Spider-Man: Far From Home - Review Thread

lol I didn’t even need to read it to know what he wrote 😂👍🏽 figures...

Calm down lol

Best effects they've had since Dr. Strange.

I really enjoyed it. It was fun, the action sequences were great, and the soundtrack was so good. Mysterio was done well, Gyllenhaal killed it.


My only complaint is

Still, had a great time. I enjoyed it more than Homecoming.

It's been yet another massive year for Marvel, in fact likely its biggest yet after unfurling the "concluding" chapter of the first phases of what they began building in 2008 with Avengers: Endgame earlier this year. I don't think anyone should credibly be worrying about the state of Marvel Studios, as their impressive run is hardly over but rather in a sense re-upping for new faces to replace Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans as the focal points. Among those will undoubtedly be Tom Holland as Spider-Man, one of the most popular and recognizable characters across comic books who has already seen incredible success in his own right dating back to Sam Raimi's interpretation in 2002. This is Holland's fifth turn as Spider-Man, though only his second solo outing after Spider-Man: Homecoming, which I was a fan of and found the character's Marvel tie-ins and upgrades to be well suited to both fit into the structure of the Marvel canon while also working on its own merits. It worked largely because at that time Spider-Man was much more akin to his roots as the "friendly, neighborhood" hero, taking on villains in New York but not tangling with intergalactic threats that the Avengers were squaring off against. Well, that all changed after his involvement in Infinity Wars and Endgame, and now the franchise finds itself in unfamiliar territory as it aims to balance Peter Parker's roots with the vastly larger stakes that he's now gone up against. To pull this off, I think they made a nice creative decision to move him out of New York entirely and go on a European vacation. They throw in a villain from Spider-Man canon in Mysterio, but keep the action moved to a new setting to keep total familiarity from settling in. But unfortunately for myself these decisions worked well on paper but were ultimately lackluster in their execution as the film never completely finds its footing in working as a solo outing while also balancing the ramifications from Avengers: Endgame. I'll come out and say that Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, always has been, and I've generally been a bit more forgiving of Spider-Man films in the past, but I found Spider-Man: Far from Home to mostly work but also fail to bring much new to the table. It's likely more Marvel fatigue than anything else, but I have to admit that it's begin to wear on me that the MCU formula just isn't offering a lot of variety at this point, and while Spider-Man: Far from Home is certainly a much better movie than the derivative and dull Captain Marvel, released earlier this year, I'm pining for the character to return to his roots and let the MCU fill in from a distance, which is certainly not the case here. It might not be fair, but after 20+ films that are all very similar in structure to one another, fresh ideas seem to be increasingly difficult to come by.

Spider-Man: Far from Home picks up shortly after the events of Avengers: Endgame where the world is saved but is still reeling from the loss of Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Few are feeling the sting of this loss quite as much as Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who not only has lost his valuable friend and mentor but to pile on now is faced with self-doubt that he can live up the legacy Stark has left behind. Feeling he needs a much deserved break, Peter is excited to travel with his classmates to sightsee in Europe, despite Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) attempting to get in contact with him. Peter doesn't want to do any Avengers-esque work and is far more focused on finally making a move on his crush, MJ (Zendaya). Of course, Nick Fury tracks Peter down in Venice and informs him of a threat in the region, which Peter witnesses first hand when he does battle with a massive elemental creature, during which everyone is saved by Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is the one informing Fury of this threat. Much to the surprise of no one that has ever even loosely followed Spider-Man, While I like this idea, I feel like it was handled in such a contrived and messy manner that I really couldn't get past. Mysterio's entire motivation feels plopped in and undeserved, and honestly doesn't hold up to a lot of plot holes in regards to him It's all just too easy and glanced over with one scene of exposition, and the twist just didn't measure up to the one provided in Spider-Man: Homecoming for me. The highlight of the film though is easily the illusion sequences, which are spectacularly put together and reminded me of a sort of Marvel take on the sunken place from Get Out. I have a lot of issues with Mysterio's character and the numerous plot holes that surround him, but these moments are a visceral thrill that work very well.

While I don't have any other major issues with the film, there's a lot of little things about Spider-Man: Far from Home that make for an enjoyable but not highly memorable experience. Aside from the illusion sequences, there aren't many standout set pieces or action moments that stuck with me. For example, for a movie about romping through Europe, most of their trip is spent on buses and in hostels. We're not really treated to a lot of even spectacular stock shots or utilizing the setting to make some more interesting comedic, dramatic, or action scenes. It all feels like a wasted opportunity and that the concept of using Europe is just a change of setting and wasn't given much more thought than that. Even the carnival sequence in Prague lacked the bite of a big set; with hundreds of extras and a big elemental to fight the chaos never feels very chaotic nor is it all that intriguing in terms of the action itself. The comedy is very reminiscent of Homecoming's, though it's a bit scaled back this time in regards to laying on the snarky teen humor and does land more jokes than it doesn't. Still, when we're not putting these characters in very interesting places or situations, the jokes are just jokes and again the feeling of a missed opportunity continued to settle into the back of my mind. Looking back at the film, there's nothing really wrong with it aside from a lot of bad plot holes mostly surrounding Mysterio, but there's also just not a lot about it I found memorable either. It's fun and charming, but it struggles attempting to balance the gravitas of the MCU with the light-hearted charm of Spider-Man's world and his stakes, which are mostly smaller scale and personal such as his crush on MJ.

