Top 5 Unpopular Opinions

The greatest aspect of an opinion is that everybody is entitled to their own; while many may have a similar opinion on one thing, there may be some that think differently. For example, some may think it is great to have more Dragon Ball content on the air with the advent of Super and the new movies, others may think the franchise has long overstayed its welcome. Another example is in regard to Disney's direct to video sequels; some may think a majority of them are horrendous trash, others may think there are quite a few hidden gems (I am in the latter camp, I loved the Lilo and Stitch, Lion King, and Aladdin sequels). I am just as guilty when it comes to unpopular opinions, matter of fact, here are five examples of my own (along with an honorable mention):

• One Piece is an anime that has long overstayed its welcome 
• Before explaining this unpopular opinion, let me give you all a disclaimer; One Piece is by no means a bad anime at all. However, I think an anime (or any ongoing series for that matter) that has gone on for well over 900 episodes is a tad excessive, and creates a problem in terms of pacing. I understand this series is about a band of pirates traveling the globe in search of the titular treasure, but we do not need to see every second of their adventure. If its creator were to streamline the story to the most important moments of the Straw Hat Pirates' adventure, then this series would be much more palatable and easier to get into. I have attempted to get into this series multiple times, but failed each time because the massive episode count and horrendous pacing makes it a chore to watch completely. This series has been ongoing for over twenty years, I believe it is well beyond time for the Straw Hats to reach their final destination and end this series. The longer it goes, the more difficult it will be for a newcomer to get into.

• The Wii U is a genuinely great console
• This one is pretty self-explanatory; Nintendo's Wii U console is one that is gravely underrated. It combines the best aspects of home console and portable gaming, it is Nintendo's first High-Definition console, and its Virtual Console represents all of their previous systems with the exception of the Gamecube. Unfortunately, it was unable to realize its true potential due to Nintendo's poor marketing of the product. They marketed the console as an upgrade to the original Wii, rather than its successor like it actually was. Additionally, third-party developers found it difficult to create games for it. As a result, the Wii U was a commercial failure to the company, similar to their Virtual Boy, and was quickly phased out in favor of the Nintendo Switch. Personally, I loved playing games on the Wii U, and was disappointed to see its quick demise. Matter of fact, it is one of my favorite consoles from Nintendo, next to the Gamecube and Switch. While the third-party support was severely lacking, its range of first-party titles was phenomenal! Games such as Hyrule Warriors, Super Smash Bros., and Nintendo Land were great experiences, and their remakes of Zelda games such as Wind Waker and Twilight Princess were massive improvements over the original. I never beat the original versions of the latter two games, but I quickly beat their Wii U remakes. If you ever get the chance to play this console, I can assure you it will be an unforgettable experience. However, there are some glaring flaws, such as having to be in the same room if you wish to stream the game to the GamePad controller. If you wanted to play purely on said controller, you had to be less than thirty feet away from the main unit or else the signal would be lost. 

• X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a solid film
• Ironically, I believe the X-Men films that are considered "bad" in the eyes of the general consumer to be fairly solid (with the exception of the recent Dark Phoenix); X-Men Origins: Wolverine is no exception. It presents a solid interpretation of Wolverine's origin story, and serves as an excellent lead-in to 2000's X-Men film. The pacing is also solid, with no events being too quick or overstaying their welcome, in addition to having a good balance of action, drama, and comedy. However, I do agree with one criticism of the work, Origins' version of Deadpool. I am glad this version of the character was quickly retconned into the snarky, crude, fourth-wall destroyer the public is familiar with. Ryan Reynolds' initial version of Deadpool was the polar opposite and a far cry from his counterpart in the comics, to the point of his mouth being sewn shut; the character is supposed to be a chatterbox, why make him mute? That aside, it was interesting to see Wolverine's beginnings and the cause of his memory loss in his later appearances. If you catch this film out in the wild, I would highly suggest giving it a watch.

• Disney's live action remakes are not as bad as people think
• Disney's recent trend of live action remakes based on their animated films has been a polarizing subject, with a general consensus finding them mediocre at best to horrendous at worst. Personally, with the exception of Maleficent, I found these remakes to be very enjoyable, gladly defending them whenever possible. I grew up watching the original animated versions of these films, and I am always excited to see new interpretations of these stories. While some may see these remakes as "cheap, soulless cash-grabs", I find these as opportunities for Disney to bring back concepts that were cut from the original films (along with elements from their stage counterparts in some cases), and integrate them with the stories we all know and love. Additionally, it allows the company to address the flaws found in the originals and expand upon them, such as how Belle and Beast's backstories are addressed. However, I will admit these new versions have their share of flaws as well (if you would like to see my opinions on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, click on their respective italicized names, as I do not plan to re-address them here). In the case of Dumbo, we are not only re-acquainted with the original story, but shown what happens afterward. Perhaps it is time to give these remakes another shot, seeing them for their own merits instead of in the shadows of their source material; you might find them as "diamonds in the rough", to quote Aladdin.

