plot is easy to understand once you know what's going on. HULK gets an 9.9 out of 10, this film is worth multiple viewings. 

As of this post, there is a rumor that the Eric Bana version of Bruce/Hulk will appear in Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange & The Multiverse of Madness. If that is true, then that would be fun to see, anything is possible with the multiverse and multiverse stories can be big (but not big as in the ambitious kind). Now, I sign off with an optimistic smile. See you later, comic book and movie nerds.

-James. M

 

James Reviews: Spider-Man (1967)

 

Welcome back, dear true believers and Marvel nerds.  Time for us to wind back the clock to a decade that seems to be popular for pure cheese at its finest when it comes to TV shows and movies. But out of all the cheesy things to come from the 60s, we're looking at something amazing, something that is so iconic it will never be forgotten. 

I'll clue you in, who has radioactive blood and spins a web?

The answer: SPIDER-MAN!

Oh yes, we're talking about the 1967 animated series based off the Marvel comic and superhero known as Spider-Man, starring the late Paul Soles as the voice of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man.

Right off the bat, each episode kicks off with an amazing theme tune that has gone on to become very iconic with Spider-Man history to this day and is considered Spider-Man's theme now and then. C'mon, who doesn't love the lyrics; /Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can, spins a web any size. Catches thieves, just like flies. Look out, here comes the Spider-Man./

If you want to hear the full song, the link is here in this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z8N9TTvKeQ

Airing from, of course, 1967 to the year 1970, SPIDER-MAN ran for three seasons and each episode saw the web-slinger battling a variety of foes who originated from the comics or were created for the show . And often depicted Peter working for the Daily Bugle ran by none other than lovable, near-unlikable Hitler-mustached loudmouth J. Jonah Jameson.

My father saw this show years ago and we eventually sat down together to see some episodes during our days together in 2021, and, for a TV series with a decades-long legacy, Spider-Man 1967 is quite decent. The animation is smooth and the voice actors put a lot of effort into this one. My first episode of the show just happened to be the one where Spider-Man ended up in a jail hospital and tricks a band of criminals in order to get out of the hands of the police. 

It was dad who suggested that we see it, even though I didn't hold any interest in it then. But after that, the seeds for us watching the show were planted and we watched almost every single episode of it on Dailymotion and on YouTube. Having seen Spider-Man 1967, I can see why countless Marvel fans like this so much and why the internet makes memes out of this.

Paul Soles brought a wonderful Spider-Man/Peter Parker voice to the table and this man is unforgettable. He's almost like the Adam West of Spider-Man actors, except he's a voice actor for an animated Spider-Man and Adam West was the second live-action Batman after the 40s show.

My overall thoughts on Spider-Man 1967?

Its one of the best pieces of media to come from the 1960s and is a part of superhero media history, Spider-Man is worth watching and people should know about this cheesy part of Spider Man's long history in the multiverse of media. My score for this is a 9/10, cheesiness is so yummy. Thank you all for tuning in and have a great day, be safe out there, true believers...

-James. M

Guest Post -James M's review of Spider-Man 2 (2004)

 

Welcome back, good friends. Today, we're here to review the sequel to the 2002 Spider-Man film, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, released in 2004 over two years later.

Lets dive in, shall we?

Story time!

Sometime after the events of the first movie, Peter Parker is struggling to balance his life as a normal person and as Spider-Man, the latter part happens to be causing him issues too. At the start of the film, he works as a pizza delivery guy and is tasked with making a delivery, but he ends up arriving at his destination late when he saves some kids in the street as Spider-Man. 

Peter gets fired from his pizza job and ends up facing issues at the Daily Bugle too when Mr. Jameson seemingly fires him as well for getting pictures of other things unrelated to Spider-Man. Peter tells Jameson that Spider Man won't let him take any more pictures as he, Jameson, has turned the whole city against him. "That I'm proud of." Mr. Jameson says smugly. Peter then relents and gives him a picture of himself as Spider Man.

