'Spider-man: Far From Home'

Like many MC Universe fanatics, I decided two weekends ago to battle the crowds in a movie theatre to watch the latest movie that Marvel has to offer: Spider-man: Far From Home. I had been waiting for this movie to come out ever since Endgame left me craving more, so I of course wanted to see it as soon as I could.

I went to the movie on a date, and settled into a packed theatre. We had chosen one of the box theatres with the best surround sound for it, so I was ready. Let me warn you, I do not have a positive review for this movie.

If you have not already guessed, this is going to contain spoilers ahead. Anyone who has not yet seen the latest Spider-man movie, I would turn back now unless you want me to spoil it for you. Which, maybe you do so you don’t have to go watch it yourself.

ANYWAYS…

The movie starts off with a sappy song from the 80s and shows the pictures of the fallen Avengers. At this moment I thought I had accidentally stumbled into a Deadpool movie rather than a Spider-man movie. It seemed out of place, but I thought maybe it would be purposeful. I actually even hoped that maybe it would be a lighthearted movie like Deadpool was since Marvel decided to tear out our hearts and stomp on them with Endgame. As the screen pans out, we realize that it’s actually shooting on a high school television, and Peter Parker is watching it. Okay, so not a terrible opening. But trust me, it gets worse.

The movie then flashes to Fury in the middle of a desert with a tornado of unknown origin causing harm to a town in Mexico. Out of nowhere this new superhero steps onto the scene and saves the day. Yes. This hero is very much a cliché. So cliché that his name is Mysterion, which was a bad play on words from a newspaper article. I pretty much knew from that moment that he was probably going to be the new antagonist, because why not? Who else would be the antagonist? He isn’t an Avenger, and this is Spider-man's movie after all. So of course this guy has to be the antagonist.

From there it just moves on into Peter Parker being a jerk and abusing his powers because he’s a heartsick teenager trying to impress the girl of his dreams, MJ. Come on, now. I’ve heard this all before as I’m sure you have. Meanwhile, Fury is trying to make him out to be the next Iron Man, which Peter feels like he is unqualified to becoming. There’s even a touching and albeit a cop-out scene in the movie where he’s on a plane and is designing his suit. This is supposed to be a call back to when Tony Stark was making his suit. Tony Stark was a genius whose father worked in engineering. I do not understand how Peter Parker has suddenly acquired the technological know-how to design a suit himself, even if it was Tony Stark’s equipment he was working with.

The movie ends with Spider-man destroying Mysterion’s plans at total destruction of London. Which by the way, the antagonist was only doing so everyone would see him as the next hero to fill Iron Man’s shoes. And yes, Peter Parker gets to kiss MJ at the end.

Overall, this movie felt too much like it was trying to be Iron Man 4. While I understand the need to somehow honor the fallen Avengers, I don’t think it should have tried so hard to force Spider-man into something he is not. Peter Parker is Spider-man, after all.

Either way, I would say go see it and be a judge of it for yourself, but this movie is getting a 2.5/5 stars from this critic.