Spiderman Far From Home Spoiler Review

Spiderman Far From Home Spoiler Review

I can honestly say I came out of this movie pleasantly surprised. The movie was much better than the trailers made it out to be. I have always preferred spiderman as a solo hero and this was a welcome return to that. I wasn’t sure what to expect because so little of the movie was shown in the trailers, but they managed to stick the landing and check off just about every box I would want for a spiderman movie. 

Tom Holland was amazing as Peter Parker and his classmates were really funny and endearing. I especially like how they handled “the blip” situation and addressed the fallout of Infinity War and Endgame without letting it overtake the film. The only real problem I had with Homecoming, that Peter was getting too much from Iron man instead of making his own things, was remedied with this film by having Peter create his own suit and showing off his intelligence in action. The high school relationship drama was much better this time around with Peter and MJ as well as Ned and Betty. Peter and MJ had actual conversations that showed that they played well off each other and were really just teenagers trying to navigate their feelings for each other and it was done really well. Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio was perfect. I found Mysterio to be an interesting villain and thought Jake Gyllenhaal brought a charisma to the part that only he could achieve. Mysterio has always been more of a supporting villain to a bigger threat so the fact that they managed to make him stand on his own and play off Peter so well was a welcome change. The cast overall was fantastic and I don’t think there was any character I disliked.

This film had Peter truly becoming Spiderman. It put him in a place where he needed to grow up, become independent, and get out of iron man and the rest of the avengers shadows. He couldn’t be the kid who ran into situations he wasn’t prepared for without a plan and he had to start making things for himself. The scene where he breaks down at Happy because of the pressure and the pedestal he had Tony on was where the film really kicked it into high gear. It was moment after moment of Peter being the Spiderman we know and love. I loved that they had Peter make his own suit and I think I felt his achievements in the final fight to be more earned because of that, he had to create gadgets specifically to counter Mysterio himself. The fights with mysterio were some of the most interesting and inventive of any hero-villain solo movie battles. Both character’s were made to pull out their entire arsenals to take down the other. When Peter finally used his spider sense to take down mysterio I was practically cheering. 

This movie was a really enjoyable solo hero film and I would recommend it to anyone. It is visually stunning while also being really character centric. Spiderman is hands down my favorite hero and I felt that this film did this adaptation of him justice. I do still wish marvel would stop pretending Uncle Ben didn’t exist, but I’m glad they did address his guilt over not being able to prevent Tony’s death and the pressure he feels to live up to the expectations he places on himself. I also had a problem with the lack of focus on Peter and May’s personal problems because May doesn’t really have a job and neither does Peter so how is Peter going on this school trip? I also wish that they hadn’t had as much school scenes because it took away from Peter’s personal struggles with Tony’s death and Mysterio. They are working hard to show Peter’s growth as Spiderman and I appreciate they aren’t rushing it. This film is a good addition to the spiderman franchise and is a really fun and worthwhile watch.

Korra’s Growth

Korra’s growth, at least for me, is the highlight of the Legend of Korra. She starts out incredibly brash, over confident, headstrong, and stubborn. She pays for these characteristics time and time again throughout the series and it is through these consequences that Korra is able to grow into the understanding and empathetic avatar of the series finale. “No good deed goes unpunished, no act of charity goes unresented.” This seems to be the template for Korra’s trials and tribulations because no matter how hard she tries to help she is always met with criticism and anger. Time and time again she is told that the world would be better off without her and that balance would be achieved with her gone. She begins to doubt whether being the avatar even matters and she has to discover herself and her place in the world to come to her own conclusion. She must accept the past and learn from it to move forward and become the avatar that the world and the people need and to create true balance within the world.

 Korra’s journey is the exact opposite of Aang’s in that his was about coming to identify himself as the avatar whereas Korra’s is about learning to identify herself separate from the avatar. Aang was allowed to be a child and person first before he discovered he was the avatar which lead to his ability to connect with other people, including his enemies even at the beginning of the series. Korra, on the other hand, was immediately thrust into the identity of the avatar so she based her entire being and self worth on being the avatar. She was put on this pedestal right away and didn’t have the chance to develop as a person outside of that identity which lead to her struggle to connect with other people, especially her enemies. 

