Spider-Man: Far From Home, just like the first Spider-Man film, is fun, quirky and has some great tense moments between the superhero and the antagonist. This is quite a significant flick as viewers also get to know about the changes in the world after the developments that occurred in Avengers: Endgame. There’s a slight maturity in Peter Parker as well and the character arc is completely justified. And his romance with MJ is electrifying. Your heart goes to him as he’s trying to woo the girl he loves while also fulfilling the responsibilities expected from him. The plot has some great twists and the film even ends on a shocking note (don't miss the mid-credit and post-credit scenes). On the flipside, a few developments are unconvincing and takes a while to digest. Performance-wise, Tom Holland is just too good in this role. He is just right and despite being a bit of a difficult part this time, he carries it off very well. Jake Gyllenhaal is quite apt as Mysterio. His expression in a particular scene (which was the interval point in my show) is killer! Zendaya is very endearing and cute. Her awkward sense of humour and love for giving out trivia and facts makes her even more fascinating. Jacob Batalon is always dependable. Marisa Tomei is stunning while Jon Favreau is great. Samuel L Jackson too gives in his best. All in all, Spider-Man: Far From Home is sure to give you your money and time’s worth and it also makes you wait eagerly for the next Marvel movies!

My rating - **** out of 5!

WILL SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME APPLY BREAKS ON KABIR SINGH’S DREAM RUN?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the most exciting and profitable ventures in the history of cinema. In April end, we saw how Avengers: Endgame did record business at the box office all across the world, including in India. It was like an end to a 11-year-long saga but there’s still some entertainment left. Spider-Man: Far From Home releases tomorrow and the Avengers: Endgame effect will surely benefit the film.

It stars Tom Holland in the leading role and shows his journey after the developments that happened in Avengers: Endgame. One of it is how the superheroes went back and forth in time and in the process, they opened up multiple timelines. And this plays an important part in the narrative. The trailer is quite exciting and all the factors are going in it’s favour. Moreover, Spider-Man has always been the most loved superhero in India as all the films since 2002 has proved to be immensely successful. Even the last standlone Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Homecoming earned around Rs. 57.55 crore. This was two years ago and since then, the MCU has become bigger. Even a film like Captain Marvel earned Rs. 85 crore approx.

Hence, there are a lot of expectations from Spider-Man: Far From Home, with many even hoping it’ll cross the Rs. 100 crore mark. Moreover, it has a four-day weekend as it releases tomorrow (Thursday July 4). It’s not a full release though shows start from morning in most cinema halls. Yet, Rs. 10-12 crore or even more are expected tomorrow. If all goes well, it can earn in the Rs. 65-75 crore range by Sunday. Such collections can give a slight dent to the earnings of Kabir Singh. The Shahid Kapoor starrer is having an excellent run at the box office and is about to cross the Rs. 200 crore mark by tomorrow. It remains to be seen how much Spider-Man: Far From Home affects the collections of this flick or whether both the films are able to co-exist.

Talking of Hindi releases, there are three films that will hit screens on Friday and all of them look unexciting. The biggest of them all is Malaal, produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It stars debutants Sharmin Segal (SLB’s niece) and Meezaan (Jaaved Jaaferi’s son). It is a remake of a popular Tamil film 7G Rainbow Colony and is directed by Mangesh Hadawale, who has made acclaimed films like Tingya and Dekh Indian Circus. Despite being a Bhansali production and even the songs by him, there’s no excitement at all. Music hasn’t worked and the debutants haven’t got the necessary hype. Largely, it is because the trailer is lacklustre. Also, it has a Maharashtrian backdrop and hence, anyways, it doesn’t have pan India appeal. The opening will be disastrous, even lower than Rs. 1 crore.

