by Edward Baillargeon
In this age in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man has became one of the series’ breakout characters thanks to a deal made between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios that allows him to share the screen with the rest of the Avengers. Following Tom Holland’s amazing debut as the web-slinger in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, he had an amazing solo outing the following year with Spider-Man: Homecoming that had a great small-scale story with plenty of laughs and a fantastic villain in the form of Michael Keaton as the Vulture. And it feels like Spider-Man has made a massive presence in the superhero genre in the past several years between the MCU and two separate universes made by Sony with the Sony Universe of Marvel Characters, or SUMC, that started with last year’s box office hit Venom starring Tom Hardy and an animated universe at Sony Pictures Animation with their Academy Award winning masterpiece Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Now, I’m sure after Marvel fans were emotionally drained many times during the events of Avengers: Infinity Warand Avengers: Endgame, it was definitely smart on Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios to release this after Endgame as a bit of a palette cleanser, hopefully. So without further ado, here’s my final review for the East Side News. This is Spider-Man: Far From Home.
After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ, and the rest of his classmates on a European vacation to help him recover from the recent death of his mentor. However, Peter’s plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury and Mysterio uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks creating havoc across Europe.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the best live-action Spider-Man film to date as it takes everything I loved about Homecoming and builds on it by adding some great new stuff. The script penned by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers has the right balance of humor, heart, and action told in a story that has plenty of twists and turns. Far From Home is also one of the funniest MCU films to date with many great jokes that give this film a John Hughes vibe like the Vacation films or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. And trust me when I say the aisle rolling will reach the high levels of some of the other hilarious Marvel films like Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: Ragnarok. The movie has a great heart where you really feel for Peter where everyone wants him to be the next Iron Man, but he knows that he can’t live up to that high standard, even with all of Tony Stark’s technology passed over to him. And one of the things that improved the most from Homecoming has to be the action sequences. With the more massive scale than the last Spider-Man film, the action feels really intense with its frenetic camera movements and all of the different Elemental creatures that interrupt Peter on his vacation that force him to bust out the suit. And the visual effects are fantastic with the Elementals, Spidey’s web slinging, and Mysterio’s powers being beautifully rendered. There’s even one sequence in the film that I did not see coming that has a ton of trippy visual effects like something out of Into the Spider-Verse.
And as to be expected with any Marvel film, the performances are all fantastic as the characters are well casted and written. Tom Holland continues to prove that he is the best interpretation of Spider-Man to date as he shows the struggles of balancing these two different lives when one slowly but surely starts bleeding into the other. For his third appearance in a Marvel film this year, Samuel L. Jackson does a great job as he doesn’t quite see Peter as a person like Tony did, but rather as an asset to help him find new superheroes to stop these threats after the supposed disbandment of the Avengers with other heroes in the universe like Doctor Strange, Thor, and Captain Marvel all being unavailable. All of the rest of Peter’s classmates and friends are great scene-stealers providing some of the best comedy in the film like Jacob Batalon as his best friend Ned and Zendaya as friend/love interest MJ. It’s not just the young people that get the great lines, but some of the older mentor figures get some zingers as well like Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, Martin Starr, and J.B. Smoove. And finally, Jake Gyllenhaal does an awesome job as the mysterious Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio, as he has a well-executed arc of his friendship with Spider-Man after he’s recruited by Nick Fury to help him stop the Elementals.
Overall, Spider-Man: Far From Home is one of the best Spider-Man films with all of the right materials for a great film on its own and as a sequel that even surpasses its predecessor. With a twisty story, great laughs, strong performances, and stunning action make this one of the best Marvel films to date. If you are a fan of Marvel, Spider-Man, superheroes, or just want a fun action comedy, then this is worth checking out. And because this is a superhero movie, PLEASE don’t leave during the credits. This movie’s post-credits scenes will at first have you laughing and cheering, but would quickly turn into an “oh my god” moment that sets up some scary and exciting things for Phase 4. I’m going to give Spider-Man: Far From Home a 10/10 with the Edward’s Seal of Approval and my highest recommendation. Looks like my work here for the East Side News is done. Thank you for reading and I love you 3000.
