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"ANI (The Harvest)" Movie Review - Flawed but Admirable

A kid had to face the world in his own animated version and conquer life's biggest monster. ANI (The Harvest) It's as if a child's imagination is a safe haven, a place where the world is a playground for all the possibilities the mind could think of. And even the tight and humble space called home, situated on a busy Metro could not hinder the inquisitive headspace of a young Mithi (played by Zyren Dela Cruz), a boy who accomplishes the day by playing with his colorful toy robots that perform a vital role in his imaginary narrative. With a loving father and a mother that sings him a self-assuring lullaby, Mithi is blissfully unaware of the harsh reality. But life decided to toy with his fate, and Mithi's perfect little world is now showing its cracks, putting his vulnerability to the test and slowly depriving him of his happiness he thought would last forever. And through his eyes, the world suddenly transforms itself into a menacing monster.  Set in a lush ...

"Spider-Man: Far From Home" Movie Review - Simply Spectacular

Peter Parker and the rest of his class were on a trip to Europe when a catastrophic threat hijacked their vacation. Peter must decide if he should neglect his heroic responsibilities in order to spend time with the girl he likes or become the better person and fulfill the role of a true Avenger.

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Spider-Man: Far From Home
- Photo from Reddit

It's amazing to see that from the get go, Spider-Man: Far From Home is respectful to the legacy of Iron Man which is justified especially as how big of an impact he has brought not only to the Spider-Man continuity but within the Marvel universe itself.

That opening scene alone is amusing and sets up the comedic tone of the film, which for me was a hit-or-miss and sometimes focus too much on the subplots that doesn't add much to the story and kind of dragged for too long especially on the first half of the film. 

The movie directly follows the aftermath of the snap or as the movie likes to call it, the blip. In this movie, we also see how the blip affected the world and kind of explained the repercussions of it especially when you put the age of the non-blipped people into the equation. Some interesting knowledge that in itself is an important piece for us fans who wanted to know the events that happened after Endgame.

What I liked most about this film is its ability to honor the comic books without feeling like a copy-and-paste adaptation of it.  They have also successfully given us a memorable and visually amazing battle sequences as opposed to Homecoming, which I admire but found a little less disappointed when it comes to big hero-villain moments.

Tom Holland has again showed and proved that his version of our friendly neighborhood hero is as charming and relatable as he can be, thanks by enlarge with some story elements that threw him actual human problems on top of an already Avenger threat (as the movie suggests) that he had to face and overcome.

Some parts of the film, including the romantic bloom between Ned and Betty or that teacher taking a selfie could've been trimmed out to focus more on the Peter and MJ dynamic which to me was a little bit forced in the beginning. When did they ever start liking each other again? I personally would love to see that buildup instead of just assuming that they already have feelings for each other right off the bat. 

But the real meat of the film is the introduction to Mysterio — an iconic villain from the comics and one, if not the most memorable member of the Sinister Six who has time and time again put Spider-Man's life in danger, considering the only power that he has is practical illusion. Speaking of illusions, it's also mesmerizing to witness how they handled those scenes which to me was so reminiscent of the PS4 Spider-Man game when Peter Parker was under Scoropion's hallucinogenic drug, giving him this almost nightmarish dream sequences presented in a weird and psychedellic proportions. 

Jake Gyllenhaal's crazy antics and nuanced facial acting was used effectively in the film which elevated his character as Quentin Beck/Mysterio and I thought stole the scenes whenever he's in it. 

The mid- and post-credit scenes were also a surprise and both are an integral part of both the Marvel and Spider-Man universe going forward. It seems like Kevin Feige is becoming more bolder and aggressive with his choices and his plans for this successful franchise and we can't wait to see what the future holds especially that Marvel is now focusing on a more cosmic-level stories in the future. 

Let's Be Reel

Far From Home's first act is Sony and Marvel's way of telling the audience that this version of Spider-Man is still on that highschool drama train which was good but I thought went on for too long. But when the movie finally get its gears going, it delivered on what I thought is the most badass action sequences and effective CGI to date in a Spider-Man movie. 

Simply spectacular.


9/10
Reel Points


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