Tag: Jamie Foxx

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Post author By Mark
Post date December 20, 2021

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and no, we’re not talking about Christmas, we’re talking about the new Spider-Man film No Way Home! Quite possibly one of the most hyped films in MCU history, there was a lot riding on Tom Holland’s latest outing as the web-slinger and sufficed to say No Way Home lives up to all these expectations and then some; a more mature chapter in Peter Parker’s story that feels like an appropriate culmination of everything Holland has gone through and a celebration of the character’s rich on-screen history. Despite the all-star lineup of the web-head’s greatest foes, director Jon Watts never lets the story slip away from Peter, telling a quintessentially Spider-Man story that perfectly straddles the line between huge, explosive action and the everyday struggles of the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Peter Parker’s (Holland) life is in a shambles after Mysterio unceremoniously ousts his identity as Spider-Man to the world at the end of Far From Home, prompting the young Avenger to turn to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in an effort to erase the world’s knowledge of this fact and restore some semblance of normality to the lives of Peter and those closest to him. When this inevitably goes awry, Strange and Parker unwittingly fracture the multiverse, causing villains from all manner of non-Disney owned, Sony produced Spider-Man films to tumble into the MCU, including Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Willem Dafoe’s (all-time great) Green Goblin. Now tasked with capturing these intruders before they can wreak havoc on his universe, Spider-Man is forced to contend with the full weight of his actions and the true responsibility of being a hero if he has any hope of saving the world once again.

Reassembling these characters from previous films may seem on its face an obvious case of fan service, but No Way Home consistently finds fresh angles to approach these characters without tarnishing their legacy; natural extensions of previous narratives or chances to redeem an ill-received prior outing rather than simply being well-known punching bags for Spidey to wail on. Jamie Foxx’s Electro for example has far more personality this time around, free from the shackles of his nerdy, awkward persona in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and now a laid-back, wise-cracking bad-ass; a far more appropriate character for Foxx to play and one that he excels at.

At the other end of the spectrum is Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, whose story wrapped up perfectly in Spider-Man 2. He certainly didn’t need more screen-time but what we get here is a fantastically fun and fascinating furthering of the character audiences know and love, with Molina hamming it up in the best way possible as the medically grumpy fish-out-of-water scientist turned supervillain. Those big, bombastic action sequences are all well and good but it’s the quieter moments that really justify Doc Ock’s return; a tortured soul desperate for a reprieve from the voices in his head and, like Peter, a return to the somewhat normal.

However it’s Willem Dafoe who cements his place as the greatest on-screen Spidey villain, slipping back into Green Goblin almost 20 years later and making it look completely effortless. On an acting level alone it’s fascinating to watch Dafoe contort his face and switch between the two personalities at war within Norman Osborn’s head on a dime; his voice dropping to a menacing growl as a sneer spreads across his face. But it’s the energy of pure, chaotic evil that he brings to the MCU that makes him Holland’s fiercest foe to date, wanting nothing more than to make Spider-Man suffer and relishing every second of pain he puts him through. Screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna do a great job ensuring they aren’t just trading on audience goodwill, building on the foundation of Norman’s lust for power established in 2002’s Spider-Man and taking it to the logical next step as he covets an entirely new universe to subject to his will.

In a film this crowded it might be easy for Holland’s Spider-Man to play second fiddle but – despite all the colossal world expansion and inevitable sequel set-up – No Way Home very much feels like the next chapter of Peter Parker’s story. With that comes an almost perfect balance between the small-scale problems that define a good Spider-Man story – girl troubles, college admissions and otherwise balancing the mundane with the extraordinary – alongside the huge, multiverse-ending stakes. This is still a young boy coming to terms with his responsibilities as a hero and the stakes of not committing fully to either of the lives he is attempting to live have never been felt more than they are here. Cumberbatch is an excellent and intriguing choice to shepherd Peter into that next phase of his journey, not as paternal as Iron Man and certainly not as nefarious as Mysterio, Doctor Strange doesn’t shy away from delivering hard truths, a necessary push that makes for some incredibly satisfying moments when the going gets tough.

