Jack Rainey

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(Spoiler free) From start to finish, this movie serves as a fantasic adaptation of Frank Herbert's legendary work. All my friends that I saw it with said that they felt like they could have been in the theatre for another three hours. Everything from the storytelling, the acting, the cineametography, the music, the effects, fill in the blank movie category was incredibly well designed and entertaining. It definently expands where the first one leaves off in all the right ways. Go see it in Dolby Cinema or IMAX if you get a chance. It's worth it!

Spoiler Free Review Watching this 3+ hour movie for the third consecutive time when I realized, I haven't written a review yet! Quick preface, if you're headed to the theaters for a nice happy experience, you won't find it here. This movie is brutal in the best way possible. Do not expect to feel happy afterward but the "movie moments" (you know, those Darth Vader hallway, hallelujah mountains, Captain America picks up Mjolnir moments) will almost certainly make up for the difference (no spoilers!). Matt Reeves and his team have done the impossible, making Batman feel like a fresh character. By separating him from the larger DCEU, they were able to give him an ultra-realistic feel, despite many fantastical feeling moments. Greig Fraser however, in my opinion, is the reason for this movie's glory. His cinematography is as much, if not more, of a character than Batman himself. He removes all inexplainable forms of light (AKA stage light) and yet is still able to illuminate the screen in just the right ways. Many will call this movie extremely dark and in all fairness, it is but in just the right way. You'll never be asking yourself what's going on on-screen (unless you're watching during the day in which case you're watching it outside of the director's intent anyways and one single shot that blanks out repeatedly to black (My favorite shot of the movie. You'll know it when you see it;))). And it's all wrapped in a bow by Michael Giacchino's haunting score. There is so much going on in the score. It feels epic, it feels tragic, it feels focused. It is absolutely perfect. Oh, wait! I haven't even gotten to the cast yet! Every casting decision was perfect! (By the way, if you have some sort of thought in your mind about Pattinson, don't worry he is a very talented actor who can do exactly what the director asks of him.) I think the best example of its talent is Paul Dano's performance of The Riddler. It is haunting yet focused. Calm yet angry. Every casting decision has just as much love but this one, wow! Hats off to you Paul! A quick note about the runtime, don't be afraid to step out and pee. It's long but it allowed us to see Batman in ways that we haven't seen before. There are a few good places to step out in the second act with little plot missed if you hurry (although it's not in theatres anymore so that's basically a non-issue). Personally, I wish they would release an extended version! I could go on for a very long time but I think this covers the main bases. It's an absolute masterpiece. PS: Don't compare this Batman prematurely to another one. By setting a mindset, you're ruining your chances of enjoying this movie before it starts because of how separate it is from the rest of them.

NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST: No way home is arguably the best Marvel movie of all time. While most movies of this magnitude feel overwhelming and full of incomplete story arcs, this movie does an incredible job of giving every character the love they deserve while still keeping our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man firmly the main character of the movie and not loosing him in the multiverse of madness (pun intended). I’m also glad that Doctor Strange’s roll in the movie limited. His role in the movie is limited to only what is nesesary to make the events of the movie happen as well as the MCU’s multiverseal future. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys Marvel movies and has successfully made my entire week. Thank you so much Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios and I can’t wait for 4,5, and 6! PS: Many have been asking if you need to watch the original Spider Man movies to understand No Way Home. My answer would be no but I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND watching them first. There is a lot of depth in the movie that comes only from watching the originals that Sony did so well. Don’t worry about watching Spider Man 3 as it has very little effect on the movie (the villains that the fans liked most get the majority of the focus). But if you can watch the rest, do it. Especially Spider Man 1 and 2 as well as the Amazing Spider Man 2. In addition, watching the Venom movies may help you to better understand the first post credits scene but you don’t need to. If you know what Venom is about, you’re good.

(Spoiler Free) I walked into the theatre opening Friday night with a fellow friend of mine. Both of us were hopeful about this movie but filled with an eye of suspicion because of Marvel and Disney's recent past. I walked out reminded of the reason why I fell in love with the MCU in the first place. This movie spends much more time focusing on emotion than its two predecessors but still manages to tie in the enjoyable Marvel action we all love. The movie is packed to the brim with creativity and suspense. It also does a much better job than many Marvel projects at knowing when to bring in humor and when to keep a serious moment serious. Whether this movie is better than its previous two is up to personal opinion but that's already an extremely high bar, so to say that it matched that bar is clearly impressive as is. However, I can say that this movie stands above the "just okay" bar many of us have gotten used to over the last few years. I will conclude this review by saying that the audience laughed together, cried together, "OH MY GOSH IT HAPPENED!!!" together, and felt the magic of the movies together.

This movie exceeds its former in every way and manages to avoid all of the problems that a part one movie usually faces. (SPOILER FREE REVIEW) In the following review, I want to point out why the movie is so well done and what made it one of the best movies in comic book history. Also, I thought you should know that I have nothing bad to say about the movie, not one. 1. The visuals/cinematography: Of course this was number one. This movie is an absolute visual masterpiece. The animation was so good that it made me question why anyone would ever want to make a live-action comic book movie again. One standout feature that I thought was pretty cool was how they had different animation styles to reflect the different universes. This worked well to distinguish the multiple different places and people seen throughout the movie. Watching it at home was good but I do need to say that the movie exploded in glorious color in theatres in an art form that is nothing short of a love letter to the comics. 2. Sound/music. Sight is only half of the senses used in film and the other half is equally as important and I can say that Across the Spiderverse is there to complement it in a meaningful way. The surround sound is incredibly immersive and the sound mix is willing to make loud moments loud and quiet moments quiet as well as letting the symphony of sound take over when dialogue is less important. I know a lot of people don't like this but I personally feel like it makes the soundscape much more realistic. The music is also very good leaning into guitar and drum heavy themes that complement the "imperfect" feel to the story. 3. The plot/story. I can imagine the writers looking at each other originally planning to make one movie then realizing that they couldn't fit the story in all its glory in one movie so they split it. In case you're wondering, the movie does end on a cliffhanger but its ending is perhaps one of my favorite moments in cinematic history. The plot is very well intertwined, bringing in the story from the first movie and sometimes making it even better. In addition, everything is very well-paced giving viewers plenty of action as well as time for the story to breathe but never too long for the story to feel slow. Also, if you rewatch the movie, you'll wonder how you missed the twist as multiple hints to the reveal are placed before it. Also, unlike many movies as of late (EHEM: Love and Thunder), Across the Spiderverse is willing to make moments serious when they need to be with comedy only coming at points in the movie that make sense and complement the story. 4. Easter eggs/fanservice. The movie does an incredible job at giving viewers a lot of references to the character's past and Marvel without feeling "out-of-the-blue" with a few blatant and hilarious exceptions. No reference is in a spot where it seems like the characters wouldn't say something or do something if the story actually happened. In addition, the fanservice doesn't take so much story that it prevents us from seeing anything new and is only there to complement the story, not rule it. 5. A 14-year-old animated the Lego scene. I had to put this one in there.