Brenbee Everfolly (Bee)

Spider-Man No Way Home is the best superhero movie made yet. The biggest flaw of the first two Tom Holland Spider-Man movies is that they were MCU movies that happened to feature Spider-Man. This is a Spider-Man movie that happens to feature the MCU, but contains so, so much more than that. The payoffs are huge, not just for this trilogy but far beyond that. It genuinely is a great balance of humor and heart, action and character moments. Even the fan service, of which there is plenty, is done so well that the moments you see coming you're still happy to see. There are also moments that you don't see coming, eliciting the full range of emotion. It's slow to start, but once it gets going it doesn't stop. It follows in Into The SpiderVerse's footsteps in being a dazzling love letter to the character and the genre.

I liked the first Trolls movie but found it's story beats to be a little obvious and predictable. While Trolls World Tour has some of those obvious moments (as do any movie aimed at kids), they happen less so often as in their predecessor. I was genuinely impressed with it's direction, and found it had important messaging for kids but told in a way that makes it enjoyable for people of any age. It was heartfelt, thought provoking, and entertaining throughout. The themes of taking responsibility for our actions and the actions of those before us, and of redemption, permeate with a resonance that was pitch perfect.