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Good Sized Potatoes

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day

by George Wolf

Looks like our boy has gone and grown up. It happens.

When Tom Holland stepped into the Spider-Man suit nearly a decade ago now (!), he was 21 but looked 15, which was perfect. Peter Parker was a kid again, and that fact alone grounded the new franchise with a freshness and naïveté that was utterly charming.

It also gave the young man and his super alter ego plenty of room to grow. Spider-Man: Brand New Day raises the stakes with both familiarity and surprise, delivering a more adult-themed adventure that will thrill , satisfy and occasionally frustrate.

Peter has settled into his life as a friendly neighborhood hero, helping Detective DeWolff (Liza Colon-Zayas) bust bad guys even as she advises him to take some time off and quit being married to his job as a super friend. But, of course, the work takes his mind off of the fact that girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon) don’t even know him anymore.

And much like plenty of Superheroes before him, Peter begins to show sides of himself that even he doesn’t recognize. Severe headaches grow more frequent, and parts of his high-tech spider suit begin to malfunction as a very dangerous, and very elusive new villain emerges. And just when Peter needs to know who he can trust, everyone from Frank Castle/Punisher (Jon Bernthal) to Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to a couple other recognizable names I won’t mention may have conflicting loyalties.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Short Term 12, Just Mercy) takes the franchise helm from Jon Watts, providing a winning pace and engaging visual style. After some well-placed nods to the youthful Spider-Verse aesthetic early on, Cretton buoys the maturation of the character with a more streamlined, focused approached to some really terrific action sequences. And while plenty of the CGI is appropriately super, Hulk’s facial features seem to have taken a curious step back.

Franchise screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers return, giving credible weight to the introduction of themes that should be plenty familiar to superhero fans. Yes, some of the dialog banter lands as a bit forced and the humor is understandably downplayed this time out, but a few good moments of laughter find their mark – including a turn of the phrase “meager potatoes” which I now plan to work into daily conversation.

Holland still provides the heroic anchor, and he’s just so good with this character it appears effortless. His chemistry with Zendaya (duh) and Batalon is warm and real, and he makes Peter’s journey to becoming his own hero an organic and rewarding one. He’s still friendly, but now there’s a sense of loss and inner turmoil that makes the victories more sweet and well-earned. With Brand New Day, calling him Spider-Man doesn’t feel like a kid playing dress up anymore.

And those are good-sized potatoes.

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Feeling No Pain

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Novocaine

by Hope Madden

So, this mild-mannered bank manager (Jack Quaid) has a rare medical condition, and he can’t feel pain. He spends his entire life extremely cautious because with even a minor injury, he could bleed to death without knowing he’s even injured.  But then the girl of his dreams is kidnapped by bank robbers, and he decides to risk everything, use the condition to his advantage and save her.

Yes, that does sound like the most contrived movie ever—no doubt good for a handful of action gags but ultimately superficial and dopey.

Don’t sell Novocaine short.

The film is a smart rom com loaded with action and laughs, tenderness and badassery. Amber Midthunder (Prey) plays Sherry, the flirtatious extrovert who finally nudges Nate (Quaid) toward the real, scary, injury-friendly world. Their chemistry is sweet and authentic. You get why Nate decides to risk it all.

Ray Nicholson is a lot of fun as the gleefully sadistic bank robber, and Spider-Man’s bestie Jacob Batalon delivers reliably enjoyable goofy best friend vibes. A bright, engaging ensemble including Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh elevates every scene with subtle comic instincts that strengthen both the action and the draw of human relationships.

Directors Ben Berkand and Robert Olsen (The Body, Villains) invest in the comedic possibilities of every action set up without overpowering the action itself. Car chases, fisticuffs, shoot outs and more are choreographed for thrill, performed for laughs. It’s a delightful mix.

None of it would work if Quaid couldn’t effortlessly sell the sad sack loverboy, but he does. Never does this feel like a fella with a particular set of skills. The lanky actor does lovestruck and low confidence equal justice.

One of the reasons the film succeeds the way it does is that Lars Jacobson’s script does not hate Nate as he is. The film wants him to take some risks, sure, but nothing about Novocaine believes what Nate needs is to man up and kick some ass. He’s a romantic, as awe struck by Midthunder as the audience is, and we’re all just rooting for their happily ever after. And some Neosporin.

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Sane, Financially Insecure Asians

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Shortcomings

by Hope Madden

Shortcomings, the feature directorial debut from Randall Park, wants to know what you thought about Crazy Rich Asians.

Did you celebrate it as a massive commercial and critical success that centered in every respect on Asians? Did you see it as a much-needed splash of representation? Or were you unable to see past its mediocre, formulaic fairy tale “money actually does fix everything” themes?

Or could you just be happy that, although it was not a very good film, its massive success opened up opportunities that did not exist before for Asian artists?

Ben (Justin H. Min, After Yang) is the second (hated it). No surprise, Ben hates everything because Ben is an asshole. He offers withering opinions of everyone and everything, so his girlfriend Miko (Ally Maki) isn’t surprised when he decides not to accompany her to New York for her internship.

Actually, she didn’t invite him.

Park’s film, based on Adrian Tomine’s insightful adaptation of his own graphic novel, does the extraordinary – thanks in large part to Min’s spectacular lead performance. They center 90 minutes of our lives around a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist and make us enjoy it.

Min haunted the liltingly lovely After Yang with a devastatingly tender performance. Ben is not Yang, and Min proves nimble with a character who has so little to offer and yet manages to compel interest throughout the tale, though he extends little energy to do it.

A spot-on ensemble helps him out, perhaps because Min reveals Ben so thoughtfully through his interactions with these characters, and partly because the minor characters are so intriguing.

Sherry Cola, hot off her hilarious turn in Joy Ride, is Alice, Ben’s equally acerbic best friend. Tavi Gevinson is inspired as the starving artist pixie Autumn adored by Ben and all the employees at the crumbling movie theater he manages. Sonoya Mizuno (Ex-Machina) and Debby Ryan also pop in for a few scenes of excellent work, while Jacob Batalon (Pete’s best friend in the new Spider–Man movies) gets to make a funny line about Spider-Man while Timothy Simons is a stitch as Miko’s new beau.

It’s smart humor, one that recognizes the defensiveness and fear at the heart of Ben’s disdain for anything that swings for the fences, and for anyone who puts themselves in the vulnerable position to try and fail.

And without succumbing to schmaltz in any measure, Shortcomings asks whether Ben – whether any of us cynics – can just move from Crazy Rich Asians viewer #2 to #3. Not because it was good, but because it opened the door for Shortcomings.