When Peter arrives at Aunt May's place that evening, he finds Mary Jane and Harry there with May as they're preparing to rejoice his birthday. Peter and Harry talk and Harry, who is now the head of Oscorp following the death of his father Norman in the previous movie, offers to introduce him to Doctor Otto Octavius, which Peter accepts as he will be writing a paper on him. After a chat with MJ outside and learning that she's seeing someone else, Peter talks with Aunt May, who gives him some money.

He heads back to his place of residence, a rundown apartment, where his landlord Mr. Ditkovich is demanding for rent. "If promises were crackers, my daughter would be fat." Ditkovich says jokingly when Peter makes a promise related to the rent.

Harry soon introduces Peter to Doctor Octavius, who reveals that he knows Peter's college science class teacher Doctor Connors and tells Peter, "Intelligence is not a gift, its a privilege, you can use it for the good of mankind." Otto then reveals he's preparing to do a fusion reactor experiment and Peter gladly accepts the invitation to see his work the following day.

That night, while on his way to see one of Mary Jane's plays, things don't go as planned for Peter as he has to suit up as Spider-Man to catch some criminals. As he pursues the bad guys, Peter suddenly loses his powers for a while. He manages to get to the theater where MJ is having her play, but the usher (played by Bruce Campbell) dismisses him due to Peter being late.

A day later, Peter attends Otto's experiment with Harry and many others, watching as the doctor reveals one of his inventions; a set of mechanical arms that are heat-resistant that attach to his back and have an inhibitor chip to prevent the arms from controlling Otto's mind. The experiment seems to go well, but then a spike happens with the fusion reactor and things go south quickly. 

During the chaos, Otto's wife Rosie is killed by a shard of glass and Otto's chip is damaged. Peter suits up as Spider-Man and saves Harry's life while shutting down the machine before it can do any further harm. Otto is rushed to a hospital, where he wakes up and attacks a group of doctors with his mechanical arms. Afterwards, he fleas to a pier where he starts planning to redo the experiment as the arms begin corrupting his mind.

When Mr. Jameson hears of what happened, he decides to name the new villain as Doctor Octopus aka Doc Ock (while taking credit for his assistant Hoffman's suggestion). Jameson reprimands Peter for not getting any pictures of the incident at Otto's lab and then tells him that he's needed to fill in for a high-society photographer at the local planetarium for a party in honor of his astronaut son. When Peter asks if Jameson will pay him in advance, Jameson just laughs.

"Pay you for what, standing there?" He asks, "Tomorrow night, eight o clock, there's the door."

Peter joins Aunt May at the bank as she's trying to get some money in an attempt to prevent her house from being foreclosed, but the visit takes a turn when Doctor Octopus arrives to steal some money. Peter heads off to suit up and returns as Spider-Man, a battle unfolds inside the bank and Doc Ock kidnaps Aunt May during the fight. 

Doc Ock and Spider Man's fight continues in the city outside and Peter manages to save Aunt May, who helps in return by hitting Doc Ock with her cane right before he can land an attack on Peter. Doc Ock gets away and Peter accepts Aunt May's thanks before heading off with her unaware as to who is under that mask.

That night, Peter arrives at the planetarium and, as he's taking photos of Jameson and his wife with the city elite, the guest of honor of the party, Mr. Jameson's son John Jameson, arrives with none other than Mary Jane herself. Harry, who is attending the party, voices his contempt for Peter stealing his father's love along with his "friendship with Spider Man". As if things couldn't get more crazy for Peter, he then discovers that Mary Jane has agreed to marry John, much to his dismay.

While swinging through the city as Spider-Man afterwards, Peter loses his powers again and falls in an alleyway. With his life taking a toll on him, Peter eventually gives up on being Spider-Man, deciding that he's "Spider-Man no more". In the days that follow, Peter's life seems to get better for him, especially in college as he starts studying more and seems to get higher grades than ever. 

However, despite giving up on being Spider-Man, Peter is eventually faced with doubts about his decision after he braves a burning building to save a couple's baby girl while someone dies on a higher floor. As he's visiting his aunt's place as she's preparing to move, Peter talks with Aunt May, who gives a speech about the importance of being a hero and that there is a hero in all of them. 

