Despite a few laboured franchise references and a script that’s not always firing on all cylinders, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME serves as a crowd-pleasing and fittingly ambitious third part of the Jon Watts/Tom Holland trilogy. Peter’s (Holland) secret identity has been exposed to the world, so in order to avoid the wrong kind of attention for himself and especially his friends MJ and Ned (Zendaya and Jacob Batalon) he goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a corrective spell that goes spectacularly wrong. As gleefully fun as all the universe-hopping and brawls with multiple returning villains is, when the film is at its strongest is in the less flashy moments when Holland can really flex his dramatic muscles and wrestle with the dilemmas of what it really means to be Spider-Man. Destined to be picked over by diehard Spidey-fans for a long time to come. SSP
Review in Brief: Limbo (2020/21)
Black comic immigration drama LIMBO couldn’t have a better backdrop than the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, literally removing displaced people from the rest of the world and placing them in a state of purgatory. Syrian musician Omar (Amir El-Masry) and a group of other migrants including Freddie Mercury-obsessed Farhad (Vikash Bhai) have been placed on an isolated Scottish island to agonisingly wait for their immigration applications to be processed by a sluggish Home Office and are given time to reflect on the homes they were forced to leave and happier times. It’s a bittersweet little film with plenty of deadpan comedy and raw emotion, even transitioning from grounded and low-key storytelling to something more metaphorical, even spiritual as time passes. Judging by this, Scottish director Ben Sharrock is definitely one to watch, a filmmaker of empathy and vision highlighting a harrowing experience too many millions experience every day. SSP
West Side Story (2021) Review
Review in Brief: Passing (2021)
PASSING, following former childhood friends Irene (Tessa Thompson) and Claire (Ruth Nega), two African-American women living very different lives in 1920s New York, highlights a number of interesting debates about being black in this period of American history. If you are lucky enough to be a lighter-skinned African American, do you choose to live a lie to improve your lot, constantly fearful of exposure? Do you educate your children on the struggles of being a black American early before they encounter prejudice in the real world? Why were white Americans so willing to enjoy black culture and yet so fervently hateful towards the people who created it? Rebecca Hall’s feature directorial debut comes from a very personal place, hits you hard on an emotional level and impresses with a simply elegant beauty. SSP
House of Gucci (2021) Review
‘Beauty and the Beast’ at 30 – Review
Review in Brief: Titane (2021)
TITANE, isn’t that the car-f***ing movie? Yes, and so much more. Writer-director Julia Ducornau (RAW) has, within five years, unleashed on the world two of the most transcendent, bold and both warm and messed up films of the 21st century so far. The images, the performances, the tangled web of underlying themes, the darkest of dark humour all help to make this the film of the 2021. An objectophiliac dancer (Agethe Rousselle) with a plate in her skull from a car accident in her childhood becomes linked to a series of violent crimes and finds an unexpected connection with a grieving firefighter (Vincent Lindon). That’s as detailed a summary I’m prepared to give, and you definitely shouldn’t read about this one in advance, just make sure you see it when it comes your way – you won’t be the same afterwards. SSP
Review in Brief: Jungle Cruise (2021)
There’s a ridiculous moment in Disney’s JUNGLE CRUISE where the Rock is using a wrestling move to pin a jaguar between a scrapping scorpion and a tarantula – that’s probably the highlight. Muddy action, inane comic exchanges and bad slapstick does not a great combination make, no matter how many random AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD references you throw in. Steamboat Captain Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) takes botanist Dr Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) down the Amazon river in search of magical flower but Frank’s past and supernatural forces soon catch up with them. Take a drink every time Dwayne Johnson mentions Emily Blunt is wearing trousers and you won’t survive the runtime. This is a lazy, uninspired and transparent attempt to replicate the success of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN that’s not even with a Disney+ free trial. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 