Korra starts out overconfident in her still developing abilities, but actually grows to underestimate her abilities after being torn down by her enemies. This leads to humbling her and causes her to rebuild her self-esteem based on who she is and not what she is to the world. This mirrors her growth from trying to force change to mediating and refraining from fighting until necessary and being a conduit for change, which leads to balance. She goes through a pacifistic maturation. Korra’s confidence is broken down over the course of the first three seasons and is built back up through her self actualization making her confidence non-toxic to social, societal, and confrontational situations. Because Korra understands herself and her powers she is able to use them to be an effective force for change and balance.

In Defense of the Legend of Korra’s Power Crawl

People seem to take problem with the power crawl within the legend of Korra claiming that she breaks the previously established power ceiling within the series, but that isn’t really the case. The power crawl isn’t like the last airbenders where Aang is trying to build physical strength. Korra’s journey is about self discovery and gaining spiritual strength. In the finale of Avatar the last airbender energy bending is established to exist within the universe with the ability to take away and give bending. Though since it was introduced in the finale it wasn’t able to be expanded upon. The Legend of Korra expands on it and makes it the focal point of the power crawl. 

When Korra is first introduced it is firmly established that she excels at the physical side of bending, but struggles with the spiritual side. She starts the series at the bottom in spiritual development and connection to the world around her. The growth of her spiritual connection is directly linked to her growth of understanding of herself and connection to the world. She connects to her past lives at the end of the first season after finally getting to go out in the world after being secluded all her early life. In the second season she manages to journey to the spirit world and learn of her connection to it. The third season shows how accustomed and comfortable she has grown with it and Raava and ends with her hitting a physical, spiritual, and mental block. This block spurs on her journey of self discovery which leads to an expansion on her ability to energy bend, makes her more in tune with Raava and the world, and she becomes her most powerful within the spirit world. It is her increased spiritual growth that makes her able to overcome her enemies namely Unalaq, Vaatu, and Kuvira. Not becoming a more physically imposing avatar. This power crawl, sans the giant energy projection at the end of season 2, is done well and shows a power crawl that actually makes the main character more pacifistic and mirrors her growth as a person. Making her more powerful, but less likely to use that power unless absolutely necessary.

People tend to focus on the brute force end when it comes to power crawl, which if looking at that Korra ends the first season at the strongest she will ever be physically, but power crawl doesn’t have to be about brute strength as explained above. That’s why I think a lot of people miss the real power crawl within the Legend of Korra.

I Want to Take Time to Talk about What I Love about the Third Books in Rick Riordan’s Quintologies

The third books in Rick Riordan’s quintologies all create massive paradigm shifts within their respective series. In all of the third installments the stakes become real and the heroes are faced with decisions that alter the courses of the series and change the tone moving forward. I want to talk about each individual book and express my thoughts on how they change the status quo of the series and characters as well as what I liked about what was done and how I think they stand apart from the first two entries and set up the rest of the series.

First up is the Titan’s Curse. Many people, myself included, remember this book fondly because this is where Percy Jackson and the Olympians got serious. There were hints here and there about how dark the series could become, but no death stuck until this book and the deaths present carried lasting effects as the series continued. Bianca’s death affected Nico from this point up until the Hidden Oracle where he had finally made peace with what had happened. And even after the quest was over there is a hanging sense of melancholy and foreboding of the losses that had happened and the ones yet to come. This is where it hit that the trials would only get harder and more emotional from here. I really liked that the deaths in this book weren’t cheap and that they weren’t reversed. Bianca’s death had the biggest impact on the story moving forward of any of the death in any of Rick’s series (we’ll have to wait an see the ramifications of Jason’s death, but I think it may surpass this one in terms of personal impact on the characters). Zoe’s death is, in my opinion, the most emotional death in this book and really set the tone for the sacrifices that will have to be made in the future.

