Sophinisba Solis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophinisba) wrote2019-07-18 09:14 pm
sophinisba) wrote2019-07-18 09:14 pm
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Spider-Man: Far from Home
I went to see Spider-Man: Far from Home, maybe two weeks ago. At the time I thought about making a post about my thoughts like it was 2008! But then I didn't and time passed and I figured I wouldn't. Then today a friend was talking about it on Twitter and then I listened to a frustrating podcast about it and here I am.
This post will have spoilers for the new movie and also for Avengers: Endgame, and maybe some other movies.claudia603, you should not read this post. You should see the movies first. I'm serious.
I thought I would like this movie because I loved Homecoming and I love this version of Peter Parker. (Actually I think I've loved every Spider-Man movie I've seen, though I've missed a few.) And here I've been swimming in MCU feels for the last few months, and in particular swimming in a lot of Tony Stark feels, and the previews had indicated I would get to feel more of those in this movie, and I was a little apprehensive but down for that.
Then there was this opening sequence in a made-up Mexican town that looked so much like Hollywood's imagination of Mexico I could not even deal.
Later in the movie I realized that these versions of Venice and Prague and London were also all about picture postcard and I wasn't as offended, except I still kinda was because it could have been some cool real place in Mexico but instead it had to be this dinky little village from like the 19th century but whatever.
And then the actual movie started and for the first few minutes I had this sinking feeling like, oh, this is why people who are serious fans of a thing always seem to hate the new movies or episodes that I like, because I am a casual viewer and I find the new canon to be satisfied, but people who've thought about it too much expect more, and expect the creators to be more thoughtful and serious. Because the first few minutes back at the school were making a lot of jokes about all these people that died? And I didn't know if I could handle that and for a minute I just wanted to go home and read fic and cry.
Then the movie got going and I had a great time. I find this Parker so delightful in his sincerity and awkwardness, and also so gorgeous in the action sequences –– they are my favorites of all the MCU films. And I ship him and MJ so hard. Ned is also dear though I liked his part in Homecoming more and could have done without the Ned/Betty. That's fine, it's a movie.
For the most prat I liked the Mysterio plot very much. I don't know anything about the comic books but it seemed clear that he wouldn't be as good as Peter thought, and that it was a mistake for Peter to hand over the glasses, but then I thought the reveal was really neat. Like, one of the main things that had gotten me all emotional about Endgame was going back to scenes from earlier movies and seeing them another way, and this also did that, so that was fun.
And I found it kind of glorious that Tony's past behavior as a bad boss and general asshole could have provoked all these people to villainy. Among my many Tony feels in recent months I've been thinking a lot about how a dude who inherited immense wealth and then grew it by making weapons should really not be in charge of as many things as he is. Like, it's really nice that he wants to use his power for good but also he should never have had that power in the first place and also he's continued to make a lot of terrible decisions throughout all these movies. (ALSO I LOVE HIM and want to consume a million fanworks about him surviving Endgame and lovingly caring for his family which includes Pepper and Morgan but also Peter and Nebula etc., and then consume a million more fanworks about him having kinky sex with a bunch of other characters.)
Also though, wasn't he supposed to have gotten out of the weapons business in Iron Man one and in that case like, why does he still have this army of drones that he thinks should be controlled by a single person and that he should be the one to choose that person?
And here's the thing... ugh, I don't remember it all that well now but like, when they're in the bar in the middle of the movie and Peter gives Beck the glasses, there's this little blip where he has to give a verbal confirmation that he really wants to do this. Okay so at the end of the movie (the main part of the movie) Peter gets the glasses back, but Beck is dead (?) and anyway isn't going to verbally confirm that he wants to give the system back to Peter. And I was kind of thinking that would be the twist, that Peter doesn't get it back, because OBVIOUSLY no single person should have control of an army of drones. Like, I don't know if I thought they were going to self-destruct or what, I don't get paid the big bucks to make these decisions but like, armed drones are bad, okay? (Even the unarmed drones that people fly around in the park when I'm going out for walks are a pain in the ass.)
And in general as part of my grieving process I would have liked a little deeper questioning of Tony's decision and not just like, Quentin Beck got pissed off because he his ego clashed with Tony's.
But anyway I was wrong about the confirmation thing, so I guess Peter got the glasses back and will, um, have a lot of weapons now? But like I said I was entertained. I look forward to more MCU movies including Spider-Man ones.
I've seen some strong negative reactions to the mid-credit sequence and I can see where folks are coming from. It's obviously distressing for Peter and we all want good things for him. But I am hopeful that he's going to be okay. It seems fitting with things that have happened in other movies going back to Iron Man, and I'm also thinking of the end of Black Panther, with the big difference here being that Peter was outed and didn't get to do it on his terms. But you know, I suffered so much through five seasons of Merlin living next to Arthur and not telling him who he really was, and in general I'm in favor of situations changing from season to season or movie to movie even if it's painful at the time. I love that MJ had already figured out he was Spider-Man without him telling her, and also May and Ned already know so like, next he'll deal with everybody else finding out and he'll convince them he's a good guy and it will be fine.
Maybe I should get an MCU icon.
This post will have spoilers for the new movie and also for Avengers: Endgame, and maybe some other movies.
claudia603, you should not read this post. You should see the movies first. I'm serious.I thought I would like this movie because I loved Homecoming and I love this version of Peter Parker. (Actually I think I've loved every Spider-Man movie I've seen, though I've missed a few.) And here I've been swimming in MCU feels for the last few months, and in particular swimming in a lot of Tony Stark feels, and the previews had indicated I would get to feel more of those in this movie, and I was a little apprehensive but down for that.
