We saw three movies at the cinema in June-July: Despicable Me 3 (20 June), Wonder Woman (28 June), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (7 July).
The boys love the previous Despicable Me movies, including the absolutely delightful Minions (2015). We have a Minions: Seek and Find activity book they enjoy tremendously and keep returning to from time to time. In Despicable Me 3, reformed villain Gru discovers that he has a twin brother, Dru, who wants Gru to return to and instruct him on the ways of villainy. Personally, the Despicable Me franchise is starting to get boring, especially after the excellent Minions. The boys enjoyed the new movie, but not as much as they did its predecessors. A simple indicator to that effect is that they have not asked about it since. Animated movies take a few years to make. Let us see if they will eventually make a fourth Despicable Me movie without letting the whole franchise go stale.
Much has been written about Wonder Woman, the movie that may or may not have saved the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). We did not see Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Suicide Squad (2016) at the cinema. However, after seeing it on the the small screen I kind of like Man of Steel, which I think was a decent enough, if not bleak (foreshadowing?), introduction to DCEU. It didn't quite explode with a bang like what Iron Man (2008) did for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but Man of Steel is far better than Superman Returns (2006).
The appearance of Wonder Woman is the best part, and perhaps the only saving grace, in Batman v Superman, so we were really looking forward to seeing Wonder Woman the movie. The movie tells of the origin of Wonder Woman, aka Diana Prince, aka Princess Diana of Themyscira. While the earlier 1975 movie was set in World War II (I won't even pretend to have read the comics), the new movie is set in World War I, the "War to End All Wars", which worked wonderfully. Gal Gadot was amazing as Wonder Woman, and we are big fans of Chris Pine. Needless to say that we love it.
We promised Omar Spider-Man: Homecoming as a birthday treat, and took the boys to see the movie on its opening day. Instead of the typical origin story, Homecoming picks up from Spider-Man's debut appearance in Captain America: Civil War (2016) with Peter Parker now eager to prove himself as a full member of the Avengers. The casting of Tom Holland as Spider-Man aka Peter Parker was spot on, and Jon Favreau made a welcome return as "Happy" Hogan along with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. It was also a pleasant surprise to discover Jennifer Connelly lending her voice as Karen aka Suit Lady, following husband Paul Bettanny's role as Jarvis/Vision in the MCU. After Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in April, Marvel is definitely on a roll!
2017 has been a great year. More movies we are looking forward to seeing at the cinema in the coming months include The LEGO Ninjago movie in September, Thor: Ragnarok in October, Justice League and Coco in November, and of course, Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December.
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