It’s difficult to review Spider-Man: Far From Home in its totality. Doing so would spoil so much of what makes the film great. The movie is easily the best Spider-Man film to be released. We’re not counting Into the Spider-verse for that debate. It also challenges the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s really that good.
The film picks up post Avengers: Endgame. Not only does it directly address events from that film, but it also answers many of our questions stemming from it. So many scenarios are thrown out about the impact of the snap. So many quick comments. And so much of it is addressed with humor and realism. And that’s the brilliance of the film.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is able to add massive amounts of worldbuilding and details through simple quick sentences. It’s a movie that’s smart in how it delivers information to the audience. It’s also clearly aware of the weight on its shoulders.
Here’s a spoiler… for Avengers: Endgame…
The film deals with the fallout of the death of the heroes, particularly Tony Stark. It questions what’s Tony’s legacy and who will take up the mantle? And that responsibility is thrown on to the shoulders of Peter Parker. Tony saw something in him and that’s addressed here. Helping explore that is Happy Hogan who takes on a more involved role that’s almost fatherly.
End spoiler…
The film itself is about elementals who have come from another dimension to destroy our planet as they’ve done to others. Enter Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio, a mysterious person from a different Earth. He’s a soldier out to stop the elementals who destroyed his world.
It’s also the summer and Peter and his fellow students are off to Europe. There, Peter wants to tell MJ how he feels about her.
You’ve got action, you’ve got mystery, and you have a very cute high school romcom all rolled into one.
The film does an excellent job of using all of its cast. Other than a few students who don’t get much to do, even secondary characters get added depth. Flash Thompson has more added to his character out of two small moments than all of the previous Spider-Man films combined. That’s how smart the film is. We know more about him due to a text he sends and an interaction at the end and it all makes us understand his character. Those two moments are maybe 30 seconds combined and involve one sentence.
Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are the writers for the film and Jon Watts directs, just as they did for Spider-Man: Homecoming. They clearly get these characters and this world and nail it in every way. Throw money at them and keep them around for as long as possible.
Every actor shines too with Zendaya particularly coming out of her shell from the first film and Tom Holland really showing some depth in acting with emotional moments. Jacob Batalon, as Ned, is given so much more to do and is so entertaining with every line delivery. Martin Starr and J.B. Smoove delivering so much humor to moments. Jake Gyllenhaal feels like he’s just having so much fun with what he’s given. He chews the scenery in a great way. Everyone is amazing and shines. There are no weak parts.
The film’s greatest strength is in every small detail in the script and on the screen. It has a lot on its shoulders with so much to do and it succeeds. It wraps up the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe phase and sets up what’s next. Boy does it. It does the impossible at every turn and delivers a summer popcorn film with humor, depth, and heart. The film has it all and I can’t wait to see it again in the theater.
Overall Rating: 10
