Spiderman: Far from Home marks the return of the MCU for its 3rd film in 5 months and the final film in the so-called Phase 3. It is full of charm and laughs like all of Marvel’s solid catalogue but unsurprisingly feels episodical and doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch that Infinity War and Endgame possessed.
Tom Holland, likable as ever, returns as Spiderman (Peter Parker) and is dealing with the losses and impact following Avengers: Endgame. (The film starts with a quick catch up in the form of a news reel but as ever a fair amount of back story knowledge is expected). The story focuses around Peter’s ongoing struggle to deal with the weight of responsibility and how to balance his duty and his life as a regular teenager. Peter sees his summer school science trip to Europe as the perfect escape from this dilemma and spend some quality time as a regular kid with his best friend, Ned, and his crush, MJ. Things don’t go to plan though, when the world is in danger and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) hi-jacks the ill-fated school holiday.
As a follow up to Spiderman: Homecoming, Far from Home delivers the same sharp wit, jokes and believable plot line with a few twists and turns. (Although for anyone with any comic book knowledge, the major twist isn’t a surprise). The supporting cast are well stereotyped, without being derivative, and provide most of the laughs, especially Martin Starr as the hapless teacher. The introduction of Quentin Beck / Mysterio (Jake Gyellanhal) is well executed, acted and for a character that has a fishbowl for a head, well-choreographed and augmented into the action.
The major problem with this film is that once the storyline is starting to fall into pieces it starts to lose its identity and plays out like any other superhero movie. The final action sequence isn’t entirely compelling and that’s a shame as the earlier dream like / fantasy set piece is very well done and quite haunting.
There is also no real peril and in a post Endgame world, it now feels like the stakes of this film must be real. Now I am not expecting major characters to be killed off in every movie in the franchise but all the way through this film you knew how it was going to end and there is no emotional impact, leaving this feeling like just another episode of a grandiose TV show.
Overall, it’s a fun film with some impressive scenes and a few good jokes that is ultimately let down by lack of peril and emotional impact. Its worth noting, very much to my own annoyance, that there are two end credit scenes that not only had a cameo that evoked cheering from the cinema audience but also impact the MCU greater in 2 minutes of screen time than the rest of the entire film. One to see if you are a massive Marvel fan but otherwise only if you are up for a bit of fun.
Written by Will
Hughes Reviews 