This almost implies that Aunt May somehow figured out that she knows Peter is Spider-Man, doesn't it?

In the meantime, Doc Ock almost has the new transfusion reactor complete and all he needs is tritium. Peter attends one of MJ's plays and chats with her, but he can do nothing to change her mind from marrying John and says that she'll be getting married in a church. Otto meets with Harry, who tells him to find Spider-Man through Peter while promising to get him the tritium he needs.

"Don't kill Peter!" Harry tells Doc Ock.

After talking with John and having a kiss with him, Mary Jane starts to have second thoughts about the whole thing and meets up with Peter at a diner. As the two are talking, Doc Ock arrives to kidnap MJ and threatens to kill her unless Spider-Man meets with him at the West Side Market clock tower by 3 o clock. Doc Ock heads off with MJ hostage and Peter's powers return to him.

With his strength back, the first thing he does is head to the Daily Bugle and snatch his superhero costume, right as Mr. Jameson is lamenting what he did to drive Spider-Man away. "Spider-Man was a hero, I just couldn't see it." He says, "He was a..." Jameson notices the suit taken and gets very angry, declaring Spider-Man a thief and a criminal who should be strung up by his web.

"I WANT SPIDER MAN!" Jameson yells.

Peter confronts Doc Ock on the clock tower and the fight leads to them battling atop a train, which the scientist sabotages by taking out the controls. As Doc Ock gets away again, Peter works to stop the train and succeeds, but not before people see him without his mask, which he removed when the wrecked controls of the train blew up in his face. 

Thankfully, the people vow to never tell anybody. Then Doc Ock returns and takes Peter into custody, taking him to the Osborn residence. Harry unmasks Peter and is shocked to see who is under the mask, Peter learns what Doc Ock is up to and then heads off to the pier to confront the villain.

Doc Ock is in the midst of starting up the reactor and Peter arrives to confront him, while discovering that MJ is there as well. Doc Ock is furious that Spider-Man is still alive after he thought Harry would be the one to kill him. "I should've known Osborn wouldn't have the spine to finish you." He says.

"Shut it down, doc." Peter says, referring to the reactor, "You're gonna kill a lot more people this time."

Peter and Doc Ock battle with the scientist pulling no punches and Peter manages to unplug the reactor, but it does no use. The reactor is self-sustaining now and New York will be devastated unless its stopped! Peter unmasks himself and reveals his identity to Otto, who initially tries to strangle him, but he manages to get through to the scientist and Otto vows to destroy the reactor by putting it in the river.

MJ is shocked to see that Peter is Spider-Man when she sees him unmasked and Peter saves MJ from the collapsing pier while Otto Octavius sacrifices himself to destroy the reactor and they both fall into the river while Peter and MJ make it to safety. Peter confesses his love to Mary Jane, but they almost know that they "can never be".

The next day, MJ is about to wed John, but she makes her decision at the last minute and runs away to Peter, leaving John at the altar alone. She meets with Peter at his apartment, having decided it doesn't matter what will happen with Peter as Spider-Man. As they are kissing, sirens go off in the city, indicating bad guys are up to no good. "Go get 'em, Tiger." MJ says.

Peter suits up as Spider-Man and swings through New York to fight crime while Mary Jane looks on from his apartment room window. Meanwhile, winding back time to the night of Doc Ock's defeat, Harry is at his place when he hears the laugh of the Goblin and his father Norman appears in the mirror and tells him to kill Spider-Man to avenge him.

Harry is reluctant and screams no, but when he throws the knife meant for Spider-Man in the mirror, it shatters and Harry discovers a secret room that his father apparently used for when he was the Green Goblin. Harry picks up one of the performance enhancers, setting up what he will do soon...

