Spiderman: No Way Home
Ten Second Review: I’m sure it will scratch the superhero itch that many have been feeling, it might also set us on a path of questioning the quality of villains a little more.
For many people of my generation the superhero films of our childhood are Batman, X-Men and Spider-Man. I will always have a soft spot for the pre-Nolan Batman films, but I was an Animated Series kid at heart. I also have love for the early X-Men films. I certainly haven’t kept up with the series, but I have good memories of watching X2 with my little sister.
Spiderman is special though. The first two Toby Maguire films still resonate. Spiderman were the only comics I picked up each week so having a film of my fav comic book was the coolest thing I could imagine.
Right now Peter Parker is having to deal with the aftermath of his London brawl with
Mysterio. When his identity is revealed in a posthumous video clip, he suddenly has no choice but to mix his private and superhero lives. When he asks Doctor Strange to help by casting a spell to make everyone forget Peter Parker, a few too many alterations make for a very unstable incantation. When realities start to leak into each other, Spiderman will have to fight some brand new foes. Brand new to this Spiderman that is…
It’s hard not to talk about this film without spoiling it. This isn’t a formal spoiler warning, just a note that this review can’t say much about what is enjoyable without crossing some lines. I think for fans of the MCU and Spiderman specifically, that already says too much, but if you care that much, you’ve probably already seen it anyway. It was fun right?
The film itself is inevitably well made. The acting here is great. Toby Maguire will always have a hold on my heart, but my head knows Tom Holland is the best Spiderman. Alfred Molina and Wilem Defoe as Doc Oc and Norman Osbourne remain perfect castings. Both feel so at home in so many roles but here they are just scintillating to watch. A special note also goes to Jacob Batalon in his role as Ned. He’s just so believably his character and a delight whenever he’s on screen. He also gets a scene with Ned’s mum in this one and they somehow manage to steal the scene.
The effects are of that top tier Marvel quality, although there were a couple moments where Spiderman looks a little plastic-y. This is only partly the fault of the effects houses as the actual costume design lacks surface detail that inevitably means it will look a little smoother and feels as though it might be missing specular highlights that in reality just wouldn’t show up on a design like that.
The story is also good. It’s a strong idea and the writers did a lot with it. It’s well paced and for a film with a hefty runtime, it really flows through its beats.
One of the most interesting things the film does is attempt to unpack its villains a little more. We’ve seen this in a few superhero films, but reshaping the concept of beating a villain by killing them into beating them by ridding them of their need for villainy is a twist that I enjoyed.
I think the major way the film suffers is the pressure it’s been put under. Marvel (and Sony) were obviously hoping for a box office hit but media giving lofty box office predictions (in an era where most have fallen short) felt like an unneeded added stressor. I’m glad to see the numbers the film did, somewhat surprised given the current outbreak, but I think people were aching for this film.
Added to this, I saw several pre-release reviews describing this as the best and biggest Marvel film ever. No disrespect to this film, but we all saw Endgame. I certainly went in expecting something a little bigger considering the tone these headlines were striking and I think that tone may get to others too.
Overall it was a shining star to top Holland’s Spiderman trilogy. I understand that there is talks of a new set of Spiderman films and after seeing this one I’m excited to see the direction the team take the story in. This film has been ever so slightly oversold so it did not smash my expectations, but rather it lived up to them. If you’re a fan, then you’ve already seen it. If you have a general interest in Marvel or Spiderman more specifically, then it’s gonna be a must see. If you don’t like superhero films then you might want to give it a miss, or at least don’t see it with a big fan because you’ll certainly make each other’s experiences worse.
