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Spider-Man Far From Home -- a review

While I’ve always considered myself more of a DC Comics type of guy (with Batman being my all-time favorite), I’ve also been a huge fan of Marvel’s Spider-Man since I first saw him in the cartoon show as a little spud (“Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can….”). And so I’ve also enjoyed the Spider-Man movies produced by Sony: the Tobey MacQuire Spider-Man films, the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man films, and the absolutely fantastic Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is my favorite Spider-Man film, bar none.

But I was never a big fan of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films. I have no problem with Holland himself; he’s a genuinely talented actor who gives it all with what he’s given to work with, but that’s not much. Spider-Man: Homecoming had Peter Parker act like he’s the ward of Tony (Iron Man) Stark, and even after Stark kicks the bucket (and good riddance) in the Avengers films, Peter is still living in his shadow in Far From Home.

The problem with this is that I’ve always considered Spider-Man to be to Marvel what Superman is to DC: he’s the Big Gun, a universally known and loved character. Iron Man and the other members of the vaunted MCU were always second tier heroes at best--which is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the flurry of Marvel superhero films, they were a lot of fun. But I just never cared for how Spider-Man was often shuffled to the side in his own movies, being forced to defer to lesser Marvel characters. The cinematic Spider-Man deserved more respect, and that’s why Spider-Man: No Way Home was such a pleasant surprise for me.

Finally taking center stage in a Spider-Man film, Peter is dealing with a nasty problem: the entire world now knows he’s Spider-Man. This not only causes problems for him, but also for the people he loves, and so he seeks out help from none other than Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)--who happens to be my second favorite Marvel superhero. At this point, I’m already liking No Way Home a great deal. Strange agrees to cast a spell that will make the world forget Peter is Spider-Man, but of course, something goes wrong.

Instead of erasing the memory of Peter being Spider-Man, the spell lures everyone who knows Peter is Spidey in from different universes. And so we have Doc Ock, played by the great Alfred Molina, and The Green Goblin, played by Willam DaFoe, showing up to pester Peter. They’re joined by Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), as well as The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). But just when things get too unbearable for Peter, he’s joined by MacQuire and Garfield as the Spider-Men from their respective universes.

The result is an astoundingly fun Spider-Man film that makes great use of Spidey’s impressive rogue’s gallery (only Batman and the Flash each have an equally imposing assortment of villains) in a grand story that’s vastly entertaining without losing sight of its humanity. One could say that No Way Home is a remake/reboot of Into The Spider-Verse (which is still the superior film, IMO), but it’s hard to argue when you’re watching Willem DaFoe--a marvelous actor--turning in a truly chilling performance as the Green Goblin that easily raises No Way Home to another level. What’s really nice about No Way Home is that it gives these Spider-Villains another chance to shine, with Electro looking much better and cooler than I thought he was in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

And let’s not forget the other Spider-Men, who serve here as MCU Peter’s older brothers in scenes that are touching, as well as very funny. MacQuire and especially Garfield are superb--with Garfield, who’s still grieving his Gwen, bringing an affecting lost quality to his Peter/Spider-Man that leads up to an extremely satisfying and emotional moment in the film’s climax. Another standout for me in the cast was Zendaya, who had some very funny and charming moments in this film that made me laugh out loud.

And No Way Home even manages to end on a little bit of hope for me, an old-time Spider-Man fan, when we see the Tom Holland Spider-Man setting himself up in the final scene in a more basic, stripped-down lifestyle that hopefully will be what’s coming next. No more Tony Stark, no bullshit nanobot technology that makes claws come out of Spidey’s back--I just want the original Spider-Man in all his spectacular glory, the way it should have been all along. Here’s hoping for the best. --SF

Spider-Man: Far From Home can be bought here.

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