The second release is called One Day, starring Esha Gupta, Anupam Kher and Kumud Mishra. It is a cop action drama but looks very dated. Lastly, there’s Hume Tumse Pyaar Kitna starring Karanvir Bohra, Priya Banerjee and Sameer Kochar. It looks like a poor reboot of the Shah Rukh Khan classic Darr. Coincidentally, Darr’s actress Juhi Chawla can be seen for a second in the trailer. The makers should have used this aspect to promote the film. Instead, they made up stories that the trailer was taken off social media due to ‘excessive violent content’. It was a laughable strategy as the trailer is not as gory that it can get removed. Both these films will have negligible collections. In short, it’s going to be a bad Friday for Bollywood.

WHICH FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!

Abhimanyu Mathur (BOMBAY TIMES; June 28, 2019)

Spider-Man: Far From Home releases next week. One might assume that the studios’ biggest worries would be the opening night, the box office performance or even critical response. But executives are in overdrive to ensure one thing in particular – that their lead star does not inadvertently reveal some spoilers. After all, Tom Holland is a pro at that. Ever since he was introduced as the latest web-slinger in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, the British actor has gained a reputation for being a little too liberal with spoilers during interviews and press meets. He even ruined the ending of Avengers: Infinity War to an entire theatre, told his co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalan the ending of Endgame, and even accidentally revealed the title of Spider-Man: Far From Home on social media before its official announcement. Surely, the makers have every right to be concerned.

And it’s not as if the studios haven’t tried to stop Holland from his spoiling ways. In the past, they have resorted to having other ‘senior’ actors babysit Holland on press tours. Doctor Strange star, Benedict Cumberbatch, had that responsibility during the press tour for Avengers: Infinity War. “Benedict is a great partner for him on the press tour because he is very good at dancing around spoilers and monitoring Tom Holland,” the film’s co-director Anthony Russo had said in an interview.

For the sequel, the makers went one step ahead and did not even give the 22-year-old a script. The thought behind this? If he himself doesn’t know the details, he can’t spoil it for others. Earlier this year, Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo famously said, “Tom Holland does not get the script. He gets his lines and that’s it. He doesn’t even know who he’s acting opposite. We use vague terms with him to describe what is happening in the scene, because he has a hard time keeping his mouth shut.” In fact, they told him that a certain pivotal funeral scene in Avengers: Endgame was actually a wedding, when it was actually a funeral. “This is how bad it is for me. I was told it was a wedding,” the actor said at a press meet after the film’s release. No word of it a lie. “Yeah, sad times! I thought it was a wedding! I was so excited,” Holland said at a late-night show last month.

Yet still, there is no stopping Tom from revealing spoilers. At a press meet for Far From Home in Bali last month, Holland casually let it slip that him and Mysterio (played by Jake Gyllenhall) team up to fight “these creatures from other dimensions” (he said the whole thing right?) who come to Earth after Thanos’ snap in Endgame”. It was only after the audience’s cheers grew louder that he stopped and muttered a shocked “Oh!” Just how legendary are Holland’s spoiling skills is evident from the fact that he spoiled a movie when he wasn’t even a part of it. Holland learned the key plot points of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom from its director, who happens to be his friend. An excited Holland discussed all the points with the film’s lead actor, Chris Pratt, who was shooting for Infinity War with him at the time. The complication was that Pratt didn’t even know the plot to the film by that time. Imagine having your own movie being spoiled to you!

It’s not as if Holland isn’t aware of his ‘bad habit’. As he made his way to the stage for the press meet in Bali, he opened with, “So what can I say about this without spoiling it?” (before proceeding to spoil it regardless). Tom Holland’s credit, while other actors are reprimanded for breaking the no-spoiler code, Tom’s charm lets him get away with it. “What are you gonna do? He’s the nicest guy in the world, so you can never be punitive towards Tom Holland,” laments Avengers: Endgame co-director Anthony Russo.

