Spider-Man: No Way Home Review

Synopsis
With his identity as Spider-Man revealed to the public, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) asks Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help to make the world forget his secret identity. But when the spell goes wrong, villains from other universes arrive, causing problems for Peter and his friends.

Review
Before I get into my review, I just want to say how great it felt to be back in a packed theater! The energy and excitement is unlike anything I have felt since Avengers: Endgame. With things slowly opening up again, I’m glad that I was able to experience Spider-Man: No Way Home with a full, eager crowd. I truly missed this.

The Spider-Man films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are some of my favorites in the entire franchise. Part of this is because Tom Holland is my favorite actor who as played Spider-Man. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield both portray parts of Peter and Spider-Man to various success but to me, Holland is the actor who out of the three captures the character of both Peter and Spider-Man. And of course, Holland does not fail to deliver in his third outing as the titular character. On top of his performance as Peter / Spider-Man, his chemistry with the cast around him is top notch. Not only with Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, but with the villains opposite him. I can honestly say that this is my favorite performance from Holland in the MCU so far. I know that the relationship between Marvel Studios and Sony around the character is a bit rocky at the moment but I hope they are able to work through those and deliver more Holland-led Spider-Man films. Because to take that away would be nothing short of theft.

And speaking of the villains, the returning villains practically steal the show, despite the high praise I just gave the heroes. Alfred Molina, Willem Defoe, and Jamie Foxx were all superb. Molina and Defoe gave fantastic performances in their respective films and only do better here, which I didn’t think was possible! While The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had several problems, Foxx’s performance was not one of them (although it didn’t help either). Here, Foxx gives his character of Electro the performance that such an iconic member of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery deserves.

Being the third Spider-Man film of the MCU, Spider-Man: No Way Home properly raises the stakes and excitement levels than what came before. I constantly found myself tensing up or holding my breath throughout the movie. It balances these high-intensity scenes with the character-building and slower scenes well. Unlike Eternals, despite being one of the longest films in the franchise, it certainly doesn’t feel like it.

After Spider-Man: Far From Home, one of my biggest wants from the MCU Spider-Man franchise was a proper New York City Spider-Man film. Spidey swinging through the skyscrapers of NYC is so iconic and is not something we have truly yet to experience in the MCU. While No Way Home took place in NYC, not much is seen of the city itself. Another gripe I had previously, probably since Spider-Man: Homecoming, is that Peter’s gadgets mostly came from Tony Stark (aka Iron Man). Peter Parker is a genius inventor himself, so to see him have much of his equipment handed to him felt like it took away a lot of those skills from his character. However, where the story leaves Peter at the end appears to open the door to address both of those should another MCU Spider-Man film happen. I’m not going to say any more on the matter but if another film happens, it looks like I will finally get the NYC-set Spider-Man film I would love to see again with Peter’s engineering skills on full display.

I thought Spider-Man: No Way Home was GREAT 😀 Simply put, it is a love letter to Spider-Man’s cinematic history. It pays homage to those characters and actors that came before, fulfilling arcs from both the MCU Spider-Man films, as well as characters from the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb Spider-Man films. And all the while giving us something unique and a story unlike anything before. I will admit that some of the most memorable and cheer-worthy moments of this movie come from a viewer’s history with, and understanding of, past Spider-Man movies. I’d be interested to hear someone’s opinion who isn’t as familiar with the pre-MCU Spider-Man films. Nonetheless, there is a lot here to enjoy, even if you haven’t seen the pre-MCU Spider-Man films and serves as a great end to the “Home” trilogy. Holland has really come into the role of Peter Parker and Spider-Man and I hope that we will get to see him put on the web shooters again.

Trivia
Tom Holland helped to save this movie from cancellation by forcing renegotiations between Sony and Disney. Under the terms of the new deal, not only does Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) still take place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but Spider-Man can also appear in future MCU movies, as well as Sony’s own Spider-Man franchise. (via IMDb)

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Jon Watts – Director
Chris McKenna – Writer
Erik Sommer – Writer

Tom Holland – Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Zendaya – MJ
Jacob Batalon – Ned Leeds
Benedict Cumberbatch – Doctor Strange
Jon Favreau – Happy Hogan
Marisa Tomei – May Parker
Alfred Milina – Dr. Otto Octavius / Doc Ock
Willem Dafoe – Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
Jamie Foxx – Max Dillon / Electro
Rhys Ifan – Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Thomas Haden Church – Flint Marko / Sandman
Benedict Wong – Wong
Tony Revolori – Flash Thompson
Angourie Rice – Betty Brant
JK Simmons – J. Jonah Jameson

Spider-Man: Far From Home Review

Synopsis
While on a vacation to Europe, Peter (Tom Holland) is recruited by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to help combat “elementals” alongside the mysterious new hero Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).