Final Thoughts:

When Spider-Man 2 came out in 2004, it was a massive hit and people see it as one of the greatest superhero movies of all time to this day. We saw this days after we saw the first Spider-Man and it is really good, no questions asked. Sam Raimi knew what he was doing and the special effects seem to hold up today if you view it again. Casting Alfred Molina as Doc Ock was a fine casting choice and, by the time I'd seen this film, I was oblivious to the fact I'd seen him before in 1981's Indiana Jones & The Raiders Of The Lost Ark and I'd kinda forgotten about that film. 

The story of this film is very well-paced and deeply thought out, the characters' portrayals are on the mark and the musical score really helps add to the flavor of the sequel. Fun fact, I actually briefly saw the train fight scene of Spider-Man 2 when I was blipping around on TV years ago. Heck, sometime after that (in 2008 I think), I saw some footage of the movie at one point when a TV in a trailer showed some stuff related to Spider-Man and this was before I was fully invested into superhero stuff.

Spider-Man 2 is somewhere along the lines of a masterpiece for its time, it is a very memorable superhero film that fans will be watching over and over from time to time. If you have the time and haven't seen it yet, watch it. I've you've seen it before, give it a rewatch. I've seen this twice already and I'll be happy to see it again down the line, depending on the mood.

Farewell, true believers, and have a good day...

-CVGWJames 

Guest Post -James M's review of VENOM (2018)

 

Hello, True Believers, we're here today to review a Spidey spin-off. But it ain't no ordinary Spider-Man spin-off movie, its... VENOM!

That's right, Spider-Man's dark symbiote counterpart has his own movie... starring TOM HARDY! Up until 2017/2018, this movie had been in development hell for years, goin' all the way back to 1997 back when the character of Venom had gotten off the ground. But years later and well-after Venom's theatrical debut in Sam Rami's Spider Man 3, Venom the movie finally happened and its intense, its rated PG-13 and ITS A SUPER GOOD MOVIE!

So what is the story?

Synopsis:

A manned space probe for the Life Foundation, run by the film's main villain Carlton Drake, discovers symbiotes on an asteroid amidst a space mission, a symbiote gets on board and the space craft crash lands back on Earth in Malaysia. The symbiote responsible for the crash escapes in a human female body before the Life Foundation successfully recovers the other symbiotes.

In San Francisco, Eddie Brock works as a reporter for the Eddie Brock Show and is engaged to Lawyer Anne Weying. One night, while Anne is sleeping, he goes onto her computer and discovers Anne is preparing for a court case involving the Life Foundation, which Eddie is about to visit to interview Carlton himself. The next day, when Eddie interviews Carlton, he asks about the deaths the Life Foundation is covering up. Carlton dismisses Eddie and has him fired which leads to Anne breaking up with Eddie. 

Carlton and his crew begin experimenting with the symbiotes.  Several volunteers including one named Isaac are killed after bonding with a symbiote. A Life Foundation doctor meets with Eddie in San Francisco and tells him he was right to accuse Carlton. Eddie sneaks into the Life Foundation, releases one of the symbiote host subjects from a cell and the symbiote attaches itself to Eddie.

The Life Foundation pursues Eddie, who escapes and flees back to his apartment. Shortly after, he starts eating a lot of food and throws up in the toilet at one point, while brushing his teeth, Eddie is shocked to hear a gruff voice inside his head telling him to do things. While walking the streets of San Francisco, Eddie goes right to a restaurant where Anne is with her new boyfriend and begins eating lobsters there.

Anne takes Eddie to an MRI with her boyfriend Doctor Dan Lewis and they scan him, but the scan causes a negative reaction in Eddie and he goes home again. Back at his apartment, Eddie receives a phone call from Anne and Lewis, who tell him he may have a parasite. The Life Foundation's henchmen arrive and Eddie fights them, using the symbiote's strength before escaping.

Carlton, who learns a symbiote has bonded with Eddie, sends his men after him. Eddie sees the symbiote in a reflection on a car window. He tries to escape on a motorcycle when a drone attacks and chases him through the streets of San Francisco which ends with Eddie being rammed and throw off the motorcycle.  

