Spider-Man: Far from Home Movie Review
Nathan Swank
July 2nd, 2019
Tom Holland might be the best Spider-Man to ever don the web slinger’s tights, however, SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME might be one of the MCU’s weaker films.
It’s only been a couple of months since AVENGERS: ENDGAME came out, which I think is about the same amount of time that has passed before the events in SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME occur. Peter Parker (Holland) and his schoolmates are going on a field trip to Europe when some evil giant monster made of water begins to throw down some destruction upon the city. Thankfully, a new sort of caped superhero with a clouded fishbowl helmet, named Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), swoops in to save the day. Already full of self-doubt since losing Tony Stark, Peter is relieved not to have to be the next Iron Man and is more than happy to continue his role as more of a friendly neighborhood sidekick. But more than anything he just yearns for a vacation, to be a kid again, and focus his attention on awkwardly wooing MJ (Zendaya).
Perhaps because we are coming down from the extreme high that culminated the previous 22 films in AVENGERS ENGAME, but SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME sort of felt too inconsequential. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the worst movie by any means. It doesn’t even crack the bottom 5 of the MCU, but it comes close. It is mildly enjoyable. But Marvel has set a different standard for its films by comparison. Especially the last couple of years, which provided four of the series most spectacular films in THOR: RAGNAROK, BLACK PANTHER, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, and AVENGERS: ENDGAME.
The best thing about SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME is Tom Holland. He is by far the most perfect Spider-man we’ve seen. Unfortunately, even though I did have fun with SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, the standalone movies haven’t quite matched his performance level. All the moments dealing with Peter’s school and home life are completely adorable and have the true makings of a funny, new generational, teen movie. Pining for the girl, conversations with his best friend (Jacob Batalon), interactions with his aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and Stark’s right hand man, Happy (Jon Favreau), along with avoiding phone calls from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), make for some very laughable moments. Sadly, the forgettable action, predictable story, and frustrating plot holes, take up far too much of the over two-hour-long runtime. Still, be sure to stick around for two ending credit scenes, which explain and tease a few character choices and developments.
Where Peter Parker is at as a teenager, adjusting to the aftermath of INFINITY WAR and ENDGAME, makes perfect sense from a character development standpoint. The film’s opening high school “In Memoriam” tribute to fallen Avengers set to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” is a pitch perfect moment. I truly appreciate all the very funny humor, character observations, and overall lighter tone, but it never feels like enough to lift SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME from being anything more than generic and somewhat boring. Of course, closing out Phase 3 as the 23rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney has basically insured it to still be required viewing.
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