OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, HAVING conversations with various friends, I felt I was on an extended walk down memory lane. With one friend, we reminisced about the time when we were kids and went to a traveling carnival that arranged to setup in a park next to the beach. There were five of us friends who went together as a group on a sunny windy day. We had a blast trying the different games of chance, along with going on most of the rides multiple times. My friend and I remembered one ride in particular at the same time. It was like a ferris wheel except it rotated at an angle; imagine a clock dial, the top of the wheel was positioned at 11 o’clock and the bottom at 5 o’clock. Attached around the wheel were these metal parachute shapes that had a padded seat suspended underneath with a small back for support. They were rigid; however, the parachute was attached around a metal cylinder, giving the seated parachute freedom to swing. My friend and I sat together and after a couple of slow rotations around the wheel, the speed picked up. She was wearing a long pleated, printed skirt that I think was called a peasant or granny skirt. With the ride going fast, the wind swirling all around us, her skirt kept catching her skirt and blowing it up towards her face. She had to use one hand to try and keep it down but there was little success. When the ride ended and we rejoined our friends, she declared she would not go on any other rides; she was so embarrassed.      TALKING WITH A COUPLE OF OTHER friends, they were trying to remember where we went on a road trip years ago. All they could retrieve about the trip was climbing up a wooden observation tower. The memory was triggered after they came across a couple of photos that was of them when they were much younger. I never forgot that trip because I wound up getting sick. We had driven across the state to the border that was separated by a large river from our western neighbor. The observation deck looked over rolling green hills to the west; and back to the east one could faintly see a few of our city’s tallest skyscrapers. Our destination was a quaint, little town that did not allow vehicles within the city limits. The only method of transportation was either on foot or bicycle. Fudge was the most popular item sold in this town. We had a pleasant time exploring and trying different flavored fudges. However, on our return trip home, I got hit with a migraine headache. We had to pull off to the side of the road at some point because I was getting nauseous. I got out of the car and ran into a patch of tall grass; my friends could hear me puking up everything I had eaten. The rest of the ride home I was in a deep sleep. Revisiting these different memories with my friends was thoroughly enjoyable; it is part of our history together. With a focus on friendship in this action, adventure, superhero drama; I felt a strong emotional connection to the story.      LONG FORGOTTEN, PETER PARKER, PLAYED BY Tom Holland (The Odyssey, Uncharted), was living a solitary, lonesome life. Despite always returning to thoughts about the past, he had to stay in action mode when a new unseen threat began to wreak havoc in the city. With Zendaya (Challengers, The Drama) as MJ, Mark Ruffalo (Crime 101, Poor Things) as Bruce Banner, Jon Bernthal (The Odyssey, The Amateur) as Frank Castle, and Jacob Batalon (The Wrecking Crew, Novocaine) as Ned Leeds; this was for me a different type of superhero movie. It was more personal which is why I was drawn in emotionally. I thought the acting and chemistry between the actors was fully charged, which made the story more intense and human. The action scenes were wonderful as was the directing. What I found especially surprising was how the writers slipped in characters from other film franchises: I can only imagine where this franchise is headed next. After the showing, I heard some people saying they are not fans of superhero movies, but they absolutely loved this picture. And that reminds me, after the story ended and the credits began to roll, everyone in the theater started clapping. I have not experienced that in some time. There was one brief scene at the end of the credits that essentially said Spider-man will return.

3 3/4 stars