'Spider-Man' Review

In the second chapter of the new Spider-Man franchise, Far From Home we see our precious Peter Parker travel to Europe with his classmates. When he leaves Queens, he tries to leave Spider-Man behind, but May makes sure his suit follows him. The main points of Far From Home were grief, and learning to stand on your own. At this point in time, Peter has just lost Tony, who by all accounts, was like his surrogate father. Stark took care of him, loved him, guided him, and taught him, and with him gone, Peter had to navigate the world of being a hero by himself.

So let’s break down the movie quality, overall I thought the movie was incredible, and an excellent way to close out phase three, and usher us into phase four. Let’s start with the obvious amount of CGI, and how well done it was. When trailers first came out, we obviously couldn’t discern too much about what the story was, however, what we did see was Mysterio, and the use of his “powers.” At first, I compared his look with that of Shazam, the latest DC movie, though not as over the top, it looked similarly cartoonish and a bit out of place. Though I stand by that opinion, it is now clear as to why. The quality of CGI matched the story’s purpose, as is shown by the much higher quality of CGI during the illusions themselves. One of the best scenes was easily the illusion sequence Mysterio put Spiderman through when he was trying to glean information. It felt very much like a comic book panel sequence, and I loved the way it played into the story.

The plot was exactly what we all needed after Endgame. It was even more of a coming of age film for Peter Parker; he’s learning to grieve and stand on his own two feet. We all lost Tony, we all had to watch him die after years with him, so to have the opportunity to grieve with Peter was something we all needed to close out phase three. Tony’s presence was something very much felt throughout the film from the artwork in Peter’s school, to Peter making his own suit with Tony’s tech, it was a beautiful goodbye letter to Tony, as well as a wonderful story about helping Peter grow up. Mysterio was an excellent choice of villain for so many reasons but mainly in this story because we got to see just how much Peter wants a mentor, and someone to lean on after losing Tony.

Let’s talk acting; obviously Tom was incredible, but I want to point out the beautiful subtleties he brought to this specific performance. One of the best Spiderman memes in existence is of Toby McGuire crying, it was over the top and poorly acted. When we see Tom express sorrow and grief, it's subtle, it's in his eyes, and there you can see all of his pain; it's absolutely amazing. Now, Zendaya is one of the best young actresses of our generation for sure. This woman is so versatile, she plays the awkward and brilliant loner girl beautifully. The chemistry between her and Tom is wonderful, and you can really see their off-screen friendship in their performance.

Overall I think Far From Home was brilliant, and an excellent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I would rank it in my top ten Marvel movies for sure, and the best live action Spider-Man movie to date. I have many ideas for what phase four could hold for us, along with many more thoughts on the way they handled Far From Home, and for that you will have to refer to the video attached.