Review of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) by Colginator — 13 Jul 2019

The MCU has now become so interconnected that it seems impossible to talk about it without spoiling the previous films. Heck, even the trailer for Far From Home came with spoiler warnings. So if you're the one person who hasn't got round to watching Endgame yet and you don't want to know any details about the "surprise" villain in Far From Home, spoilers ahead.

Still reeling from the events of Endgame and the massive weight on his shoulders of everyone wanting him to be the next Iron man, Peter is looking forward to the chance to not be Spider-man for a while and hang up his costume to go on vacation with his friends at school. But when elemental monsters appear to be attacking European landmarks, Nick Fury enlists Spider-man to help save the world with the new mysterious hero Mysterio.

But in the most shocking twist since it was revealed in Superman that Clarke Kent wasn't just a mild mannered reporter, it turns out the the famous Spider-man villain Mysterio is actually the antagonist of the film. He's a disgruntled Tony Stark employee who was manipulating Spider-man to obtain a dangerous A.I. designed by Stark which controls orbital weapons. So obviously Spider-man has to find Mysterio and save the day, whilst still trying to have fun on his trip and find a way to confess his feelings to MJ.

As a villain Mysterio is fine. He's not the show stealer like some of the other recent villains like Killmongerer or Thanos have been, but he's not a forgetful dud like Zemo either. Gyllenhall has enough charisma that he can pull off being both a melodramatic perfectionist yelling at his team to get his performance as Mysterio right but still be completely intimidating as a psychopath willing to kill anyone to get what he wants. Plus Mysterio gets a fantastic Arkham Asylum style of nightmare sequence where he forces Spider-man in to one of his illusions. It's full of so much twisted and creative imagery that it rivals Doctor Strange for the trippiest sequence of the MCU.

Though just like Homecoming, most of the films best moments comes from it being less of a superhero movie and more of a high school comedy. There's Ned who's still coming up with increasingly strenuous ways of keeping Spider-man's identity a secret. Flash is posting everything that happens to instagram whilst being an obnoxious whiny douche to everyone around him. And Brad the rival to Peter for the affections of MJ who has become far more butch than his classmates since he was one of the survivors of the snap.

But the real stand out of Peter's school group is MJ, with the film cementing Zendaya as being the best on-screen version of Mary Jane. Largely because her nihilistic charm and random irreverent comments make for some of the funniest moments in the film. Plus Zendaya and Tom Holland have a great on-screen chemistry, largely because they genuinely see like awkward teenagers stumbling through their conversations and never sure of what to say to each other.

Though in terms of capturing the character of Peter Parker from the comics, the MCU isn't quite there yet. Tom Holland is definitely the best on-screen version of the web slinger so far capturing both the quick wit of the web slinger and the relatable teenager that Stan Lee had always envisioned him to be. But a core aspect of the character has always been his ability and burden to overcome tragedy. They definitely make an attempt to capture this here with Tony Starks death casting a large shadow over the film, however through the films lighthearted nature it doesn't seem capable of reaching the heights of the franchises most memorable moments like Uncle Ben or Gwen Stacey which were essential building blocks for Spider-man in the comics. Holland has shown that he is capable of bringing dramatic weight to the character where he can, so I hope that the future films will be tonally confident enough to try capturing these moments.

But for anyone who enjoyed Homecoming, Far From Home continues to capture the same humour whilst also upping the scale with some more ambitious sequences. It's a lighthearted epilogue to the epic scale of phase 3 of the MCU and a strong promise of the continued potential for the future of the post-Endgame MCU.