Overthinking Movies Brandon Hain

Spider-Man 2 was a landmark film in the superhero genre in 2004, a strong improvement over its predecessor, and a great examination of identity of Spider-Man and Peter Parker as characters. But! Literally 20 later, after 8 more Spider-Man films, cartoons, games, and countless comics, is Spider-Man 2 still a peak the for the character, or has it been easily outdone by what was built upon its legacy?

In the time since the original Sam Rami Spider-Man Trilogy we have had 3 different Spider-Man film franchises. The Tom Holland and Spiderverse movies in particular have been hailed as the best adaptations of the character to date. So where does that leave the original film in 2024? What does it say about that era of superhero films, and how has its legacy influenced the decades that built upon its success?

First they Rose, then they had their Dawn, and then they had a War (but not really, there wasn't much war in that movie surprisingly), and having won, hundreds of years later, they have formed their Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. But not all is right in the new ape dominated earth, and of course, it may have to with the legacy both Ceasar and mankind left behind. I love Planet of the Apes, so with a new creative team behind it, did Kingdom successfully built one upon one came before?

It was inevitable; a movie about a second civil war within the US. Terrifying concept to think about, a thrilling set up for a movie. Released by A24, and directed and written by Alex Garland of 28 Days Later, Ex Machina, and Annihilation fame. Kirsten Dunst is already widely praised for her performance in the lead role of war photographer Lee Smith, but can the script balance such a complex and political subject matter?

So what do you do with a sequel to "Godzilla vs Kong"? Put them up against two new monsters of course, but not without some scraping of their own first.

Co-host Alex Ulaky and I were admittedly not too excited for a sequel to another American Godzilla movie, especially after 2023's Japanese Godzilla film, Godzilla Minus One, which was not only better than every American Godzilla movie, but one of the best films of that year.

Still, does Godzilla x Kong offer enough dumb CGI monster action to justify another entry in this middling universe?

At last, we reach the end of the original Godzilla film franchise, dating from 1954 to 1975. It caps off with a two parter against a robot duplicate, the iconic Mechagodzilla. Do these two films serve as a satisfying finale?