Spider-Man: Homecoming

If in 2014 you’d told me that there would be yet another Spider-Man reboot in 2017, I’d have rolled my eyes. While I don’t hate the 2012 and 2014 movies I found them a tad unnecessary so soon after the Tobey Maguire trilogy had ended in 2007. But it’s another day and another Spider-Man movie has hit the theatres. This was, hands down, my favorite Spider-Man movie (inches past Spider Man 2) and Tom Holland is my favorite Spider-Man. And honestly, I liked both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

Peter Parker is your typical teenager dealing with high school, friends, a crush with a twist. He’s saving the city from criminals using his alter ego. What I found thoroughly refreshing was the lack of teen angst that both previous Spider-Men dealt with. While they were burdened with the weight of the world, 2017’s Spider-Man is past that. He’s young, and at times naive, but the underlying guilt has been taken away. The movie doesn’t dig up the past (cough Uncle Ben cough). Peter became Spider-Man, got discovered by Tony Stark, fought alongside the Avengers, and now struggles with his mundane life. The story is fresh and director Jon Watts keeps it light. Also, introducing the character in Captain America: Civil War was a masterstroke since you go into this movie already knowing the kid.

Logan

Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart return to their roles as Wolverine and Professor X, respectively, in this film that is almost certainly Jackman’s last run as Wolverine and might just be Stewart’s last as Professor X as well. And as far as swan songs go, they could not have asked for a better film.

It’s 2029 and mutants have become an endangered species. No new mutants have been born in years and only a few of the old guard are left. One of the few “lucky” survivors is Logan, who is radically removed from his glory days, being reduced to a suffering husk of his former self. And he has gotten off lightly compared to Charles Xavier, trust me. But then a new mutant enters their lives. A young girl (played by Dafne Keen) with a power set almost identical to that of Wolverine’s.

Doctor Strange

I’ll admit, when I first saw the trailers for Doctor Strange, I stepped backwards a bit fearing it was going to be Marvel’s first fumble, for all those reasons you could imagine – It was using the same distortion styles as Inception, the story didn’t seem appealing and not even the cast, a very well picked one, btw, would be able to hold it… At least, on this judgment alone, I thought this one would crash on take-off.

I’m relieved to tell you this take-off wasn’t just successful, this one is probably the best trip you’ll ever take on your life. The visuals are fantastic, the action is great, the acting is spot-on and even the comedy hits all the timings here. Despite comparisons with Inception, for its visual style, or the origin story being a hybrid between Tony Stark and Thor, there’s something incredibly organic in this one, only feeling forced or rushed at very specific points. That’s about the only chink in the armor for this story, it’s perfectly fine and Scott Derrickson does everything he can with it.