Spider-man: No way home review- The Spidey movie we deserve.
It is fair to say that Spiderman No Way Home is the most hyped Marvel movie, or one could say the most hyped movie of the decade. Yes, even more hype than Nolan's Openheimer or Infinity War and Endgame. The rumors revolved around it reached the level of absurd, with people driving themselves crazy to predict what will happen in the film's events. And rightly so.
Marvel has had us from our noses for a while now. We are Marvel's bitches and we love it. Marvel is that sex buddy that occasionally hits you up for casual sex and you end up falling in love with them every time. We have all been there (..right?).
Far From Home has been in almost 90% of the population's watch radar because of all the crazy theories revolved around it and it showed. Just in Cyprus , the cinema was packed with excited people waiting to get their Marvel hit. Personally, my palette has gone a bit dry in the post-Endgame world with The Eternals and the Disney Plus shows making a bit bored. However, this has all gone away. I am your slave Marvel. You are once again my daddy.
I now have realised that I made too many sex jokes and the 4 readers of this blog are going to feel weird so let's just move on.
Plot:
The movie begins immedietaly after the end of Far From Home, where Peter's identity is revealed to the public from Jameson and the Daily Bugle after Mysterios' "leaked" video. The world of Peter and Friends goes to hell with everyone being negatively affected. Peter is viewed by a big percentage of the population as as a murderer while Ned and MJ are having a hard time with their college applications due to their affiliation with Peter. To add salt to the injury, May faces legal trouble for encouraging Peter to keep being Spider-man. This results to Peter feeling regret for the backlash that the people he loves receive just because of their affiliation with him, something that leads him to our beloved Dr Strange.
Can we just stop and appreciate how cool this sounds. This is a connected universe and the work of hundreds or even thousands of people. The MCU, regardless of what you think about it, is a dream coming true for many comic book fans. Anyway, back to the plot.
So Strange cooks up this idea to make a spell where everyone who knows Spidey's identity, simply forgets about it. However, Peter does not want to lose all the progress he made with Ned, MJ , Happy and May which results to the spell going wrong. This results in the bringing of forces that are beyond Peter's worst nightmares.
I will obviously stop right here because I care for my 3 readers and I do not want you to come accross any spoilers.
The good:
Spideyness
Let me begin by saying that this movie is for all Spidey fans. It does not matter whether you have read comics, saw the animated shows or simply watched the movies. This movie reeks of that good Spidey energy we all know and love. However, this time is different. They really increased the Spidey-ness (if that even is a word). This movie at times feels like it really is a comic book coming to life. There many moments where you can see the Webhead humor that fans have been asking for since the Tobey Maguire movies. While I am not a big fan of Disney's and Marvel's humor, the jokes really hit in this movie. Not all of them, but the majority really does. The cinema was constantly laughing their ass off but let me be straight, they also laughed at Venom: There will be Carnage which shows that the bar is not that high...
Easter Eggs:
It is safe to assume that Marvel loves teasing their fans with little nodges and throwbacks through quirky dialogues. In this movie the easter eggs really hit it well with the fans. From memes to throwbacks from older movies, these easter egg's will even have the most casual fans understanding them. I really want to write more about this but again. No spoilers here.
Darkness:
Let me be straight, MCU's Spider-man is amazing but his movies.. eh I would not say that. Tom Holland's movies for me, were like a bad burger at an overhyped restaurant that your hippy friend suggested. He swore that it is the best burger they have ever tasted in their life. Morevoer, you go on tripadvisor and check the pictures, you see all the good reviews and you finally give in and go and try it. However, (due to your past burger experiences), the burger just feels.. meh.
My point is, Tom Holland's movies were a bit underwhelming. I don't remember seeing a single punch, there was no good swinging scenes (a must in every Spiderman media in my humble opinion) and they just felt a bit.. too PG. Nothing against the rating, I am not saying I want a Rated R Spidey (I would die for a Rated R Spidey film) but I never felt that there were a lot on the line, with the exception of the last scene on Far From Home. However, this time, things are different. The movie perfectly balances humor and darkness and this is helped by the fantastic performances from all the cast. It really hit the sweet spot of what a solid good finale of a trilogy should be.
There is one kind of throwback scene that revisits one of the most tragic things happening in Spidey's life and trust me, while I cannot talk about it yet, when I tell you that there is a 100% chance of your eyes watering there, you will understand which scene I am talking about. And if you don't because the movie is about superheros and not German's saving Jews or handrawn anime characters dying, you need to reevaluate your opinions.
Let me pause for a moment.
If any of your snub friends act too superior for superhero films, just cut them off. You do not deserve that negativity in your life. Liking French cinema or movies such as Wild Strawberries or La vie est belle, does not mean you are an intellectual or ecclectic. A true cinephile is the one who is simply interested and intrigued by cinema. No more, no less. Okay back to it.