No matter how crazy the plot may get we are always locked into Peter and how he approaches this latest challenge, particularly how it affects those close to him and his sweet relationship with MJ (Zendaya), who finally comes into her own as a central protagonist rather than a quirky side-character. This being an MCU film, things never get too dour (perhaps to some viewers chagrin) and the jokes fly thick and fast, with Jacob Batalon’s Ned stealing every scene he is in with absolutely pitch perfect comedic timing, never failing to have the audience guffawing at even the most juvenile of jokes. But this is Holland’s film and it is the best he has ever been in the role, due in large part to the amount of emotionally heavy material thrown at him in the script; we feel the desperation in Peter’s actions and the weight of what he must do to correct the mistakes he has made. No spoilers here but it warrants mentioning that – following a third act that ranks up there with Avengers: Endgame in terms of sheer wish-fulfilment awesomeness – the ending is one of the most cathartic, triumphant conclusions in all of the MCU; a perfect jumping off point should they (most probably) continue to further Spider-Man’s story but also an incredibly satisfying conclusion should this truly be the end, something neither of the other actors who have played the wall crawler can claim to have had.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is easily the best of Jon Watt’s trilogy and perhaps more impressively one of, if not the best Spider-Man film ever. The culmination of Peter Parker’s story as a young, inexperienced web-slinger is a rollicking rollercoaster of fun and action sure, but one that manages to pack big stakes and crushing emotional weight onto Holland’s shoulders that he handles beautifully. The returning villains are all an absolute blast to spend time with again, the surprises we can’t spoil will have audiences in a fervour and the supporting players are all genuinely excellent in the way they impact Peter’s journey from boy to Spider-Man. Don’t let the title fool you, with this film Tom Holland proves definitively that he is absolutely at home as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau, Tony Revolori & Benedict Wong – In cinemas now.

10/10

Tags Alfred Molina, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, J.K. Simmons, Jacob Batalon, Jamie Foxx, Jon Favreau, Jon Watts, Marisa Tomei, Marvel, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland, Willem Dafoe, Zendaya

Movie Reviews

Soul

Post author By Mark
Post date December 30, 2020

What happens when we die? How do we find our purpose in life? When does passion for something turn to obsession? These are the lofty questions asked by Soul, the latest film from premier animation studio Pixar and veteran director Pete Docter. Does the film answer all these questions? The answer is a resounding yes, in typical Pixar weep-inducing fashion no less, with the story of struggling music teacher and wannabe jazz musician Joe’s (Jamie Foxx) journey through the afterlife filled with heart, humour and a fascinating examination of the human experience. Whilst it may place too much focus on its mature story at times and not enough on making things fun and enjoyable for younger audiences, this is a resounding return to form for Pixar after the somewhat lackluster Onward earlier this year.

Joe is in a rut. Resisting the call of a steady full-time job, he slogs through his part-time music teacher gig by day as a means to support his true passion: jazz. When a former student offers him the chance of a lifetime to play in the jazz quartet of legendary Dorothea (Angela Bassett), Joe jumps at the chance… and in his excitement jumps all the way to his untimely, accidental demise. This is where our story truly begins as Joe’s soul is given an opportunity to mentor 22 (Tina Fey) – a particularly difficult young soul who has spent thousands of unsuccessful years attempting to find her purpose for living – in exchange for a shot at his own life again and the chance to fulfil his lifelong dream. Along the way, the pair begins to understand more than they ever could have imagined about life itself and the joys to be found in the little things, with epiphanies flying left, right and centre as they learn their true places within the world.

Soul is an impressive feat of animated storytelling in multiple regards, perhaps most importantly it might just be the best looking animated film ever made. Every frame is filled with groundbreaking, jaw-dropping visuals; from the crisp, photorealistic vision of New York, where Joe resides, to the ethereal, abstract quality of the training ground for young souls, the “Great Before”. Buildings are well-worn and populated in the city that never sleeps, capturing all the tiny details from cracks and chips in the bricks to faded stickers and graffiti on the subway. The jazz club Joe frequents looks spectacular, like something plucked straight out of La La Land, with its hazy neon sign and dimly lit, smoky interior providing the perfect backdrop for the captivating scenes of Joe performing in his element as he gets into “The Zone” – itself a visual marvel of vivid shades of blue and purple swirling around the musician as the rest of the world fades to nothingness. This sumptuous visual palette follows Joe wherever he goes, as his soul falls through strikingly abstract scenes of black and white lines on his way to the “Great Before”, which is rendered in brilliant baby blues and light purples, a calm and welcoming place for souls to learn about the world, in stark contrast to the dank wasteland of lost souls.