• Honorable Mention: Sonic 06 is not the worst game ever
• In many lists of "worst video games ever made", the 2006 reboot of Sonic The Hedgehog is frequently mentioned. While it is a barely playable mess with a plethora of frustrating glitches, there is some merit to the game. It presents an experimental scenario of placing Sonic and his cast in a realistic setting, along with a new design for series antagonist, Dr. Eggman (a design I think would work so much better in the upcoming live-action film). The game also introduced a new character to the franchise (Silver the Hedgehog), along with solidifying Sonic Rush's Blaze the Cat's place among the franchise's cast (despite retconning her origin). I am probably one of the few that finds Sonic 06 enjoyable; matter of fact, it was the game that made me want to get an XBOX 360 in middle school. It is by no means a perfect game, nor is it great, but it is a solid title in the XBOX 360's library despite its flaws. It is not the worst game in history either (that goes to the Atari 2600 game based on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), and is one that definitely deserves a second look. However, in regard to the Wii U title, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, that mess of a game deserves to burn in the nearest dumpster fire.

• The Little Mermaid's Ariel is a selfish protagonist
• While I understand this may cause me to lose a few readers, I will preface this by saying that I do not think The Little Mermaid is a bad film by any means whatsoever. It has amazing animation (being one of Disney's last to use traditional cel-animation before switching to the CAPS system), a great score from Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, and great characters.... aside from the aforementioned protagonist. In terms of Disney heroes and heroines, Ariel is probably one of the most naive and selfish in the studio's history. Her actions and motivation not only endanger herself, but her supporting cast as well. Her exploring the sunken ship at the beginning of the film almost caused her and Flounder to become shark food, and her desire to be with a human prince puts her entire kingdom at risk from Ursula as well. Her father had every right to be protective, since I have a feeling he knew all of this would happen. She is a protagonist that really needed to learn that all of her actions have consequences, both good and bad; throughout the course of the film, she thought little of how her actions would affect others, thinking only for herself. I do admit I am being a bit harsh on the character, but this is one major flaw that I hope is addressed in the upcoming remake. Ariel is a character that desperately needed to gain a sense of humility and consideration for others. 

What are some of your unpopular opinions? Feel free to discuss them in the comments below and on social media, and be sure to give a follow for future Reviews and Retrospectives posts. 

Spider-Man Far From Home (Minor Spoilers)

(Image Source: iMDb)

