West Side Story, the Matrix Resurrections and Spiderman: No Way Home released in quick succession are a film-goers delight of decision. Since I hold Steven Spielberg to a much higher standard, West Side Story sort of fizzled for me. Lana Wachowski took on the directing of Matrix 4 (Resurrections) and the result, though a bit better than Spielberg's 2021 outing, asked more questions than it gave answers.
Spiderman: No Way Home, however, hits it out of the park. It is one of the best superhero films since Batman's The Dark Night. The formula for the new best friends of Disney and Sony was stated long ago by iconic rock band Ray Davies and The Kinks: Give the People What They Want.
It's not that difficult. Wrath of Khan informed Paramount and Star Trek producers that a sequel to each and every episode of The Original Series (and some of the cartoons,) would generate much good will and much more cash. Tommy Lee Jones said it in the first Under Siege to one of his thug underlings: "Don't get creative!"
The Next Generation, for Star Trek, was one leap, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise merely tossing the Star Trek brand on ordinary sci-fi. Babylon 5 a prime example. Billy Mumy (Lost in Space) and Walter Koenig (original Star Trek) anyone?
SPIDERMAN: No Way Home may be one of the most calculated superhero / science fiction films, but so what? It delivers. It refines the overkill of Avengers Endgame (or, basically, any of the popular Avengers films,) focusing on lots - but less - "guest stars." And that is what makes it work so well.
Rita Moreno returning to West Side Story pulls at the heartstrings. (See Wikipedia: Moreno plays a newly created character, Valentina; she famously won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Anita in the 1961 original movie.) Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss and Mrs. Will Smith (Jada Koren Pinkett Smith ) do their job, along with the Merovingian returning, but none of it can touch the magic of Tobey Mcguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland all coming back as Spiderman. It takes the cake, warms the heart, and they successfully pull it off in a huge way.
This isn't like taking two of the best Batmen - Christian Bale and Adam West, throwing them in with two of the weakest - Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton...or even worse, adding Val Kilmer and George Clooney into the mess, which is why the novel idea works and is already on the verge of hitting a billion dollars worldwide...probably on Christmas day, 2021 - tomorrow. (This review being written on Christmas eve.)
Spielberg and Wachowski bring flashes of greatness to their respective films, but forty years young director Jon Watts, whose biggest claim to fame are these Spiderman / Tom Holland films, is in the groove.
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