Review of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) by Soloyt — 21 Dec 2021

WOW just WOW!!! Although I desperately wanted to share my thoughts on this film here while leaving the theater Thursday night, or more accurately Friday morning, however I refrained from posting my opinions on this film on this site to be seen by a couple of strangers on the internet to give me time for a second viewing and to wrap my head around and process the gigantic scope and size of this film, and boy am I glad that I did.

With that brief preface our of the way let's get into the meat of this flick, and in case you somehow didn't notice the label there will be heavy SPOILERS in this review and trust me you want to go into this film with untainted eyes, so read on at your own discretion.

Also apologies if the formatting of this is a little out of wack as I'm typing this up on Android. Now when I was going into this film I must admit while excited I can confirm that I was more than a little bit cautious.

Both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's franchises came crashing down under the weight of their own lofty ambitions, and this was to be the biggest Spider-Man film yet. Thankfully this film never felt overcrowded or overstuffed, culminating the last 20 years of Spider-Man on film into one massive love letter to the fans.

The inclusion of the multiversal villains and yes both Tobey and Andrew's Spider-Men didn't distract from Tom's iteration's personal moral struggle, but they compliment it instead. Now I can't describe the intense feelings of immense nostalgia I felt when we first saw Doc Ock's mechanical arms splitting the bridge as he made he made his first on screen entrance since 2004.

Or when I first heard the Goblin's menacing laugh. Or when Tobey and Andrew both stepped into Ned's dining room despite my certainty that they would make some sort of meaningful appearance in the film.

The creative team behind this movie show how they are not just laboring away on this film in anticipation of their next paycheck, but how they tool are Spidey fans who have been playing scenarios like this in their heads for years.

While the fan dedication of this film is great, it's true heart is in the emotional struggle if Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Now this film pulls no punches, puting Tom's Peter Parker through the wringer finally imposing impactful consequences on the his version of the hero for his noble deeds.

Firstly, we see how the worldwide revelation of his identity not only negatively affects him, but his loved ones based on mere association with him. Secondly, we see how his selfless desire to fix it for them by going to Doctor Strange, immature as that decision might be, ultimately only worsens the already bad circumstances he finds himself in by summoning villains who know Peter Park's true identity from across the multiverse.

Then, the film as well as Peter, maturely recognize it's ensemble cast of antagonists not only as villains, but also as victims with Holland's Spidey, largely motivated by his aunt's deep influence on him, seeks to save them.

Unfortunately in the process, Aunt May, the person who avocated for Peter's kind treatment towards the villains the most, perishes to the Goblin who brings up a moral dilemma stating that those who hold the power have the ability to use it to do whatever they want regardless of the consequences, in stark contrast to the way that he was brought up by May.

He starts to wonder whether what she stood for died with her. But before he can lose himself in his bitterness and rage Tobey and Andrew show up to console him in the films most touching scene pointing him back in the right direction.

Finally, everyone who was knew Parker has their memory of him erased as it's the only way to mend that fracture in the multiverse that he had unwilling created, while also protecting his loved ones from future heartache by association with him leaving him alone with no support system to lean on as he steps our into the world.

Now while this film was emotionally satisfying it is not scarce of problems. The most glaring of them being how casual Doctor Strange is about casting a spell on all of humanity with catastrophic consequences should he screw it up, which surprise, surprise, he does.

Although this oversight doesn't inhibit my overall enjoyment of this film, it may come back to bite him when it comes to his continued characterization in Multiverse of Madness and the rest of the MCU.

To conclude this rather verbose brain dump, this film manages to tell an intimate and personal Spider-Man story in the midst of a cascade of satisfactory fan that brings the previous era of Spidey films to a close, while looking forward to the characters continuation in cinema.