Action
Spiderman: No Way Home
A movie that has gathered a lot of hype before its release at the end of this year was certainly Spiderman: No Way Home. The action-packed marvel superhero movie, along with the appearance of villains played by the original actors in the Sam Raimi trilogy (Spiderman, Spiderman 2, and Spiderman 3) and the two The Amazing Spiderman movies is a box-office success. In fact, it is the highest-grossing movie of 2021, the 12th highest-grossing film ever, the highest-grossing Spiderman movie ever, and the highest grossing movie produced by Sony. But, in spite of those feats, can it be considered a good or an enjoyable movie?
What is the movie about?
Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland), who was framed for murder and had his identity revealed to the general public by Mysterio in the previous movie Spiderman: Far From Home, seeks help from Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to erase people’s memory of his identity being revealed. The reason for that attempt is also the failure to apply for college for both him and his close friends, Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), due to them being involved with Peter in the controversy with Mysterio.
The spell cast by Dr. Strange, however, fails because of Peter’s constant tweaking, and villains from other parallel universes, like Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Wilem Dafoe), Sandman, Electro (Jamie Foxx), and Lizard are transferred to Peter’s universe. As Spiderman is hunting the villains down to bring them back to where they belong with the help of Dr. Strange, he decides to help the villains and “cure” their insanities by, for example, fixing Doc Ock’s corrupt, mechanical tentacles that made him violent.
Unexpectedly, the villains rebel and start wreaking havoc upon New York as soon as they see a chance. It was Green Goblin’s other, insane personality, that took the initiative on the rebellion. Consequently, in that degeneration of Peter’s attempt to help the villains, he suffers a great loss because “with great power comes great responsibility.”
Is the movie good or enjoyable?
The reason why this movie is an enjoyable movie, in my opinion, is that, firstly, it is a movie made with the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) high-quality format, which we see in a lot of other movies from the same universe as The Avengers. Furthermore, No Way Home tries to relate to a bigger public of various ages since it is a high-budget movie about a well-known comic book hero. In addition to that, the well-made action movie with seamless computer animation, driven by intricate action scenes, a pinch of nostalgia, and an easy-to-follow, linear plot is a very enjoyable thrill for anyone going to the cinema.
Despite the linear plot, No Way Home still does a good job at invoking the emotions of nostalgia for Spiderman connoisseurs. Additionally, the insertion of the villains from other universes does not come off as just a gimmick, in my opinion at least; it works very well because of how some of them develop later on in the movie.
Another element which makes this movie enjoyable is also the mix of drama and comedy. Despite the comedic interactions of the trio of Ned, MJ, and Peter, that are staple of the MCU Spiderman movies, the scenes in the other half of the movie take a dark turn, which is not going to be explained further to avoid spoilers.
Something else worth mentioning is the recurring line in the Spiderman franchise: “With great power comes great responsibility”. This line is what has been the cornerstone of Spiderman comic books and movies, as Peter has always had to face the inevitable consequences of being a super-human vigilante, fighting super villains. For example, he had to face the death of Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy for the two being associated with him as Spiderman. He also had to witness his best friend, Harry Osborne, turning his back on him after finding out that Peter had allegedly killed his father Norman Osbourne, who was Green Goblin. And No Way Home just comes full circle with this line, that also has a major impact in the last scenes of the movie.
The movie is, thus, a satisfying film for long-term fans of the Spiderman movies and it is arguably the best Spiderman movie that we will see in a while. Moreover, the insertion of so many characters from previous movies is somewhat of a one-trick pony that will not be repeated any time soon.
Written by Stefan Mustafić
Although The Matrix might be a little bit old, it is still a very popular and relevant movie for today’s society that has been influenced a lot by technology, which is still in steady development. And it is this movie that, I would argue, is a good movie, in contrast to Spiderman: No Way Home. That will be explained later.
What is the movie about?
The action classic of Matrix is about the main character, computer programmer Thomas Anderson/Neo (played by Keanu Reeves), who finds out about the Matrix. Not knowing what that is, he gets contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who tells him to meet Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), as he has the answer to what the Matrix is.
Despite the attempts to guide Neo to a safe location, Neo surrenders to the police and is interrogated on Morpheus, who is deemed to be a terrorist. After refusing to collaborate with the police, a bug gets inserted into his stomach. Suddenly, he wakes up believing that it was just a nightmare that he had dreamed of. But Trinity extracts the bug when they meet Morpheus again, showing him that it was not just a nightmare.
There, Morpheus offers the infamous red and blue pills to Neo; the blue would make him forget everything that had happened and make him return to usual life, and the red would make him see reality. He chooses the one that shows him the truth: Machines have been gathering their energy from humans that lived in small liquid-filled pods. That was the result of a war between humankind and machines at the beginning of the 21st century, where the machines won and have been showing humans a false reality.
Morpheus and Trinity manage to get Neo onto the ship Nebuchadnezzar of the rebels, who were not captured by machines and are trying to get other humans out of the Matrix. From there, the fight for survival and liberation of the other humans continues.
Why is this movie a good movie?
Firstly, the reason why this movie is a good movie, in my opinion, is because The Matrix references philosophical ideas like Plato’s allegory of the cave. In that allegory, humans live inside of a dark cave from birth and are used to only seeing shadows on a wall, which are projected onto the wall by a flame behind them. Moreover, these people cannot turn their heads. These people, then, become used to only seeing the shadows of things and people on the wall. But if you were to take one of those imprisoned people outside the cave, they would then find the real world outside. This allegory can be interpreted in many ways, but the most prominent one is to see as the dichotomy between the ideal object (outside of the cave) and the concrete examples in the real world, which deviate from the ideal object (inside of the cave). An example to clarify this concept is the image of a cat that you have in your head, as opposed to an actual cat in the real world. How that can be understood is that one must also look past the initial sensory input and try to understand the world with their reason, according to Plato. The resemblance to the allegory of the cave raises the Matrix to a more philosophical level because that allegory is one of the many experiments that have shed doubt on the “truthfulness” of our world.
Secondly, despite its elaborate action scenes, that were inspired by martial arts and Japanese animation and that have inspired a lot of subsequent films, The Matrix makes the viewer reflect on their use of technology in their lives. As some have described our smartphones as extensions of our bodies, on par with our limbs, and, as technology develops even more as a part of us, like the chips that Elon Musk is planning to plant into people’s brains, one does need to ask: Is it possible that a Matrix-like scenario could unfold in the future?
In addition to the points mentioned above, we also must consider that computer generated imagery and virtual reality are also developing at a very steady pace and that sometimes those virtual realities, which we also see in video games, almost resemble the real world. Another example of that is the Metaverse, that was recently launched by Facebook, or virtual reality chats that were launched a couple of years ago, which eerily resemble the Matrix since people can interact with each other in a simulated reality with their headsets.
Yet, another fact to keep in mind is that scientists who have also been inspired by The Matrix to think about the feasibility of it are not sure whether machines would cause such a dystopian world in the future, as we see it in Matrix, if computers develop a consciousness. Some scientists, like Neil deGrasse Tyson, think about it in a different way: According to him, there is no evidence in favor and no evidence against us already living in a simulation. But we also have to take into account that all of these claims are very speculative and that there is a need for further research and development; therefore, what will happen remains to be seen in the future. And The Matrix definitely makes us think about the future of our technologically advancing society, which makes this movie a good movie, in my opinion.
Written by Stefan Mustafić
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