As you can probably tell from some of the locations I’ve just talked about, Soul is an incredibly original film, one that takes these great questions of the human experience and attempts to answer them through the personification of souls and their journey to find their “spark” – that lust for life and thirst to experience being human that qualifies them to be placed into a human body. Young souls bubble and bounce around with exuberance, not aware of the hardships of life and filled with sheer optimism. A great moving walkway ferries souls towards a great white abyss after they die, counted by an abstract guardian, Terry (Rachel House) who later pursues the renegade Joe. Similar abstract figures – the Jerry’s – act as guides to these fresh souls, teaching them all the things that make a human unique, and guiding them towards attaining their pass to enter a body. It’s all incredibly inventive and these otherwise undefinable aspects of the human experience are prime real-estate for the Pixar team to experiment to their hearts content, creating a world that makes these heady concepts palatable for younger audiences through visually arresting imagery and an accessible story filled with excellent messages for children to learn. In a way, Soul feels like the perfect companion piece to the studio’s earlier hit Inside Out. Where that film brought the emotional struggle within a human being to the forefront, Soul focuses on things external to the body, the many facets of life that make it worth living and that people connect to.

The story of Joe is at once recognisable and universal, one of discovering what makes you unique and what gets you out of bed in the morning and ready to dive into life. Jamie Foxx gives a deeply layered and nuanced performance in his portrayal of the teacher, a man who wholeheartedly believes his spark is music and will listen to no one else if it does not pertain to his goal, teetering dangerously close to obsession. We’ve all been in Joe’s shoes at one point, having taken an interest or hobby too far and needing to be reminded that there is so much more to life than this one thing. This relatability and relevance only makes the emotional impact late in the piece hit that much harder and in typical Pixar style you’ll require plenty of tissues on deck if you hope to survive to the end. The impact of those final moments is heightened by Joe’s companion 22’s journey.

The not so young soul has been around for some time now; completely apathetic towards life, she has burned through strings of mentors (deceased souls who have moved on to train the next generations) from throughout history, told within one hilarious montage. Her journey from hatred to a complete lust for life is wonderfully laid out and hits emotional notes like Joe does piano keys. It’s a truly beautiful story that’s only real flaw comes in the fact that there isn’t much focus placed on fun for the younger audiences. The presentation certainly seems kid-friendly, but the decidedly mature story doesn’t seem like it resonates with those without much experience with life and while it certainly does pack some good lessons in, there’s something to be said about the lack of adorable side-characters or visual, slapstick gags that usually populate a Pixar adventure. It’s a small complaint but one that does seem a little off-brand given the studio’s usual target audience.

Pixar’s Soul is nothing short of a masterpiece of animation. The culmination of all the technical wizardry the studio has cultivated over more than 20 years has led to the most visually stunning animated film ever created, with clarity and inventiveness in its imagery that will astound audiences of all ages. Its beautifully told story may not strike a chord with younger audiences, but like those ten minutes in Up, it touches emotion after emotion as it dissects the human experience and perfectly renders those small feelings of joy and wonder in the little things that make life great, on the way to a complete tearjerker of a finale. Soul is filled with humour, heart, imagination and most importantly, touches your own soul with that Pixar magic. Essential viewing.

Soul stars Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Alice Braga, Rachel House, Richard Ayoade, Daveed Diggs & Angela Bassett – Streaming on Disney+ now.

Tags Jamie Foxx, Pete Docter, Pixar, Soul, Tina Fey

Movie Reviews

Project Power

Post author By Mark
Post date August 20, 2020

Netflix is thriving in the current pandemic-ridden environment, capitalising on the closure of cinemas worldwide to secure millions of eyeballs on their seemingly endless torrent of original content. Within the myriad of original films that have hit the service during the pandemic, a curious little sub-genre has emerged: the Netflix action movie. First we had Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction; a relatively straightforward hostage thriller with some extraordinarily choreographed fight scenes and mind-blowing action. This was followed by the Charlize Theron led The Old Guard: an absolute waste of a promising sci-fi premise which devolved into tedium with middling action scenes which failed to excite alongside endless streams of exposition. The latest of these is the Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring Project Power, a somewhat inventive spin on the sci-fi genre which falls somewhere in between these two films with only its star power to rely on to get you through the poorly paced plot and boring set-pieces. Despite a solid performance from newcomer Dominique Fishback, Project Power is an utterly forgetful film which may offer a few hours of relief from crippling boredom, but does nothing to spark excitement or a desire to ever go back and explore this world.