Then there was this opening sequence in a made-up Mexican town that looked so much like Hollywood's imagination of Mexico I could not even deal.
Later in the movie I realized that these versions of Venice and Prague and London were also all about picture postcard and I wasn't as offended, except I still kinda was because it could have been some cool real place in Mexico but instead it had to be this dinky little village from like the 19th century but whatever.
And then the actual movie started and for the first few minutes I had this sinking feeling like, oh, this is why people who are serious fans of a thing always seem to hate the new movies or episodes that I like, because I am a casual viewer and I find the new canon to be satisfied, but people who've thought about it too much expect more, and expect the creators to be more thoughtful and serious. Because the first few minutes back at the school were making a lot of jokes about all these people that died? And I didn't know if I could handle that and for a minute I just wanted to go home and read fic and cry.
Then the movie got going and I had a great time. I find this Parker so delightful in his sincerity and awkwardness, and also so gorgeous in the action sequences –– they are my favorites of all the MCU films. And I ship him and MJ so hard. Ned is also dear though I liked his part in Homecoming more and could have done without the Ned/Betty. That's fine, it's a movie.
For the most prat I liked the Mysterio plot very much. I don't know anything about the comic books but it seemed clear that he wouldn't be as good as Peter thought, and that it was a mistake for Peter to hand over the glasses, but then I thought the reveal was really neat. Like, one of the main things that had gotten me all emotional about Endgame was going back to scenes from earlier movies and seeing them another way, and this also did that, so that was fun.
And I found it kind of glorious that Tony's past behavior as a bad boss and general asshole could have provoked all these people to villainy. Among my many Tony feels in recent months I've been thinking a lot about how a dude who inherited immense wealth and then grew it by making weapons should really not be in charge of as many things as he is. Like, it's really nice that he wants to use his power for good but also he should never have had that power in the first place and also he's continued to make a lot of terrible decisions throughout all these movies. (ALSO I LOVE HIM and want to consume a million fanworks about him surviving Endgame and lovingly caring for his family which includes Pepper and Morgan but also Peter and Nebula etc., and then consume a million more fanworks about him having kinky sex with a bunch of other characters.)
Also though, wasn't he supposed to have gotten out of the weapons business in Iron Man one and in that case like, why does he still have this army of drones that he thinks should be controlled by a single person and that he should be the one to choose that person?
And here's the thing... ugh, I don't remember it all that well now but like, when they're in the bar in the middle of the movie and Peter gives Beck the glasses, there's this little blip where he has to give a verbal confirmation that he really wants to do this. Okay so at the end of the movie (the main part of the movie) Peter gets the glasses back, but Beck is dead (?) and anyway isn't going to verbally confirm that he wants to give the system back to Peter. And I was kind of thinking that would be the twist, that Peter doesn't get it back, because OBVIOUSLY no single person should have control of an army of drones. Like, I don't know if I thought they were going to self-destruct or what, I don't get paid the big bucks to make these decisions but like, armed drones are bad, okay? (Even the unarmed drones that people fly around in the park when I'm going out for walks are a pain in the ass.)
And in general as part of my grieving process I would have liked a little deeper questioning of Tony's decision and not just like, Quentin Beck got pissed off because he his ego clashed with Tony's.
But anyway I was wrong about the confirmation thing, so I guess Peter got the glasses back and will, um, have a lot of weapons now? But like I said I was entertained. I look forward to more MCU movies including Spider-Man ones.
I've seen some strong negative reactions to the mid-credit sequence and I can see where folks are coming from. It's obviously distressing for Peter and we all want good things for him. But I am hopeful that he's going to be okay. It seems fitting with things that have happened in other movies going back to Iron Man, and I'm also thinking of the end of Black Panther, with the big difference here being that Peter was outed and didn't get to do it on his terms. But you know, I suffered so much through five seasons of Merlin living next to Arthur and not telling him who he really was, and in general I'm in favor of situations changing from season to season or movie to movie even if it's painful at the time. I love that MJ had already figured out he was Spider-Man without him telling her, and also May and Ned already know so like, next he'll deal with everybody else finding out and he'll convince them he's a good guy and it will be fine.
Maybe I should get an MCU icon.
no subject
And I was kind of thinking that would be the twist, that Peter doesn't get it back, because OBVIOUSLY no single person should have control of an army of drones.
This would have made a lot more sense.
no subject
no subject
Apparently the Ned/Betty thing was a nod to the comics... I don't know if that helps or just makes it more awkward, lol. I mostly viewed that relationship as a way to keep Ned busy considering there wasn't as much for him to do in this one.
And I have Questions about the drones beyond what you mentioned, like: if they're able to do such damage, why weren't they pulled out for the battle against Thanos? Or, if they weren't originally intended to be weaponized (not sure that's even possible, given that they were already up in space...), what was their point in the first place? I get that Tony has been paranoid in the extreme about trying to keep the Earth safe (and then there was Ultron, oops), but the (absent) backstory of the drones just doesn't compute for me.
It's absolutely a fun movie and I enjoyed this take on Tony's not-so-positive legacy, but the more I sit with it, the more I notice the holes. XD And alas that Peter didn't just look at Beck while the glasses were active--there's no way Edith wouldn't have had info on him that would've blown the whole charade.