Spider-Man: Civil War...I Mean Captain America...This is still a Cap movie right?

Welcome to Chamorro Cinema with Manuel. This post I shall call "A Tale of Three Spideys" 

Since we've got Tom Holland set to debut his version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, most likely in Marvel's upcoming Avengers 3 Captain America:Civil War, I thought I'd take a minute to talk about Tobey Maguire and Andrew garfield's take on the character. What I liked... what I didn't like and what I'm hoping to get out at the Tom Holland version.

Let's talk us some Peter Parker. 

One of the places where Tobey Maguire really excelled as Peter Parker was his nerdiness. He was nerdy at the beginning on the movie. Heck, even when he decides he's gonna put on a tight thermal, lose the glasses and take on Flash Thompson he's still a nerd. At the end of the film he's a nerd...by the end of the trilogy he's an emo, dancing nerd, so the fact that he stayed Nerdy throughout is part of being Peter Parker.

 Andrew Garfield never came across as a nerd, he never comes across as a geek, he comes across as a shy, artsy, skateboarder. Even when he puts on the glasses they're still trendy, hipster glasses. 

I think it's important that the cinematic Peter Parker still keep that essence, because he has to invent stuff. We see Andrew Garfield inventing his web-slingers, police scanners, and figure now to make his tech strong enough to withhold electricity...I mean you see a lot of that...I just don't buy it from his Peter Parker, I believe he could have bought it, like on Amazon or something.

I think that nerdy essence as Peter Parker is important and Andrew Garfield didn't have any in that. What Andrew Garfield did have and Tobey Maguire did not as Peter Parker was charisma, and chemistry with his love interest. Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, being a skateboarder and his build made him a lot more believable in terms of the acrobatics he has to do as Spider-Man.

In terms of casting, age wise, Andrew Garfield looked like a teenager. Tobey Maguire looked 30 from the onset. He never looked like a teenager - he was like one of the teenagers on 90210. You won't have that problem with Tom Holland, he looks like he rolled out of his Garanimals to go to the

audition. I'm thinking there will be juice boxes served as this dudes wrap party.

The Blue & Red Spandex: The Battle of the Bulk

As far as actually being Spider-Man, Garfield was better in terms of cracking wise but in Raimi's films and how Toby Maguire brought Spider-Man to life you got a sense that these guys LOVED SPIDER-MAN. Tobey was a little too ripped as Spidey, His body type was more wrestler than gymnast.

What sets the two apart is the story and the villains. I wasn't a huge fan of the lizard, as the first villain in a franchise, a little too much too soon...because you went from giant lizard man to glow-in-the-dark Electro (as designed by Skrillex in a fever dream). You should ease into that like Raimi did. He started with the Aspargus robot, then he went and added Doc Ock, then when he'd lost all touch with reality gave us That 70's Venom and also took it to a new Lowell with Sandman (get it? its a Wings reference ... funny? huh).

With the story, LISTEN Sony Spider-Man does not need your help! He doesn't need super spy parents... he doesn't need bio-genetic engineering... he doesn't need be a DJ spinning EDM at Tough Mudder.

He just needs to be a kid who gets bitten by a radioactive spider, gains super strength (not necessarily super muscles) his Uncle Ben ad his girlfriend die and these events, in turn, lead him to become the superhero known as Spider-Man.

We don't need a ton of extra stuff to make a good Spidey film. He is still plenty relevant and the fans just wanna have fun with this every-man character. 

So stick close to Raimi in terms of respect to the source material. 

Marvel/Sony  I'm begging you, just give us a Spider-Man that's fun. One that's gonna fit in well busting some balls with Iron Man. I'll tell you Ant-Man was one of your best films... Guardians was one your best films, so don't stray from the humor elements.

Please respect the source material. Please keep Norman Osborn around for more than one film, and for the love of all that is good and holy don't make the goblin an asparagus looking, power armored megalomaniac... or whatever the hell Harry Osborn was in the Amazing Spider-Man 2.  

So that's what I thought about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, all in all, I think Tom Holland is gonna kill it yah'll. 

Let me know what you think. Leave me a comment below, Subscribe to my channel on YouTube. You can also follow me on Twitter @ManuelMendiola, where I talk a lot about comics and the films that I love. 

So keep it locked to Chamorro Cinema. Thank you for reading. PEACE!

Marvel's Ant-Man Review

Review of Marvel's Ant-Man

Today I'm reviewing Marvel's Ant-Man, was it good? bad? a little of both? let's find out...

I was pleasantly surprised with Paul Rudd as Scott Lange. He's a quasi celebrity thief who engaged in some "Robin Hood-esque" shenanigans, when he stuck it to an evil corporation that was bilking it's customers to the tune of a quabilzion dollars.

Paul Rudd did what he does which is ooze charm - he got the Marvel abs and the costume and he ran with it. The only issue I had with him as Scott is that they setup his criminal past as something that he did only to right this evil capitalist wrong, and then try to have him flipping over fences and climbing walls (straight ninja warrior style) and he has this expertise in cracking an old safe...none of this was believable for an electrical engineer that has only burgled ONCE.

Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, he totally could have phoned this in, this so could have been Sam Elliot in Ghost Rider. He could have been a flat one note mentor that appears in the beginning and helps a little toward the end...or worse he could have had the cliche death that inspires Scott to become the Ant-Man he always knew he could be. He wasn't, he was super involved and he was funny and believable. They didn't kill him off so I'm psyched that we might be able to see him put that young whippersnapper Tony Stark in his place.

Evangeline Lilly as Janet Van Dyne took a little while to warm up to. She seemed, especially in the first scene with Scott, to be trying to be a shrew. It seemed forced...but as the film progressed and she loosened up, she became a pretty good character. I like that she is very independent and very real. Black Widow seems to be either super flirty or super jaded, she never seems real or happy. Janet seems just as capable but also human and I really liked that.

Darren Cross played by Corey Stoll, was a weak link. I love Corey Stoll... in The Strain and House of Cards. I think he did what he could but Marvel has an issue creating compelling and believable villains (apart from Loki). Darren is very mustache twirling - and he comes across as a confused and spoiled child, rather than a super villain. "Hank Pym didn't share every secret with me...I hate him, but I want him to like me, but I want to kill him"...It's like asking a middle school girl to tell you about her relationship with her best friend Kimmy.

The best characters though were Kurt, Dave and Luis! Michael Pena, TI and David Dastmalchian were terrific. They stole every scene they were in and I want to see more of them in the MCU. I had no idea the Michael Pena was this funny and "This is the work of Gypsies" from David Dastmalchian was hilariously delivered.

As far as the plot goes this was very much a retread of Iron Man, but with heist elements instead of terrorist hunting. It worked and I loved the action sequences. The concept of fighting in a suitcase while it bounces around, or that a train set can become this epic battlefield were supremely interesting and perfectly executed. I loved the dynamic between Scott and his daughter. This film has heart.

The MCU tie-ins were balanced well and it didn't beat you over the head with cameos. The Falcon's appearance fits in seamlessly with the tone of the film. The film actually asks the question that we've all asked since Avengers first hit, "Why don't we just call in the Avengers" and it answers it, in a way that doesn't feel like a cop out.

I'm excited to see more Ant-Man in the MCU. What did you think? Leave me a comment below.