Fishback plays Robin, a high-school teenager forced into slinging a particularly powerful drug in order to care for her ailing mother and ultimately pay for a life-saving surgery. The drug in question is “Power”, a pill that grants the user 5 minutes of superhuman abilities specific to that person. What powers does the person get? Well that’s the risk with “Power”; you don’t know until you try it. Maybe you’ll become a Human Torch-like walking wall of flame or maybe you’ll explode instantly and paint the walls red. Needless to say the drug appeals to a vast majority of criminal personalities and Robin has been working undercover with local New Orleans police detective Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to identify the source of the drug and put a stop to its spread. Elsewhere in New Orleans is Art (Jamie Foxx), a mysterious man hell bent on finding his kidnapped daughter, whose fate is inexplicably tied to the creation of “Power”. When the trio’s paths cross, they are forced into joining together to find Art’s daughter and put an end to the spread of “Power”.

On paper the plot of Project Power sounds pretty compelling. It’s a relatively original concept for a superhero film; something of a cross between the Bradley Cooper film Limitless and recent Netflix hit Code 8. It’s reasonably well produced and shot, not coming close to anything Marvel or DC have come out with, but with a decent amount of polish to pass it off as a mid-tier summer blockbuster in regular pre-COVID times. The chief problem with Project Power – and one that I’m starting to realise stretches to most of these Netflix films – is that it is so ridiculously unremarkable and forgettable. The somewhat interesting premise is completely wasted, with the film devolving into a series of cookie cutter set-pieces before culminating in a finale that resembles the Scooby Doo scene where the gang is chased through a series of doors. So intense was the blandness that I found myself forgetting what I had seen only minutes before, and don’t even get me started on trying to remember the plot a few days later to write this review. Netflix is throwing increasingly large sums of money at these sub-par scripts without actually caring about the final product and my mental exercise to try and list all the memorable quality films in the service’s catalogue took far too long to came up with barely a handful of titles. That’s not what you want to hear after attracting top-tier talent to the service and investing hundreds of millions of dollars on films that no one will remember existing after a week. Perhaps that is the business move? Make the films so utterly forgettable that you forget you’ve seen them and rewatch them over and over again. It’s not a particularly consumer friendly approach but hey as long as it increases Netflix’s bottom line, right?

Bringing in A-list stars to these projects almost acts as a double-edge sword in a sense, as the lead trio are quite literally the only good thing about Project Power and their natural charisma carries the audience through the film; not because their characters are well developed (they aren’t) but because you know Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and you like them in other things. Having said that, simply having Jamie Foxx in your movie doesn’t make it good. I should care about Art because his character is appealing and his motivations make sense to me and make me care about his plight, not because he is played by the man who sang “Gold Digger” and I love that song and therefore him in the film. This is a man who has had his daughter ripped away from him and doesn’t really seem all that concerned about it whatsoever. Sure he keeps telling you he’s going to rip through New Orleans to get her back, but then seems perfectly content to sit back and listen to Dominique Fishback’s character rap for what felt like an eternity. This little rapping sub-plot is just one of many that stop the film’s momentum dead in its tracks and while they provide a laugh every now and then; in a film that is struggling to keep my attention as is, any break from the main plot just makes you forget things faster. Despite the film’s problems, Fishback does give a fairly compelling turn as the down-on-her-luck Robin and has the only complete story-arc in the film. She is clearly a talent destined for a bright future, hopefully away from films like this that threaten to waste that talent.

You may be thinking from what I’ve written that I don’t care for Netflix. This isn’t true; I feel it is an amazingly powerful service that gives often unheard talents a platform to have their stories told. There are some truly wonderfully films on the service; just look at last year alone with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Noah Baumbach’s superb Marriage Story. Clearly the service is capable of putting out good products. When it comes to this particular action genre however, Netflix needs to pick up their game severely and give some proper care and attention to genuinely good scripts, not just interesting ideas. Extraction worked with its limited scope and focus on action and choreography; it knew what it was and did it well. The Old Guard and now Project Power do not. Simply attracting A-List talent to a potentially solid idea without fully fleshing it into a script that takes advantage of that talent is a giant waste. Sure Project Power will be seen by millions of viewers around the world (not recommending you be one of them) but if nobody remembers it even exists, then what is the point of making it?

Project Power stars Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Rodrigo Santoro, Amy Landecker, Machine Gun Kelly & Courtney B. Vance – Available to stream on Netflix now.

Tags Dominique Fishback, Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Netflix, Project Power