Review
This review contains spoilers for the end of Avenger: Endgame.

Spider-Man: Far From Home closes out the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU’s) Infinity Saga, the large, overarching narrative Marvel Studios has been telling since Iron Man. In a way, Spider-Man was the perfect character to close out Phase 3. For years, he was (and probably still is) Marvel comic’s flagship character, much like Iron Man was for the MCU. Spider-Man is also now the only character beside Iron Man to have two solo movies in the same phase. But most importantly, Peter Parker became an adoptive son to Tony Stark. No other character is more suited to reflect on what it means to not have Tony around than Peter.

I thought Spider-Man: Homecoming did a good job of integrating Tony Stark into the story; he was present but didn’t take over the story. However, his presence could still be felt in the peripheral, just out of sight. Even in his own movie, Peter still felt like he was in Tony’s shadow. Peter didn’t make his suit or all of the gadgets it contained, Tony did. Even when Peter messed up on the ferry, endangering civilian lives, Tony was there to fix it. Now with Tony gone, Peter has the opportunity to step out on his own. Tony’s presence is still felt in this film but a different way than in Spider-Man: Homecoming: Peter is shadowed by Tony’s legacy.

This movie focuses on Spider-Man’s interference with Peter’s personal life more than Spider-Man: Homecoming did. Peter trying to find this balance between the two was one of the strength’s of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and has been lacking in the Spider-Man films since. Constantly throughout the film, Peter is put in situations that forces him to choose between pursuing a relationship with MJ (Zendaya) or his responsibility as Spider-Man. These moments along with his reflections of living up to Tony’s legacy grow Peter’s character in leaps and bounds, creating some of the best emotional character moments since Spider-Man 2. For the sequel Spider-Man: Back Home (100% guess on that title), Peter can finally step into his own role instead of working under Tony’s shadow.

I’ve said in other reviews and in podcasts that in a market saturated with superhero films, superhero films cannot be traditional superhero films. They have to do something different or be something different and Spider-Man: Far From Home does just that. Given that Peter is still in high school, this movie is a superhero film wrapped in a teen drama, which is perfect. Peter is a teenager trying to find his way through courting MJ. He’s awkward, not perfect, and trying to find his place in the world. You know, typical teen stuff. Peter just happens to be a superhero. This is the kind of film the superhero genre needs to stay fresh.

One of the best things about Spider-Man: Homecoming was the cast. Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, Zendaya, and Michael Keaton were all wonderful in their parts. We can add another well-cast member to that list: Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio was everything I could have hoped for from the character. His Quentin Beck was much more charismatic than his comic book counterpart but just as petty and resourceful. Gyllenhaal also had fantastic chemistry with Tom Holland, making their scenes together entertaining.

I thought Spider-Man: Far From Home was GREAT 😀 Peter has taken the steps to get out of Tony’s shadow and is set up for a Spider-Man movie properly about Spider-Man in the inevitable sequel. This series continues its outstanding casting choices adding Jake Gyllenhaal to the list. I am extremely excited for the future of my favorite wall-crawler.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Jon Watts – Director
Chris McKenna – Writer
Michael Giacchino – Composer

Tom Holland – Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Zendaya – MJ
Jacob Batalon – Ned Leeds
Samuel L. Jackson – Nick Fury
Cobie Smulders – Maria Hill
Marisa Tomei – May Parker
Jon Favreau – Happy Hogan
Jake Gyllenhaal – Quentin Beck / Mysterio
Tony Revolori – Flash Thompson
Angourie Rice – Betty Brant
Remy Hii – Brad Davis
Martin Starr – Mr. Harrington
JB Smoove – Mr. Dell
Numan Acar – Dimitri
Dawn Michelle King – EDITH (voice)

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