Just when it seems Eddie is at the mercy of the Life Foundation, the symbiote takes over his body and grabs one of the goons. He reveals himself and says, "Eyes, lungs, pancreas... So many snacks, so little time..." Then the symbiote bites off the head of a man and flees with Eddie to a pier where the symbiote introduces itself as Venom and says Eddie is his.

"You did not find us, Eddie. We found you." Venom says, telling him that he's inside his head and Eddie is a loser. The symbiote then makes sure to tell Eddie he needs Carlton Jake's rocket and, if he cooperates, Eddie may just survive.

"That is the deal." Venom tells Eddie.

Eddie heads to his old boss Jack's office (from when he did the Eddie Brock show) to try and show him evidence against the Life Foundation. On his way out, Eddie runs into a SWAT Team and Venom takes them down before Anne shows up. While at the doctor's office at the San Francisco hospital, the doctor puts Eddie in a room and uses loud sounds to drive Venom out of the body.

As Eddie is leaving, he is captured by Carlton Drake's men and taken to the Life Foundation where he finds out Carlton has bonded with a symbiote named Riot, whom Venom later describes as a team leader. Venom bonds with Anne and they go to save Eddie right as he's about to be executed by Carlton's men, Anne and Eddie kiss, leading to Venom re-bonding with Eddie. 

Venom tells Eddie about Riot and what is going on before declaring he likes it on Earth and that Eddie convinced him to stay. They see Riot heading to the rocket and Venom tells Eddie that Riot has got "shit that you've never seen", indicating that Riot is very powerful.

"Oh, f*** it, lets go save the planet." Eddie says.

Side Note: When I watched Venom on one of the DVR channels, they replaced the "oh f*** it" with "well" and had Eddie say, "Well, lets go save the planet."

Venom confronts Riot and the two engage in a battle that leads to the rocket, involving them ripping at each other and Riot taking Venom from Eddie at one point, even Carlton stabs Eddie by the edge of a platform and Eddie is saved by Venom before he dies. The battle ends with Venom destroying the rocket by cutting open the fuel cells, leading to a fiery explosion that kills Riot along with Carlton. Eddie seemingly loses Venom, but it turns out Venom survived.

Weeks later, Eddie talks with Anne about what happened and they part ways with Eddie walking down to Mrs. Chen's convenience store to find some food for Venom. A robber comes in to steal money from Mrs. Chen and Venom deals with the villain, threatening him at first and then proceeds to bite his head off right in front of a shocked Mrs. Chen, who asks Eddie what that was.

"I have a parasite..." Eddie says and bids Mrs. Chen good night before leaving, Venom angrily berates Eddie for calling him a parasite and Eddie eventually apologizes before asking what he'd like to do with Venom saying they can do whatever they want as the film ends.

A post-credits scene shows Eddie heading to a prison to interview Cleatus Cassidy, played by Woody Harrelson (who played Tobias Becket in Solo A Star Wars Story, which also came out the same year as Venom). Cleatus foreshadows the next movie as he says to Eddie that when he gets out of there, "there's gonna be carnage" and the scene ends with Cleatus's evil smile.

Final thoughts:

This is a movie worth watching, Venom is a nicely-paced action movie that handles the constraints of a PG-13 rating and pushes it now and then without going overboard into R-rating territory. 

And despite mixed reviews, Venom was a box office success and went on to earn a sequel, also rated PG-13. Tom Hardy was a good casting choice as Eddie and the special effects look decent. Venom himself doesn't look so bad either. The people behind this project really took their time and the movie does not feel like a soulless cash grab as some people say it is.

My mother was reluctant to see this film at first, thinking it looked stupid and super violent. But eventually, I got her to see it and VENOM got a good couple of laughs out of her, especially the scene where Venom called Eddie a pussy and the scene when he threatened the robber to make him an armless, headless and legless thing "like a turd in the wind". You may as well say, in her eyes, Venom is basically a comedy action movie and we all love comedy action films, don't we?

Venom 2018 gets a 9/10.  It was fun and worth watching multiple times and shows how great a Marvel movie can be, even if isn't set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. See you next time in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, true believers!

-CVGW-James