Far From Home Ends the Saga

We’re twenty-three films deep into the Marvel universe now, and we’ve officially reached the end of Phase 3. Comic-Con just announced the movies coming to the line-up, as well as the TV shows coming to the new Disney Streaming Service (which I kind of hate myself for wanting to get). So, when Spider-Man: Far From Home hit theaters, it needed to be the perfect closer; we said goodbye to the original six Avengers (at least in the way that we knew them), and now it was time for us to say goodbye to the MCU as we knew it, because it’s all going to change from here. Because of that change, Far From Home not only had to outperform its Homecoming predecessor; it had to be one of the MCU’s best (while being helmed by Sony). And, though sometimes it’s connection to the last MCU film is a little shaky (honestly there needed to be a short or something about the effects of what happened in Avengers: Endgame because no movie was going to satisfactorily explain how things changed), but as an overall film, it’s a great time. It’s fun, it’s fresh, it’s completely different from the first film, and it’s a great way to not only deal with the changing of a universe we know and love, but to enjoy the fact that it’s changing. It’s not the same, but if Far From Home is any indication, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

A Simple Favor is Simply Fine

Ocean’s 8 took us on a heist ride with a female crew, and now A Simple Favor takes us through a femme fatale, film noir thriller (with just a splash of comedy) with two strong female characters. The best part about both of these movies? Despite the fact that they are female lead, it’s not the main point. Both take the opportunity to have fun with their genre, rather than make a statement or prove a point, and this makes them enjoyable ways to spend the day. Does that mean that A Simple Favor is a great example of filmmaking (or film noir as a genre)? No, but that’s okay. It’s enough that we can sit back, kind of enjoy ourselves, and roll our eyes when things get a bit cliché because the story isn’t anything fantastic.