While I am elated that Spider-Man is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I feel Sony and Marvel's handling of this incarnation of the character has been a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong, I think Tom Holland's take on the character is pretty solid with plenty of room to grow. I understand this version of Peter Parker is relatively new to the hero business, and still has much to learn about being a superhero. However, as of now, I rank this take on the character between his predecessors, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield; he nails both sides of the character, the quirkiness of Peter Parker and the witty heroics of Spider-Man. Unfortunately, Marvel and Sony have been touting him more as Iron Man Jr., rather than a hero of his own. This was my biggest complaint with Spider-Man Homecoming, and it is definitely one of the bigger faults of Spider-Man: Far From Home. It seems Marvel definitely wants to make him one of the new faces of this franchise, but if they want to do so effectively, they need to let Spider-Man stand on his own and not in the constant shadow of Tony Stark. I think Jon Favreau's character (Happy Hogan) says it best, he's not the next Iron Man and he is never going to be Iron Man. With that little rant out of the way, how does Far From Home hold up as an installment of the MCU and as a Spider-Man solo film? Honestly, while it was solid in both regards, I felt it was simply another "filler" episode like Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Acting as an epilogue to the MCU's Infinity Saga, Far From Home takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. The film does well in setting up a Post-Avengers world through the perspective of Peter Parker, and giving us a taste of the world in Phase 4 (and possibly beyond). The basic premise surrounds Peter and his classmates taking a class trip to Europe; unfortunately, the vacation is hijacked by SHIELD commander, Nick Fury, and a mysterious person known as Quentin Beck. Similar to how Homecoming paid homage to John Hughes' "high school comedy" films of the 1980s, Far From Home seems to pay tribute to the National Lampoon Vacation series, most notably National Lampoon's European Vacation. The viewer joins Peter and his classmates as they travel across the European countryside, visiting notable locations such as Venice, Prague, and London. It is interesting to see Spider-Man in a location outside of his usual New York, and offers something new to longtime fans of the character. While I enjoyed the change in scenery, it adds very little to the overall production; the filmmakers could have kept it in New York and the plot would have remained mostly the same. They still would have kept Peter feeling lost after Endgame, his budding romance with Zendaya's version of MJ, and the conflict surrounding Nick Fury and Quentin Beck's overall mission. Speaking of Quentin Beck, his version of Mysterio was an amazing visual spectacle, but was unfortunately lacking as a character. While I understand Gyllenhal was attempting to portray him as supposedly the opposite of his comic book counterpart, it unfortunately comes off as pretentious. However, I suppose that simply adds another layer to Mysterio, adding to his overall "illusion". I will say I liked the interactions between Parker and Beck, with the latter acting as another mentor to him in his time of need.
In regard to Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, he was once again at the top of his game and was easily my favorite character in the film. (Marvel, can we please get a Nick Fury movie? That would be amazing!) I also enjoyed some of the supporting cast, such as Zendaya's MJ, but I felt there was one subplot involving them that Marvel was being a bit pushy with. Thankfully, that particular one ends along with this film.
Overall, Far From Home is solid as both an installment in the MCU and as a Spider-Man film; however I feel it was a lacking and unnecessary one. It felt more like a filler episode than a major chapter, aside from the mid-credits scene which is one of the few noteworthy parts of this film, and sets up the character's overall future. If you are looking to marathon the MCU in its entirety, this one can be considered optional since it does not contribute much to the overall narrative. The action scenes were pretty solid, I will give them that. It is worth watching out of curiosity, and seeing where the franchise is going after Endgame. Hopefully, the inevitable Spider-Man 3 fixes many of these missteps and gives us a fitting conclusion to Peter's high school years. What did you think of this movie? Feel free to discuss in the comments below, and be sure to follow for more updates from Reviews and Retrospectives.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

      

    

Spider-Man has had a rough cinematic history, as everything after Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 was met with mixed reviews. Spider-Man 3 was considered a cluttered mess of a film; overloaded with various subplots and villains, notably the “emo Peter” scenes during the film’s second act. The Amazing Spider-Man was far from “amazing”, as it was merely a modified rehash of Spider-Man’s origin story and mischaracterized his alter ego of Peter Parker. The second Amazing Spider-Man is considered the worst entry in the character’s history in film. Including many of the issues carried over from the previous film (such as the aforementioned mischaracterization of Peter Parker), this movie suffered from massive issues in pacing and character development. In both films, Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy had as much emotion as Bella Swan in the Twilight film franchise; and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker lacked the intelligence his character is known for (even a child would have known rubber does not conduct electricity, you do not need a YouTube video to figure that out). Thankfully, since Spider-Man became integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character is being adapted as faithfully to the source as possible. Matter of fact; one of the praises of ­Captain America: Civil War was the perfected version of Spidey portrayed by Tom Holland. (When people say, “third time’s the charm”, they are not bluffing). Despite having a mere fifteen minutes of screen-time throughout the entirety of the film, fans (such as myself) were excited for this version of Peter Parker and could not wait to see his future adventures unfold. Spider-Man has made a fantastic comeback and an amazing homecoming as he made his entry into the MCU. Welcome home, web-head; I am overjoyed because my favorite super-hero is being treated with the utmost amount of care and respect he deserves.

              To start this critique, the movie is thankfully not an “origin story”; at least not in the traditional definition of the term. Nobody wants to see Peter Parker getting bit by a radioactive spider and Uncle Ben’s murder for a third time. Thankfully, this movie picks up with Peter already aware of his spider powers and it focuses on him learning what it truly means to be a hero; emphasizing Uncle Ben’s famous quote “with great power, comes great responsibility” and using said quote as the film’s theme.

           Speaking of Peter Parker, I am overjoyed that Sony has accurately portrayed the character in this version. His high intellect is emphasized more than his predecessors (especially Andrew Garfield’s version), as he is known to heavily rely on it over the course of this film. On another note, Tom Holland’s version of the character feels like he leaped right out of the comics; notably the Ultimate Spider-Man series, as Holland draws inspiration from that universe’s Peter. As for the other side of the coin, Holland’s Spider-Man is essentially “on point” with what is seen in the main and Ultimate comics (as the Marvel Cinematic Universe usually combines elements from both). In this film and Captain America: Civil War, this Spider-Man is a wisecracking, naïve, lighthearted hero; as opposed to the brooding and overly emotional versions portrayed by Garfield and McGuire. While I rank McGuire’s version higher on the list (mostly for nostalgic purposes); I believe Tom Holland is truly “the Ultimate Spider-Man” and blows his predecessors out of the water. Thankfully, the antagonist of this film is also a significant improvement over his predecessors; he is also a villain that has never been seen in cinematic form.

