By: James Southworth
Rating: 4/5 Stars
For as long as I can remember, Spider-Man has been my favorite superhero of all time. I think I may be able to relate to this character so much that it's uncomfortable. He definitely has inspired the awkward, introverted nerd in me. Because of my passionate love for this character (as well as his many great villains), I have been equally passionate about him getting the best possible movies he deserved. The Sam Raimi films, in my opinion, mostly delivered on this front. I returned to "Spider-Man 2" recently, and there is stuff about it that I appreciate more now than when I first saw it at a younger age. Spider-Man 3, in my view, isn't as bad as some people say it is. The first of the Raimi films is my favorite of the trilogy. Then there came the embarrassing "Amazing Spider-Man" films, which really didn't understand the character well. He was made out to be edgy and dark, which is not what Peter is at all. Also, the second film is probably one of the worst superhero films I've ever seen; it's so messy and insipid. The MCU proceeded to partner with Sony and give us yet another Spider-Man, this time in actor Tom Holland. While I didn't find "Homecoming" to be a great SM film, I still mainly enjoyed it. It was a little rough around the edges, but Holland proved to be a good enough Parker. The best part of the first film was actually its teen comedy plot lines rather than the superhero moments. Also, Michael Keaton was superb and gave us one of Marvel's strongest villains/antiheroes. I started growing on Tom Holland more in films where he was more of a side character, such as "Infinity War" and "Endgame". So, I was actually pretty excited to see what he could deliver in "Far From Home". Thankfully, this movie is a really solid follow-up to "Homecoming", and in some ways, might be a little (though not significantly) better.
This movie takes place following the events of "Endgame". At Peter's high school, they refer to the disappearance of half of the population as "The Blip". Now that many people are back, some people are aged differently than others. But that is the least of Peter's worries: he now has feelings for MJ and is trying to find a way to confess them. He thinks the best way might be on his school's field trip to Europe. Along the way, though, he meets Mysterio, who needs him for a mission to defeat the Elementals that are threatening to destroy the world as we know it. Now, Peter has to decide whether he wants to have a normal life or be a superhero. I really enjoyed myself consistently throughout watching this movie. Even though I will be pointing out flaws later, I can't deny this is one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences I've had this year. For all of Marvel's flaws, they still can often deliver a movie that, while not necessarily the most intelligent piece of art in the world, is still undeniably fun and filled with things one can enjoy. There's a lot to commend about this movie. Even though I think I may like it a little better than "Homecoming", a lot of things that work about "Far From Home" are pretty similar to what works about the former. The best parts of this film often come in its teen comedy aspects, once again. This movie is pretty much a teen rom-com disguised as a superhero movie. I like that, as it gives this movie an ability to effortlessly shift between two genres. This is somewhat similar to what Sam Raimi's films did, except director Joe Watts is doing it in his own way. The rom com aspects work because our two main couples have impeccable chemistry. Peter and MJ are probably the best they have ever been in any film. A problem I always had with Raimi's films is that Peter and Mary just didn't click well, and their dialogue was clunky. Though Peter and Gwen Stacy in the "Amazing Spider-Man" movies were slightly better (the only aspect that was an improvement over the Raimi films), their chemistry still felt awkward at times considering the fact that they were obviously improvising a good portion of their dialogue. So, I can confidently say that the Peter/MJ romance in the MCU is the best version we've gotten of it yet. The scenes between them have so much legitimate charm; it's hard not to root for them to get together. I wasn't expecting to like the Ned/Betty pairing so much, but I did. I guess I didn't realize just how much comedic potential there was in it. I don't want to reveal much about what happens between them, but I feel like their relationship is meant to be a bit of a parody on tropes that occur in teen romance movies. And even though there is a parody aspect, their relationship is still quite endearing and fun to watch. I really liked both Ned and Betty better in this movie than in the first. This movie even starts to afford some complexity to Flash Thompson, which was not something I was expecting. They don't do a lot with him in this movie, but I think that there could be potential to see more of his story in future movies. It seems there might be tragic reasoning for why he acts the way he does. So yeah, pretty much all the teen characters in this movie are great, with the exception of Brad. He serves as a sort of side antagonist for Peter because Brad's also after MJ. I didn't find him particularly compelling.
