Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man seeks the help of Doctor Strange after his identity is revealed.

'Spider-Man: No Way Home' is the latest in a long line of films with the much-loved hero. It is quite original, fun, nostalgic and interesting due to the presence of Doctor Strange and many of the characters of the past iterations.

Director:  Jon Watts       

With: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jamie Foxx, Jon Favreau, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire

Rating: 8/10

Doom Patrol (2019– )

A scientist gathers a team of unusual and imperfect superheroes who live together because no one else wants them.

'Doom Patrol' is a series with superpowered people that intersects with Titans, both series taking place in the DC universe. And this is where all the similarities end, this series being perhaps the most unusual, original and crazy series with superheroes, be it DCU or MCU. From the street that is a being (called Danny), life being possible in the white of comics' sheets (!), the city kidnapped in the butt of a donkey, to the fact that the narrator of the first season was the bad guy, Doom Patrol is full of imagination, intelligent ridiculousness, imperfect characters who are richly endowed with personality and drama and and lacks even the slightest bit of boredom.

Too bad it will be missed by those with prejudices about superhero movies and series.

Director:  Chris Manley and many others  

Production:  DC Comics, Warner Bros   

Creator:  Jeremy Carver   

Duration:  3 seasons of 15/9/10 episodes (1 hour each)   

With: Diane Guerrero, April Bowlby, Matt Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Timothy Dalton, Alan Tudyk, Michelle Gomez, Mark Sheppard

Rating: 9/10

Brightburn (2019)

A couple who wants children finds an answer to their prayers, when an alien child crashes on their land, in a meteorite.

A horror movie about an anti-Superman. The tension is well maintained and well executed, the child's emotional involution is well portrayed and the terror and doubt of those who love him makes sense. What is unpleasant, perhaps, is the abruptness of the child's emotional change and the hopelessness and emotional emptiness that is suggested, especially given the contrast to the same character at the beginning of the film.

Director:  David Yarovesky     

With: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Abraham Clinkscales

Rating: 7/10

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

In a post-Avengers: Endgame world, Spider-Man tries to do things normal for his age, but the fate of his superhero persona gets in his way.

Another movie from the endless series of features in the current Marvel Universe. It's a pretty entertaining film, with some quite original and more appealing ideas and plot for an audience so fed up with the same type of villain. Which is really very refreshing, but as a movie, Far From Home can't be considered anything more than just a filler one.

Director:  Jon Watts     

With: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya

Rating: 7/10

Shazam! (2019)

A boy abandoned by his mother becomes the officially chosen host of mythical superpowers that help maintain the good vs bad balance in the world, an honor attributed only after character tests failed by many others before him.

Shazam! is DC's response to Deadpool, and it seems to have been received by the public in an equally positive way, a fact I really can't explain. Shazam and its humour are childish, the action is boring and the dialogue is just filler. The kids are cute but it's not enough to just win the public's heart subjectively.

Director:  David F. Sandberg     

With: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer

Rating: 6/10

Code 8 (2019)

In an alternative reality where there are people with superpowers and many rules to limit their lives, a construction worker joins a group of criminals in order to save his mother.

Mutants with superpowers and some heist type action. A popular choice of subject matter and a way too overused one at that, such that Code 8 just seems like a diluted rerun of other similar movies. Nothing new to say about it but maybe the fact that it's interesting to see the two Amel brothers in the same movie.

Director:  Jeff Chan   

With: Kari Matchett, Robbie Amell, Penny Eizenga, Lawrence Bayne, Stephen Amell

Rating: 6/10