All the latest movies to see this summer
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All the latest movies to see this summer
15 December 2021
Spider-Man faces the challenges of being a superhero.
Spider-Man: No Way Home – released 16 December
“The problem is you – trying to live two different lives!”
At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, our likeable hero Peter Parker (Tom Holland) had his secret identity revealed to the world by dying villain Mysterio. Now, Spidey finds himself in a sea of unwanted attention. Driven to desperation, Parker enlists the help of the master of the mystic arts, Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), to erase from everyone’s memory that he is the world-famous webslinger. Unfortunately, the spell goes wrong, leading to a fracture in the multiverse that allows the emergence of alternate supervillains like Doc Oc, Electro and The Green Goblin.
The heart of No Way Home’s storyline is an existential crisis. Parker cannot come to terms with his identity as a superhero as easily as his mentor, Tony Stark. His failure to embrace both the good with the bad, being known and unknown, is what skews Dr Strange’s spell. Spidey’s struggle will serve as a perfect parallel for audience members who also happen to be Christians. Like Peter (in the Bible), believers soon discover that there is no way to be known as a believer to just one group of people.
Sing 2 – released 26 December
“There’s always a choice. ‘Just never had the guts to make the right one’.”
In Sing 2, Buster (Matthew McConaughey) convinces his troupe to travel to Redshore City and pitch their latest show to entertainment mogul Jimmy Crystal. They only capture Jimmy’s attention, though, by pretending they have legendary rock lion Clay Calloway on board. Now it’s up to the team to bring Clay out of retirement before they’re thrown off stage.
Sing 2 is in many respects a ‘rinse and repeat’ of Sing, lining up a staggering ensemble cast – Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, Bono – to sing crowd-pleasing songs – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. What accompanies them is a storyline that’s just as well known. Key characters find themselves facing crucial choices that stand between them and happiness. They can allow their past, lack of qualifications, or ability to cast them down, or they can embrace their potential for greatness. It’s a sad moral because it suggests success is always up to us. And, just as sadly, it’s sweet to the taste and sticks like the fairy floss it is.
House of Gucci – released 26 December
“Father, Son and House of Gucci.”
This thriller film concerns the rise and fall of the legendary fashion brand of the same name. Lady Gaga stars as Patrizia Reggiani, a penniless social climber who marries Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), a third-generation member of the Gucci empire. The House of Gucci is controlled by Maurizio’s father, Rodolpho (Jeremy Irons), and his uncle, Aldo (Al Pacino). Under Patrizia’s influence, Maurizio edges his uncle out of the business to become chairman of the Gucci Group. However, Maurizio comes to resent his wife’s influence and eventually leaves her for another woman. When Patrizia learns her husband intends to marry his lover and seriously impact her fortunes, she hires a hitman to solve her problems.
House of Gucci is directed by Ridley Scott and based on a true story, with a real-life lesson to absorb. House of Gucci is a cautionary tale about the idols we set up in our lives. The challenge will be to take it seriously. The social level at which the story operates could leave us thinking we are just observers of this sordid struggle. However, everyone is in danger of coming under the thrall of an idol. For Patrizia, it was power. For us, it might be something as wholesome as family or as fleeting as health. Either way, idols are cruel masters that discover depths in us we never thought possible.
West Side Story – released 26 December
“If you go with him, no one will ever forgive you.”
Director Stephen Spielberg has recreated the legendary musical West Side Story. Loosely based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story introduces us to 1950s teenagers Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (Rachel Zegler) who find themselves on either side of a bitter gang dispute. Yet their affiliations don’t prevent them from falling in love and hoping to find ‘a place for us’.
West Side Story went from a hit Broadway musical to the big screen in 1961. It won an incredible 10 Oscars, and the update’s release has ensured it will be in contention for the 2022 Academy Awards. Spielberg will stay close to a storyline that is saturated in the right kind of love: one that sacrifices itself for its beloved. West Side Story is not a Christian tale, but it provides strong parallels for someone hoping to explain the colour-blind, status-ignorant love of Christ that transformed the ancient world and holds true today.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – released 1 January
Mr Grooberson: “Somehow, a town with no fault lines is shaking on a daily basis.”
Phoebe: “Maybe it’s the apocalypse.”
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a direct sequel to the original Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989) films. The plot unfolds in a small town in Oklahoma where a family has relocated because of money troubles. Callie and her two children, Finn and Phoebe, move into a rickety old farmhouse left to them by their grandfather. There, Finn and Phoebe discover laboratory equipment and the legendary station wagon ‘Ecto 1’ that led them to realise their grandfather was one of the original Ghostbusters. The world has largely forgotten the paranormal investigators; however, unexplained phenomena soon bring them to mind as this new generation of ghostbusters sets out to avert a whole new apocalypse.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is literally a resurrection of a franchise. It is directed by Jason Reitman, son of original director Ivan Reitman, and reunites cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver and Ernie Hudson. It is also liberally sprinkled with nostalgic references, right down to miniature versions of Mr Stay Puff, the marshmallow monster. Another thing back from the grave, though, is a way of seeing the spiritual world as something either laughable or threatening. Ghostbusters represents the triumph of science over that scary theology, so don’t go looking for any faith in an afterlife here.
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