The Cast:
Villains:
If you have not jumped up and down like a little girl when Doc Ock appeared in the trailer, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nothing will bring you joy in this life. Okay, you know I am obviously joking but bro. For my generation (the forgotten space between Millenials and Gen Z, meaning people between 1995-1999) this is the first time we feel old. Confused? Let me explain. We all have seen these memes showing celebrities grown up and shit but this time is different. Seeing all the OGs come back was my first taste of original, pure nostalgia. I may be biased due to my early love for Superhero films (seriously, I have no idea how many times I have watched the train scene from Spiderman 2).
Seeing Dafoe's Goblin , Molina's Doc Ock along with Church's Sandman from the original Sam Raimi films feel like a really good lucid dream that you do not want to wake up from.
The inclusion of Jamie Foxx's Electro and the LIzzards is also noteworthy, don't get me wrong. Especially Foxx since who I thin had very good potential to capture a truly wacky kind of comic book villain like Electro. Did not really happen in the Amazing Spiderman films since his development was a bit all over the place and his design.. well let's just say seeing he had his moments but never captured the full spirit of what could have been.
Furthermore, all the actors reprise their initial roles in a perfect way and the writing for the older villains was revisited to make them fit more with the MCU style.
And oh my god, they fit like a glove.
The combination of MCU jokes along with the Sam Raimi zoom ins is just gold man. I am a sucker for perfect balanced things. As they should be.
Tom Holland
When Civil War was released, I remember being hyped as hell to see the MCU's Spiderman (Even though I really wanted to see more of Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spiderman). And his appearance in Civil War showed so much potential for this Spiderman. He was goofy, strong and extremely inexperienced. There was so much room for improvement and character development.
Fast forward to the release of Spiderman Homecoming, and what we saw.. Well it was not bad, but you know, I always felt that there is more. I believe that Tom Holland really has some depth to his acting skills but the MCU did not really take advantage of it. We saw a glimpse of it in Far From Home in this exact scene where Peter is facing a kind of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after his fight with Mysterio.
And I really wanted to see more of this. And we got it. There is so much happening in this movie that I think it showed more character development in comparison to the last 2 movies. You really see Peter in Tom's face for the first time (in my opinion)
Let me tell you, in about 10-20 years, people will not stop calling about Tom Holland's Spidey. And I do
not mean in a fangirl or in a fanboy kind of way but in the nostalgic , amazing potential- kind of way.
The rest:
Along with all these characters, the important people in Peter's life also make a return. MJ, Ned, Aunt May ( the hot one) and Iron Man's help also make a comeback. Let me just say that I never bought Zendaya as MJ but this movie flipped the script entirely. The relationship between them, as emasculating as saying this feels, is actually pretty cute. They have their little jokes, the cheesy lines and everything between. And holy damn, let me tell you something, MJ is miles better than Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane since we finally get an understanding MJ that can wrap her head around what being Spider-man is and how hard and difficult it is. MJ is supportive, helpful and cheerful with an added sprinkle of nihilistic in times where it actually works. Props to Zendaya and the writing team for fixing this character.
The return of Benedict Cumberbatch as Strange is also another nice addition. His dry ass humor and his interaction with the teens is especially a high point of comedy in the movie. Nevertheless, the trippy ass scenes make a return and I am here for them since I constantly try to adapt to the CGI artists thinking process on how they actually came up with them.
The Verdict:
Let me tell you, being one of the most hyped movies of the whole damn century and actually delivering on it is no easy task. This movie is one out of a million. Remind me when was the last time you were so excited about a film and it actually did deliver (Infinity War does not count).
BvS? Nah.
Endgame? Well, it was certainly good but not thaaaat good.
Star Wars Sequel Trilogy? Don't make me laugh man, that shit made me quit being involved with one of my favourite franchises.
At the end of the day, this movie retains some of its formulaic MCU things while add new elements while simultaneously making you feel like a 60 year old man through the enormous amount of nostalgia it delivers. I especially envy anyone who went without watching a single trailer as the experience will be totally different with surprises hitting that patient brain of yours from every angle and rewarding you.
If you have the time, go watch this in the cinema for your first viewing. It is a truly electrifying experience to share this movie with other Spidey fans since the emotions run wild and trust me, you will need the emotional support. If you don't like crying in front of strangers or anyone in general just like I do, prepare yourself ( we can always get therapy later I guess, right?).
However, let me quickly say that it is not a perfect 10. And that is simply because I cannot avoid one thing, stupidity and naivity. This especially occurs during the first 40-50 minutes of the movie. We saw Holland's naivity biting him in the ass in Far From Home. Do we really need to see it again? I get that the events happened to prove an ethical standpoint from our friendly neighbourhood Spider-man but I did not really believe the way they handled it. But whatever. I get that it happened to set the rest of the movie in motion.