So with that in mind, it’s great to see Marvel relax the reins on Spider-man: Homecoming a bit and tell a story more character driven than special effects driven. The film’s lighthearted touch with an emphasis on humour makes it much more accessible than some of the recent overly serious Superhero films. It easily lives in the MU while comfortably standing alone. It even features a crazy credit at the very end of the film that sells laughs instead of product.

Peter Parker in comic book form has always been a geeky kid and the new Spidey, Tom Holland gets those nuances just right. He plays awkward as endearing. The story starts right after the Battle of New York and we get an early view of both Spider-man’s progression (further along than the radiated spider bite) and the political machinations that helped to create his new nemesis.

The thoughts of restarting the franchise again are rapidly lost as the charm and humour of this latest edition sweep you away. It gets the balance of action, storyline and character development just right and as such is a blast from beginning to end.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

So with that in mind, it’s great to see Marvel relax the reins on Spider-man: Homecoming a bit and tell a story more character driven than special effects driven. The film’s lighthearted touch with an emphasis on humour makes it much more accessible than some of the recent overly serious Superhero films. It easily lives in the MU while comfortably standing alone. It even features a crazy credit at the very end of the film that sells laughs instead of product.

Peter Parker in comic book form has always been a geeky kid and the new Spidey, Tom Holland gets those nuances just right. He plays awkward as endearing. The story starts right after the Battle of New York and we get an early view of both Spider-man’s progression (further along than the radiated spider bite) and the political machinations that helped to create his new nemesis.

The thoughts of restarting the franchise again are rapidly lost as the charm and humour of this latest edition sweep you away. It gets the balance of action, storyline and character development just right and as such is a blast from beginning to end.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/SpiderManMovieAUS

Film history is littered with movies that are so bad they become good. There are the unintentionally hilarious ones, the ones with such low production values, the ones with such over the top acting they never let you off the hook and then there is Mortdecai. This vehicle about a shonky art dealer starring Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor is one of the worst received movies in recent times, but is it so bad it’s good?

Depp plays Mortdecai; a fey British art dealer with a flexible attitude towards the law and Gwyneth Paltrow plays his posh wife. Ewan McGregor plays a police officer and is the sort of straight man in the piece. The script is based on the novel Don’t Point That Thing at Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli and is so over the top and filled with so much strange idiosyncratic British behaviour, it just challenges you not to snicker.

But here is the rub, as bad as it is, it actually has some genuinely funny moments and even though they may be at the expense of that perceived British upper crust life style, they are still funny. The Brits are going to love to hate this. Unfortunately there are not enough of these moments to sustain the entire 107-minute running time and the film induces as many groans as laughs.

Will the years be kind to this film? I don’t really think so and it’s life at the box office will probably be a short one, so if there’s an interest don’t delay. Are the chances good that this will become a new generation’s Plan 9 From Outer Space? It may be strange to use this word in this review but the film is actually too good to be that bad (but barely).

Rob Hudson
www.mortdecaithemovie.com