              Using a Spider-Man villain that has never been used in cinema is a massive advantage this film has over the previous ones. Since there is only one interpretation, the filmmakers are given a massive amount of creative freedom as they are essentially creating a character from scratch. While I do not know about Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture as much as I do about Green Goblin and Doc Ock, but I was impressed with his cinematic debut in Homecoming. From what I do know about The Vulture, it seems this version takes heavy inspiration from his Ultimate version (despite bearing the name of his mainstream universe counterpart), similar to our protagonist. His character arc seems similar to the nameless man who would later become Joker, Deadshot, and Scott Lang’s version of Ant-Man; a man so desperate to support his family, he turns to criminal activity for survival. Toomes is not inherently evil; he simply wants the happiness and well-being of his loved ones, especially his young daughter. Michael Keaton was an excellent choice to portray the character, not because of his previous superhero experience, but for the wide range of emotions he can portray and how realistically he can portray a character. I enjoyed his role as Batman and Ray Kroc in The Founder (the latter I am hoping to review someday). Back to Keaton’s character; he has no desire to take down Spider-Man (nor does he want to), he merely sees him as a nuisance.

              The supporting cast of the film is as brilliant as the main members of the cast! To start, while Marissa Tomei nailed the role of Peter’s Aunt May, I felt she was too young for the character. Aunt May is supposed to be an elderly woman, and I do not understand Marvel and Sony’s decision to make her younger. I believe Tomei shared this sentiment as well; as she opted to make her character look the age she is supposed to be. (Unfortunately, Marvel did not follow through with this idea) As a result, Tomei’s version of the character is unfortunately the butt of a “hot aunt” running gag. I did enjoy the aspect of her character’s personality being similar to her Ultimate Universe counterpart, as she is (for the most part) against Spider-Man and Tony Stark. She believes Spidey to be a menace to society, and claims Stark is nothing more than a womanizer (I completely agree with you, May. I am not a fan of Tony Stark, either). Stark is essentially unchanged in terms of appearance and personality. However, he feels obligated to keep Peter out of trouble and be responsible for him. He encourages the young man to continue being a hero, but he wants Peter to remain street level for his own safety; this is the reason he does not want the boy to become an Avenger. He feels Peter is not ready and lacks the experience to face higher threats such as Loki, Ultron, and Thanos.  As much as it makes me want to vomit when I say this, Stark’s actions towards Peter are completely justified as he is simply keeping watch on him. When Stark confiscates Peter’s suit, he is doing so to teach him a lesson. Peter did not need the suit to be a hero; he simply needed to do what is right to protect all that he cares about. Although it was not explicitly said, it seems Stark is the one to teach him the iconic lesson “with great power comes great responsibility” in this film.

In the plot department, it seems the romantic aspect of this version of Spider-Man is not as emphasized as it was in the previous incarnations. While Peter does have a romantic interest for a classmate named Liz, the relationship between the two is relegated to a minor subplot. Unlike Mary Jane Watson or Gwen Stacy, Liz is a minor character, and the female lead could arguably go to Peter’s classmate Michelle (portrayed by Shake it Up’s Zendaya Coleman) or Aunt May. The movie strictly keeps the focus on the titular protagonist and his journey, as a Spider-Man movie is supposed to do. While Peter has a massive amount of character development in the film, I felt like more time could have been devoted to developing the supporting cast (aside from Tony Stark and Adrian Toomes). I desperately wanted to know more about Liz, Michelle, Peter’s friend Ned, Aunt May, and maybe his late Uncle Ben as well (I just do not want to see his murder for the third time in a row).

Overall, Spider­­-Man: Homecoming is a nearly-perfect film. Currently; it is tied with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 as the best film in the character’s cinematic history, and it could possibly be the best film to be made under the Marvel label (I consider it the best in the MCU so far). It has the potential to beat The Avengers, Deadpool, and Logan for the spot of “Best Marvel Movie”. The film perfectly portrays the life and daily struggles of Spider-Man, making it feel like a perfect adaptation and it definitely feels like the movie leaps right out of the comics. I am not biased when I say this, I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Welcome home, Spidey; we are glad to have you back where you belong!