The Mark of Athena signalled the start of the seven questing together. This book gave us Annabeth’s solo quest, the beginning of greek-roman relations falling apart, and the iconic fall into Tartarus. This book probably changed the status quo of the series less than the other two books because the stakes were already built up in the two books leading up to this installment, but this book succeeds at building up to the following installments and showing the heroes both what they will have to endure and the trials they will have to face. Unlike the Titan’s Curse there isn’t a sense of mystery and foreboding because you know what trials the heroes will have to face moving forward. We know Percy and Annabeth will have to trek through Tartarus to get to the doors of death and we know that the rest of the seven will have to meet them on the other side, but it’s the fact that this is how it will play out that surprises us. It succeeds because this is the first time Gaea’s threat becomes real, where things don’t work out for the heroes and there isn’t some sense of momentary safety. It ends with the heroes in their most precarious situation, Annabeth and Percy are plummeting into Tartarus and the rest of the seven guided by Nico must find the doors of death, both of which are built up to be the most difficult tasks the half-bloods will have to face. I believe this book does a great job of paying off on the stakes set up in the previous two books and while there isn’t a sense of loss for characters who died it gives us a sense of loss over the fates of Percy and Annabeth, two characters we have followed since the beginning, with the knowledge their suffering is far from over.

The Burning Maze completely changed the tone of the trials of Apollo series and in my opinion for the better. I didn’t really like the Hidden Oracle. I found the Dark Prophecy to be good, but not anything special compared to Rick’s other books. The Burning Maze blew me out of the water. This book gave us the most radical shift in tone and changed the main players within the story permanently. Piper and Apollo change the greatest throughout the course of the story and I was captivated by how much they changed within the span of one book. Apollo, throughout the course of this book, truly learns the pain and suffering demigods go through because of the gods and by the end had resolved to remember what it’s like to be human. This is such a radical shift from the arrogant self-centered character we were introduced to in the Hidden Oracle. There were deaths that changed the characters and I hope carry through and guide the characters actions going forward. I really liked that Grover, Jason, and Piper all came back for this book and it was a really good move on Rick Riordan’s part. While a lot of people are mad Jason died in this series and not the heroes of olympus I really liked the decision. I liked Jason in HoO and having him die after surviving all the trials he was put through by being brought into yet another quest and having him stand up for Apollo in HoO it made it have more meaning to Apollo specifically. It also helped to emphasize the message that the gods are unfair. Jason was put through trial after trial and in the end it was Apollo and the god’s mistakes that did him in and makes Apollo realize that he has to remember what it means to be human in the mythological world. Piper was really compelling in this book and the development she was given in this book alone put her in my top 5 favorite characters in Rick’s mythological series.

A Silent Voice - Portraying Isolation

A silent voice does an excellent job of portraying the different types of isolation the two lead characters experience. It is masterfully shown in these two shots.

The scene in Shouya’s apartment perfectly displays his self isolation. He is in his empty room in a fetal position. The choice of having him be in his room during this scene is important because a person’s bedroom is typically a place where people go to be alone and relax  and there is also the fact that he doesn’t own anything and it is empty showing that he isn’t here to relax or escape but to be alone. There is also the choice of his body position which seems like he is curling in on himself. He is hiding himself from the world and not letting them see the whole picture. Sound is also present in the scene with the scratching of his foot and neck seeming loud in the silence of his room. This is all in direct opposition to Shouko’s scene where it cuts from the noise of the fireworks festival to the dead silence that she experiences. In Shouko’s scene she is standing in an upright position that portrays an openness to the world and yet there are no other people in the shot showing that she is open with the world and trying to connect with others whereas others won’t try to connect with her and come into her world despite her efforts. Her isolation is shown to be through the others rejecting her instead of Shouya’s rejection of others and it isn’t until the scene on the bridge, which is used as their “spot” throughout the film, near the end where they finally find their voices and come to a true understanding of each other that they are both able to truly find a way out of their isolation. Shouya gets the world to open up to Shouko and Shouko gets Shouya to open up to the world. If the isolation they felt wasn’t shown so clearly in these scenes it wouldn’t be as powerful when their respective isolation is finally broken through.

             There are many scenes portraying the respective isolation of these characters but these directly juxtapose each other in the blatant comparison it draws to the way the characters are isolated and why each character is able to draw the other into the first steps outside of their isolation. It is because each individual understand a different type of isolation, self isolation and forced isolation. Shouko gets Shouya to open up to the world because of her understanding of the desire for human interaction and the world to open up to her. Shouya gets the world to open up to Shouko through his work to hear her voice and make up for the actions that started his own self isolation. Their respective journeys come full circle and thus create a new path where both are taking steps out of their isolation and to a new beginning.

