Paul, Bart and I are just back from Spider-Man: No Way Home.
You know, good superhero stories are larger-than-life, breathless romantic sagas about rescue, betrayal, good and evil, love and hate, self-sacrifice and the joy and freedom of effective action. Operatic, really, yet with wit and style.
These melodramas are about ethical choices, because that’s what immense power must always necessarily boil down to. Even the refusal to exercise power can have dire consequences for others.
And above all else, these stories should have heart. They should not be nihilistic, because if even superheroes can’t win, what chance is there for the rest of us?
And this film has all that. It’s the complete culmination of 20 years of Spider-Man movies, satisfying on every single level. The people who grew up with these films will be particularly entranced, I suspect.
Michael Fraley wrote: "Just saw the new Spider-Man film today with my old pal Thunderboy Brown, and have to say that it's the most self-consciously anti-Snyder film I've seen lately. 🤣 The lesson it taught me is, "Never be a nihilist, but also recognize that not being a nihilist can still load your life with lots of death, pain, and sacrifice." There's something surprisingly evenhanded about that. A lot of the storyline didn't make sense, and the ending left me with so many questions that I found it bewildering, but hey ... it's still better than most other Marvel films of recent years."
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