Film Review: Spider-Man 2: Far From Home

Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Far From Home is the sequel to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and the twenty-third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film sees Tom Holland return as the web-slinging Peter Parker as he decides to join his best friends – Ned (Jacob Batalon), MJ (Zendaya), and Betty (Angourie Rice) – on a European vacation. However, Peter’s plan to leave super heroics behind are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks that are creating havoc across the continent.

You Should Be Reading: The Knife of Never Letting Go

“The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking.”

Written by Patrick Ness and originally published in 2008, The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first book in the Chaos Walking young adult trilogy. Set in the near future, the story follows 12-year-old Todd Hewitt, the only boy left in a town called Prentisstown. Todd has been brought up to believe that a pathogen has killed all women in a colony world and that the alien inhabitants unleashed a germ called The Noise, giving everybody the ability to hear everyone else’s thoughts. A month away from becoming a man, Todd comes upon a patch of silence and soon discovers the source: a girl. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two go on the run, along with Todd’s loyal dog, Manchee, and learn more about the true history of the New World a secret about Prentisstown’s past.

Set to be released in 2020 and directed by Doug Liman, the film adaptation and stars Tom Holland as Todd, Daisy Ridley as Viola, and Mads Mikkelsen as the Mayor of Prentisstown.

Film Review: Avengers – Infinity War

The third Avengers ensemble film and the nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Infinity War sees The Avengers – Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Vision (Paul Bettany), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) – and The Guardians of the Galaxy – Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) – come together for the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, these new superhero allies have to sacrifice everything in an attempt to prevent the powerful Thanos (Josh Brolin) from amassing the all-powerful Infinity Stones before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

Film Review: Spider-Man – Homecoming

The second Spider-Man film reboot and the sixteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Spider-Man: Homecoming, directed by Jon Watts, sees Tom Holland take the lead as a young Peter Parker who begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home to Queens, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). He tries to fall back into his normal daily routine, until the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain.

Film Review: Captain America 3 – Civil War

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The 13th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Captain America: Civil War follows on from the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron as a rift forms in the Avengers team after political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when another incident results in collateral damage. When the new status quo fractures the team, the Avengers split into two camps – one led by Captain America (Chris Evans) and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other led by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), following his surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability – causing an epic battle between former allies.

Film Review: In The Heart of The Sea

Directed by Ron Howard, In The Heart Of The Sea is based on Nathaniel Philbrick‘s 2000 novel of the same name, which tells the true of the sinking of the Essex, an 1820s New England whaling ship, which inspired the classic novel, Moby-Dick. The story of the crew – Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), First Mate Owen (Chris Hemsworth), Second Mate Matthew (Cillian Murphy), and cabin boy Thomas (Tom Holland) – their whaling voyage and the disaster that followed, is well-known. But that’s only half the story.

Beginning in 1850, the film opens with novelist Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) visiting an innkeeper, an older Thomas (Brendan Gleeson), seeking the true story of the Essex and the mythical monster that took it down. Telling the story for the first time, Thomas reveals his encounter of a mammoth-sized monster with a human sense of vengeance, and the harrowing aftermath that followed as the crew is pushed to their limits braving storms, starvation, and despair.

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DVD Review: The Impossible

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Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, The Impossible is based on one family’s real-life experience of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Hoping for a relaxing vacation in Thailand, Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor), and their three sons, Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin), and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast), spend the morning of 26th December relaxing by the pool. But when a tsunami triggered by an Indian Ocean earthquake floods the area, the town and its people are left to face its overwhelming, destructive effects.

Film Review: Fright Night

(Read this in my publication In Retrospect – Issue 2)

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Fright Night, directed by Craig Gillespie, is a remake of the vampire-centered horror comedy of the same name, originally written and directed by Tom Holland in 1985.

Opening with the killing of an entire family on a secluded estate in Los Angeles, we are introduced to the provocative vampire Jerry (Colin Farrell), a 400-year-old killing machine who is the new neighbour of Charley (Anton Yelchin) and his mother Jane (Toni Collette). Former friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) has already figured out Jerry’s secret and attempts to warn Charley about his murderous neighbour.