The Dragon Prince Season 3 Review (Spoilers)

My excitement for the 3rd season of the Dragon Prince is what made me push through all my homework and responsibilities this week and I can finally say it was everything I hoped it would be. It wasn’t perfect and there were a few things that I found a bit odd, but overall its emotional moments and struggles hit home and gave me a satisfying conclusion to the major conflict of the first arc. There were some threads left hanging that will leave you craving more and hint at this just being the beginning to an even bigger conflict ahead.

Now onto spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the season you have been warned.

I posted about what I thought about the characters and what their arcs could be earlier this week and I hit it home with some, but was pleasantly surprised by others.

Rayla was the character I was most excited about heading into this season and I’m glad they decided to go more in depth with her character and culture. We see just how deeply her parents “betrayal” has hurt her and how it has given her a heavy burden to bear. She is shown to be 100% willing to sacrifice herself and her possible happiness to redeem her parents and her own mistakes. She believes that she deserves everything bad that has happened to her because she wasn’t/isn’t good enough. This was painful to hear out loud because anyone who has watched the Dragon Prince knows what kind of person Rayla is and that she is, what Callum later dubs her, a hero. Which is only further exemplified when Rayla is the one who gets the finishing blow on Viren in a confrontation that mirrors that of Viren and her parents on that fateful day. She takes Viren down with a last ditch effort that almost takes her out with him and it is through this success that she is finally able to move forward with her life instead of being stuck in the mistakes of the past. While it takes her a little longer to fully believe, or at least try to believe, that she deserves a happy ending she comes to accept the good things that have come her way and the brighter future that her actions have helped to create which was rewarding payoff for the seasons of struggle Rayla has endured.  

The second character I was looking forward to was Soren and his role this season was great and a bit heartbreaking at times. He comes to see his father for the villain he is and ends up helping Ezran, Callum, and Rayla showing that while he was coerced by his father to make questionable decisions in earlier seasons he has a heart of gold beneath it all. He realizes that his father doesn’t truly care about his well being or feelings. He is constantly belittled  by his father and his father makes it pretty clear that he is expendable. Soren’s revelation is a heartbreaking one, but he chooses to break off and take the road he knows to be right instead of continuing to follow hoping his father will eventually be the man Soren wishes him to be and finally showing Soren the love he so desires. Soren, despite everyone calling him dumb, makes the decision to break the cycle of hatred that his father is perpetuating and in doing so ends up making the choice most likely to create a brighter future. Like Rayla said “To break that cycle, someone has to take a stand when no one else will”, it takes one person to start a chain reaction and break the cycle and that’s what the dragon prince is about. Soren got the redemption arc he deserved and I was so glad that it happened.

Claudia is the character I was wishing I would be wrong about, but hit the mark on. So much happened this season that she was sort of pushed to the side, but we did get her downward spiral. When the moment of truth came she decided to continue down the rabbit hole of dark magic and self destruction. Claudia’s biggest downfall is her big heart. She loves those close to her so deeply that she can’t give up on them. She had to have noticed how far her father had fallen like Soren did but she stubbornly kept on her blinders because she loved her father which was tragic. I’m afraid her final desperate actions to “keep her family together” by bringing her father back from the dead just signaled the beginning of her journey down the rabbit hole.

The show’s animation has improved greatly from its less than stellar season 1. There were some genuinely gorgeous shots. The backgrounds were incredibly detailed and the facial animation was great. There was a lot more expressiveness in each reaction shot. The scene where Rayla saves Nyx from the soul fang serpents had incredibly fluid action and was a lot of fun to watch.

My only real complaint this season was episode 2. While I absolutely loved the content the tonal shifts were a bit jarring at times. That really does feel like a stretch though because the content was pretty strong and gave a lot of development to Ezran.

This season delivered the spectacle and climax it promised and finished out a lot of the main characters arcs. The cliffhanger we were left on has me begging for more and it feels like there is so much more that can happen with the world and characters. I hope it gets a season 4 and the hanging plot threads are allowed to reach their conclusion and we are allowed to see the aftermath of reuniting the dragon prince with his mother. This season is one of my favorite seasons of television this year and I think it was worth the wait.