Movies

 Been a while, but it seems less "necessary" to put thoughts here in general. Still, I have a few I want to collect today on recent movie watching...


Cloud Atlas

I caught Cloud Atlas on Netflix, knowing it was a big release at the time. Having seen it... well... it hit me about as I would have expected, I think.

I see a certain artistry in it. I appreciate many elements of the movie and performances. At the same time, though, it strikes me as pretentious. It's long, but could have delivered the same point about interconnectivity of people even if it dropped a couple of the story arcs. It doesn't feel like there is a lot of payoff for the build up in most cases. Overall, it's something I'm kind of glad to have seen, but have no intention to spent time rewatching at any point.


Spider-Man: No Way Home

Relatively spoiler free remarks: I enjoyed it. The movie has several things going against it in my book:

  • Heavy reliance/use of previous story elements
  • Inclusion of a multiverse
  • An easy out that would have brought conflict in the story to a halt at virtually any time
  • A particular element of the ending

So the fact that I did enjoy it so much actually speaks well of writing, acting, and how it was all put together. The action and interactions work pretty well and I find it easy to watch and recommend. 

Spoilery remarks from here on out: I dislike that the ending is largely a reset button for MCU Spider-Man, especially as he chickens out with his friends. I get the narrative benefit of being able to start from the point and I'm well aware that comic have done things like that frequently over the decades, but I still don't like it as it presents a story that undermines itself in impact.

My existentialism kicks in with stories like this, making them harder to enjoy. Sure, fighting to "save" the villains is noble and particularly fits a young, idealistic hero like Spider-Man, but whether it's worthwhile is really dubious at best. These guys were pulled from their universes mostly at the time of their deaths, which begs the question of whether changing them will actually allow them to live when they go back in the first place. Otto could probably do some good in the world, if his system doesn't fry. Norman could - but if he returns to a world where his sons is dead, that might push him back to evil. Lizard and Electro I don't really know from their previous movie(s), but they seem less corrupted by their powers and more power-hungry by nature, so I'm not sure this helps them much. Sandman disappointed me in fighting so much when his motivation should have been to get home (and being normal again may be a plus for him). So how much good really comes from curing them? And when weighed against the collateral damage done in the process? Sketchy, at best, even before questioning whether changing any individual universe in a potentially-limitless multiverse has any merit.

But, in spite of all that criticism, I enjoyed the ride and found the movie fun, so that's good.

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