SOME OF THE BIGGEST SPOILERS TOM HOLLAND LET SLIP

Told a theatre-full of people the ending to Avengers: Infinity War before the screening of the movie

Revealed that the Spider-Man series he is a part of is a trilogy even before the first film had released

Let it slip that the quantum realm played a role in the resolution of the Infinity Saga in Avengers: Endgame

Revealed the title of Spider-Man: Far From Home on his social media while posting a picture of the script

Revealed that Elementals enter Earth in Far From Home because of Thanos’ snap from Infinity War

Revealed the entire plot of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to Chris Pratt

He won’t hold a spider, is ‘a bit of a loser’ in his love life, and can be trusted to put out the odd spoiler. And that disarming charm just adds to Tom Holland, who is back as the web-spinning wonder in Spider-Man: Far From Home . He chats about spiders, love, charity, and why it was important to change the storyline from the original films.
Anshul Chaturvedi (BOMBAY TIMES; June 19, 2019)

Think Harry Potter + spider. Think LOTR + spider. Think any of the dozen horror movies with names such as Arachnophobia, Infestation, Tarantula, Eight-legged Freaks, The Mist — all of them with not-so-friendly neighbourhood spiders. What comes to mind? Many words, of which, however, cool is certainly not one.

How, then, does a spider sustain this cool-ness over decades and what does Spider-Man Tom Holland make of it? Don’t most people around him actually find spiders, well… “…scary? Yeah! Well, I mean, he can stick to walls, he can climb walls. And I guess the way his fingers climb, is quite spider-like. And… he has a thing called ‘spider-sense’, which is basically him being able to pre-empt when something dangerous is gonna happen, which lots of spiders actually do have. But I think it’s quite cool that we’ve made spiders a positive thing — because I don’t like spiders! I’m terrified of spiders, man! We were doing some press the other day and they had a big tarantula there, and they asked me if I would hold it for a picture and I said, naaah!”

For a moment, one ponders whether asking Spider-Man about how active he is on the web will be too cheesy, and as better sense prevails, one lets it be. After all, Tom is still just 22; is the youngest actor to play this role, being cast at just 19. Apart from being aware of the “huge responsibility” to the superhero’s fans, he’s also just a youngster who is still excited to put on the Spider-Man costume. On which, here’s the next question: As an actor, which transition is more challenging for him — from the teenager to the superhero, or vice versa?

When he put on or takes off the costume in moments, with one change, he expands, becomes a larger persona; in the other one, he abruptly hits a kill switch and is an awkward kid again, in seconds.

Tom takes a moment to respond to this one. “I’m a hyper-energetic person anyway, so I don’t find the transition that difficult. Sometimes I do find the attention quite scary and quite overwhelming. But… when I put the suit on, something comes over me... like this childlike attitude, this feeling of happiness, and I guess that is kind of emulated in the film. I guess the transition, the one from Peter to the superhero, is just basically me being excited to be in a Spider-Man costume.”

As Tom is bombarded with queries by the global press at the promotions for Spider-Man: Far From Home, he displays Spider-Man-like dexterity, always light on his feet and quick to leap when necessary. The press recurrently asks him if he thinks he is a role model, to which he says, “When I grew up watching the Spider-Man movies, I really looked up to Andrew (Garfield) and Tobey (Maguire, who have played Spider-Man before). So for me now, I’m aware that there are probably little kids around the world who’re looking up to me. So I have a huge responsibility to be a good role model. And I really try my best to do that, with my charity work that I do with my family, just the way I hold myself in public, and the way I treat other people — I really try and set a good example for people, and it’s an important part of the job — because I’m playing a superhero, so I should try my best off screen to try to be a positive light for young people. I love playing this role, and if I never escape this role and I play Peter Parker till I’m 80, I’d love to do that. Not that that will happen. But I recognise how lucky I am.” Along the way, he lets drop that his brother’s charity work extends to India and that he’d love to visit Mumbai when he can.

