Mattydee74

In the deliciously wicked vein of the Creepshow/Twilight Zone movies, but with edgier elements, this wonderfully diverse and transgressive collective first volume of dark horror pieces has a mix of retro tributes/dark social commentary/gore/body horror/oddities and general mayhem. The representation of different countries, themes and genres worked for me, with diverse styles at work from a range of directors and performers including a WWE star, a Twin Peaks alumni and unexpected twists and turns. Can be easily watched as individual pieces but I binged the whole lot in one go. Look forward to Volume 2.

The DC Universe gets a powerful boost with Patty Jenkin's engaging, thrilling modern tribute to the Wonder Woman legend. The trailer did not do justice to this polished, beautifully rendered film with an uncommon heart, contrasting the increasingly tired, smug Marvel tone.

The British supporting cast add a deeper flair to the proceedings, with Lucy Davis and David Thewlis offering smart performances. Gal Gadot channels a mixture of innocence, strength, wisdom and humour which reminded me of Christopher Reeve in Superman (1978). The script gives her performance a spirit and urgency which the origin story frame allows to flourish. Chris Pine is equally fine, balancing a challenging mixture of humility and bravado that gives the film a distinct edge.

The parallels with Superman (1978) are particularly apt. Both films kick-started modern takes on legendary figures with colourful, exciting adaptations of origin stories. The actions sequences are intense, clever and filled with emotional resonance.

Marvel has had a dream run with exciting, engaging films until meddling with the latest reboot of Spider-Man. Instead of expanding the universe, this ho-hum exercise in Marvel franchising wastes the considerable talents of Tom Holland while working an increasingly tired Iron-Man tone into proceedings. The film is salvaged by the performers from Michael Keaton to Zendaya, who are able to bring an engagement the Marvel heavy footprints crush with their self-serving empire building.

The story is deliberately Lo-Fi, aiming for a point of difference within the recent film history by scaling back the action and emotions. This works surprisingly well in the high school and home settings but undermines the intensity of set-piece sequences which, instead of building the excitement, come off as distinctly average CGI scenes. DC took the lead for me in Super-Hero movie magic with Wonder Woman, combining action, drama and emotion with intensity. The problem with Spider-Man Homecoming is the lack of potency for the plot development, the investment doesn't have great pay-offs.

On the plus side, letting the film be better than it deserves to be, Tom Holland does make Spider-Man his own character despite the teen-movie conventions and Marvel tyranny. The refreshing take on Peter Parker's high school friends works in the film's favour with good performances from the young cast, especially Zendaya. Michael Keaton does well to add dimensions to a fairly standard villain. Maris Tomei, however, isn't quite right as Aunt Mae which is a script and plotting issue rather than a performance one.

The production has made much of the local setting being true to the comics, but the lack of narrative drive takes away from the many promising elements. It's not a bad film, just an average one. It lacks genuine threat, suspense, tension and engaging excitement. Thankfully, the cast push this one beyond the Marvel Franchise limitations, offering hope for future films.