Cory Rasmussen

SPOILERS Spider-Man: No Way Home once again reminds me to trust Marvel's judgement and direction. Any criticisms I had of Iron Man Jr. have now been solved, for the MCU Spider-Man trilogy is one of a young boy growing into a man after he suffers great loss, something highlighted by the presence and narrative of Maguire and Garfield, since all spider men can only understand the power of responsibility if they lose that which is closest to them. When compared side by side, Maguire, Garfield, and Holland prove that fanboys should stop with the "who's best" edginess and bask in acting of all three, for all three gave stand-out performances. I've seen this film 4 times, already, and it has not gotten stale. There are so many moments that still bring tears to my eyes, from Garfield saving MJ, to Aunt May's very, very realistic death, the writing for this film went beyond a cash-grab superhero movie with cameos. What a treat. I hope Sony understands that if the plot is written well, the audience will follow. Please include Marvel Studios whenever these Spider-Man properties are involved.

The Matrix Resurrections is a soulless cash grab that doesn't add much to the original series, will mildly entertain you, and even acknowledges its own faults with the paraphrased line from the film, "Warner Bros. forced us to make a fourth." Fans of the Matrix will be excited to see Neo and Trinity, but by the end of the film, I felt no emotion, one way or another, towards these characters or any other plot points. See it for yourself, but I was disappointed, as it didn't live up to the hype of the trailer.

Beautiful to look at, and I have a strange gravitation to drink whiskey in a glass that slightly clinks against the table--and I hate whiskey--but even an all star cast couldn't save this plot. It takes an hour just for the plot to begin to unfold and then it slowly drags to a predictable outcome, based on stupid decisions by the protagonist, which were quite out of character. The trailer was deceptive. This is no thriller noir. Not even close.