Maybe I'm being tough on the film because I didn't dislike it, but I find myself with not a whole lot to say about it either. While the MCU's handling of Spider-Man has been a nice upgrade to make the character more tech-savvy and lean on Tom Holland's charm to have him immensely likable, these films also seriously lack the emotional power of the first two Raimi films and the signature moments that came with them. People can nitpick those films all they want, but there's no denying that scenes like Uncle Ben dying (not to mention his famous great power line), the upside-down kiss in the rain, or the train sequence from Spider-Man 2 all hold so much more memorable and emotional weight than anything the MCU has offered up with their version of the character. And sure, Sam Raimi is a far more accomplished and visionary director than the for-hire one here in Jon Watts, and that's probably the issue. MCU's Spider-Man is part of an assembly line, albeit an incredibly well-tuned and crafted one, but still lacks the raw power and identity that the character should carry. Clearly I'm in the minority here, as critics and audiences alike have thoroughly enjoyed the latest outing for Spider-Man. But I wasn't moved or shaken by anything that happened in this movie, and that's a major problem that some setting tweaks and the inclusion of the MCU didn't help remedy. It's better than Spider-Man 3 and the two Andrew Garfield outings to be sure, but I'd certainly put the other films above it and can definitely point to a lot more signature moments and ideas in those films than I can this one. It's breezy and enjoyable, but it's not memorable, and that's just not good enough for a character that has a lot more to offer than what the MCU is utilizing here.

6/10

This one was kind of a meh for me as well. If Mysterio was such a major player in Stark's company, how did that go unnoticed to, you know, "the most paranoid person ever," Nick Fury?

I dunno, I just felt some of it dragged, especially the Peter/MJ subplot stuff, and about MJ .... stray away from the traditional Mary Jane we all know, fine, but to make her this snarky, monotone, "I can't be impressed by anything you say, plebe" smart ass character just irritated the hell out of me. Peter is so earnest, kind, happy, I don't see the attraction to someone who obviously needs to spend time brooding around her theatre nerd friends more.

Ned rocks, though, and I liked Flash. However, these movies are a high school ensemble thing, and I don't know how many Spiderman movies I want to watch where we have to entertain the hijinks of Peter Parker and His Friends. Back to MJ, imagine a movie where it is a lot of Peter Parker and MJ. Outside of their class ensemble group, there's just zero chemistry between these two. It's not a good look.

That mid-credit scene was a real doozy. Kind of entirely changes Peter Parker's character/story arc as we've always known it (poor, down on his luck, ironically working for JJ Jameson, etc), so I guess we'll see where they go, but this whole Spiderman universe seems like an alternate timeline Spiderman, and I'm just not entirely down with that.

Then you’re gonna love Into the Spider-verse.

I feel that was kind of inevitable though.  We already got two series trying to be more or less straightforward Spider-Man adaptations, so it makes sense that they'd take things in a pretty different direction for this MCU adaptation of the character.

Yeah I completely disagree. With Sam Raimi's clusterfuck of Spider-Man 3 and With Andrew Garfields terrible movies. 

I am all for Peter Parker going in a completely new direction. Possibly being the new Iron Man and Avenger. Also working with Shield. 

Started strong ended with a whimper.

I was enjoying the teenage story more than the bad guy, jilted ex coworker was meh for me. Loved when Mysterio finally used his illusions to the fullest though, easily the best parts and should have been utilized for greater creepiness. I didn't mind Parker giving it to Beck after the one thing, he's a teenager running on emotions, I can forgive it. And the sting like reveal was well done I thought, if terribly unsubtle.

6/10 kinda meh after the first hour.

Nope. 16-year-old would have kept technology and used it for shenanigans. daniel and frankyt are correct. These MCU movies miss the point of Spider-Man. This is the guy that got superpowers and the first thing he does is join the WWE. This is the guy that takes pictures of himself and sells it. Peter Parker is a hero but he’s also an average-Joe with bills to pay. An accurate portrayal of Spider-Man would have gotten Stark’s technology and said, “how can I use this to my advantage” and then fucked it up somehow.

Spidey swings to the billion dollar club

www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/spider-man-far-home-box-office-crosses-1b-a-franchise-first-1226598