He is then asked about how he feels about stepping away from the traditional story. He likes it, clearly. “I think it’s really important. There’s a fantastic picture of myself and the cast on a boat in Venice, and it’s the most diverse group of people you’ve ever seen, ever. I think we’re representing our generation, and our generation now is incredibly diverse and inclusive, and that’s such an important thing. Jon Watts (director) was really the first person to get that message across. The fact that we changed Mary Jane and Ned Leeds and Flash Thompson, I think is a really huge step forward in our industry, and I hope we can continue to do so in however many Spider-Man movies we make. Because I think it’s a really great positive thing for young people to see.”

Everyone wants to know about Peter and Mary Jane. He explains at length, patiently. “The relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane is very much that of high-school students, it’s not your big Hollywood romance, it’s not your typical romantic relationship. It’s very kidlike, he’s really nervous around her and she’s really nervous around him. They don’t know what to say, they try and hold hands but they’re too scared to. It’s very much like my love life, really. I’m a bit of a loser when it comes to that. But it was really sweet to try and bring that to life because everyone goes through that at some point, everyone at some point has a crush.”

And there’s more of teen pains than just the crush. “It used to be that superheroes fly and throw in some punches and it was all over. Now with characters like Peter Parker, he is only human, he’s only a boy who happens to have these crazy superpowers, and he doesn’t always know what to do with them. And in this film he wants to take a break from Spider-Man, after Avengers: Endgame he’s so tired, and he needs to take a break. But what he realises is that the responsibility of being Spider-Man is not something you can put down. So he slowly realises that his life is now going to be Spider-Man.”

He pauses occasionally, double-checking what he’s saying, wickedly pausing in a self-deprecating acknowledgment of having gained quite a reputation for giving away spoilers. “I don’t think I’ve done any spoilers on this tour yet, I’ve been really careful.”

And then explains where the branding comes from. It’s a fun anecdote. “What Kevin Feige (producer) likes to do when a film is released is, he rents a party bus, and we get all the producers and the directors and some of the actors and we drive around LA and go to different theatres and surprise the fans. I was given a microphone — this is at the time of Infinity War, and obviously at the end of Infinity War I die — and the writer said, this audience has just finished the movie. So I went in and said, ‘Don’t worry everyone, I’m still alive’. And everyone kind of looked at me blankly, and I thought, why is no one laughing? And I looked across and Kevin and Joe Russo (co-director) were like, shut up! And I was like, why? It’s fine, guys, I’m not actually dead! And, well, they hadn’t seen the movie yet and I spoiled the whole movie for a thousand people.”

That’s all right, Tom. You’ve made other movies so much fun for thousands more; safe to guess that thousand won’t hold it against you for long.

Upala KBR (MID-DAY; June 14, 2019)

A prestige once attached to films of Bollywood's superstars is gradually moving into the hands of Hollywood — Indian filmmakers are now eyeing international flicks to attach the trailers of their films to. Following the mammoth success of Marvel's Avengers: Endgame in India, the makers of Prabhas-starrer Saaho are set to attach their trailer to the franchise's upcoming Spiderman spin-off. mid-day has it that the trailer will release on social media on July 1, and subsequently in cinema halls on July 5, along with Spider-Man: Far From Home.

A trade source says, "Producers of Bollywood films like to attach their trailers to big Hollywood franchises. Earlier this year, Bharat's trailer was released with Avengers: Endgame." While Saaho's teaser exploited the film's action to draw viewers, the trailer will have an emotional undertone, apart from introducing the antagonists, we're told. A source from the creative team adds, "Chunky Pandey, Jackie Shroff, Mahesh Manjrekar and Neil Nitin Mukesh play the baddies, but it's a clincher till the end to decipher what their motive is."

With Tom Holland-starrer Spider-Man: Far From Home eyeing about 2,000 screens, trade analyst Atul Mohan finds it fitting for the makers of Saaho to consider a film of this stature. "It implies that there will be more eyeballs and hence more business for the film. Like Spider-Man, Saaho is also action [oriented], and will hence target an audience with similar taste." However, Sony Pictures, distributors of the Marvel flick say they do not have any information with regards to this development. Made on a Rs 300 crore budget, Saaho will release on August 15.