I think what might work best about this movie is its very honed-in focus on Peter Parker's internal struggles. The main problem I had with "Homecoming" is that it didn't really seem like Peter's struggles were that significant. They were there sure, but any tension was drained because of the fact that Tony Stark kept on needlessly appearing in the movie. I somewhat understood Watts's reasoning for having him there, but his role was far too significant for my taste. Tony is very much a part of "Far From Home", but in my opinion it's in a way that makes more sense. It's obvious that Peter would be affected by Tony's death, as he's looked to him as a father figure. The fact that he's trying to live up to him increases the stakes for Peter considerably. Also, we finally get to see what makes Spider-Man so compelling as a character: his conflict between choosing life as a superhero or life as a normal teenager. That was what drives Peter more than anything, and it's what makes the audience invested in following him as a character. This movie portrays that struggle incredibly well in so many moments. The previous Spider-Man movie seemed to give Peter no real consequences for when he messed up. This one does. When he does mess up, it's him who has to deal with the mess; no one else is going to be there to clean up for him. That means Peter is always actively involved in the action happening, and the choices he makes are his own. This makes him a compelling character in this film, and easily at his best in live-action form since Spider-Man 2. The fact that the villain in this movie directly feeds into Spider-Man's vulnerabilities only helps us to understand Peter more and root for him to overcome his struggles.
The performances in this film are overall great. Tom Holland does his best Parker to date here for me. I thought he was playing up the innocent aspect of Peter a little too much-to the point of slight exaggeration- in "Homecoming". Here, he plays his character with a bit more nuance. We can see that the events of "Endgame" have matured Peter significantly, and his character matures beyond that throughout this film. I really liked what Holland did with the character here. I am now fully on board with his performance. It's not like I disliked him in any other previous film he was in; I just wasn't sure if he could carry Spider-Man for several more films. This movie makes me more certain he can, and I'm excited to see him continue to grow into this character. Zendaya is actually quite good here as MJ. I'm glad that this movie fleshed her out so much. Like I mentioned earlier, this is probably the best interpretation of MJ I've seen. She's actually got a personality beyond being someone for Spider-Man to save. In fact, she's quite independent, funny, and intelligent. The way her and Peter's relationship develops in this film is interesting and unique; it's a wholly new interpretation. I appreciated it significantly. I continue to consider Jacob Batalon as Ned a welcome highlight of these films. Him and Peter's friendship has been one of my favorite things to come out of the MCU. His comedic timing is always on point, and the things they do with his character in this movie is fun. I feel like they could continue to dig deeper with him, but I also understand the desire to keep him as mainly a comedic relief. Angourie Rice is great fun here as Betty. I liked how the movie developed her beyond just her awkward personality. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as Quinn Beck/Mysterio is a little complicated for me to talk about. I love Gyllenhaal as a performer, and I think he did pretty well here. At first in the movie, his performance seems a little weak and underwhelming. However, as the movie goes on, his performance begins to improve. I can't reveal the reason why, but I he grew on me a lot more about halfway into the film. There are some weak performances to point out, all of them being adult character performances (besides Gyllenhaal). Samuel L. Jackson was surprisingly boring here as Nick Fury. This is the first time I've not enjoyed this character, and I hope it will be the last. I'm still not convinced on Marisa Tomei as May; I think Rosemary Harris's performance is just too iconic to be replaced. Martin Starr and J.B. Groove as Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell (Peter's chaperones for the field trip) don't seem to quite fit into this movie. There are some funny moments with them, but nothing super interesting.
I haven't actually talked about what probably a lot of people came to this movie for: the action sequences. I will say they are a bit of a mixed bag, similar to the first movie. There are some thrilling action sequences here that are visually quite stunning and creative. I can't reveal what they are as that would be delving into spoilers, but you'll know what I mean if you see the movie. Otherwise, the action here isn't offensive; it's just sort of standard. The Elementals look like what you'd probably picture them to be: big, hulking monsters who are made up of whatever element they represent. They're not really the most interesting threat out there, but they're okay for what they are. The superhero aspects of this movie are interesting mainly because you care about Spider-Man and him getting out of it alive. The stakes aren't high, but I don't think they needed to be. After all, we have just come off "Endgame", and it would be an understatement to say the stakes were high there.
Overall, "Spider-Man: Far From Home" is a great movie. It's gonna be nearly impossible at this point for any movie to hold a candle to what "Into The Spider-Verse" did for its titular hero. But when you compare this movie to its live-action predecessors, it actually stands out pretty well. I would say it's easily better than "Spider-Man 3", though maybe not as good as the first two in Raimi's trilogy. I definitely recommend you see this movie! Also, be sure to stay for the end credits sequences. The first one in particular had me grinning like an idiot, and left me incredibly excited for what's to come in this series.
Here's my official ranking of every Spider-Man movie:
1. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
2. Spider-Man
3. Spider-Man 2
4. Spider-Man: Far From Home
5. Spider-Man: Homecoming
6. Spider-Man 3
7. The Amazing Spider-Man
8. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
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