Spider-Man: Far From Home hits a curious middle ground, continuing on from the aesthetic and tone set by Homecoming. The story it tells is quintessentially Spider-Man, but it’s different enough from the other movies and comic books that it stands out.
Taking place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, it’s a delightfully light romp that puts the teenage worries of Peter Parker right in the center. From trying to ask MJ (Zendaya) out on a euro trip to grappling with the responsibilities left to him by the late Tony Stark, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is just trying his best to let go of his superheroing for a while so that he can enjoy his vacation to the fullest extent. But of course, Nick Fury comes knocking soon enough and once again, Peter is thrust into a world-saving adventure.
Tom Holland, as usual, turns in another solid performance as the titular hero. As Peter Parker, he is likable, nerdy and a pretty decent kid at heart. The solid writing also helps flesh out his conflicts more, where he is just trying to do the best he can under the circumstances but as a 16 year old kid, he finds himself a bit overwhelmed with everything that’s happening around him. The supporting cast is mostly solid: Samuel L. Jackson gets proper billing as the world’s most dangerous spy, and Peter’s classmates, like Ned and Betty Bryant, get good screentime too.
In fact, the scenes with Peter just interacting with his school mates are all pretty solid, and they go the way you would expect teenagers interacting with each other to go.
There’s the awkwardness that comes when two people like each other but are afraid to say that out loud, and then there’s also the way some teenage relationships are over before they began.
Jake Gyllenhaal does a solid job as Mysterio, balancing both aspects of his character pretty well. His chemistry with Peter is (deliberately) reminiscent of the dynamic Peter had with Tony Stark in the previous films, and Peter’s need for validation and guidance means that he soon finds himself looking up to Mysterio. However, it’s soon apparent that (to paraphrase the film) appearances can be deceiving.
The action is very solid: there are some set pieces that are genuinely creative, pushing the limits of CGI magic. There are also clever nods to the process of film production itself, showcasing how there’s a whole unseen cast of staff and crew who are working in concert to make the magic happen.
Is this the best Spider-Man movie? Not by a long shot.
Into the Spiderverse was a stronger film on all accounts, but then again, the purpose it served is quite different than the role Far From Home plays as the concluding chapter of Marvel’s Phase Three.
Far From Home gets the central conceit of Spider-Man pretty right. It entertains for most of its runtime, and director Jon Watts does a good job with both action set pieces and important character moments. If there’s one thing to complain about, it’s that this is the second film where a significant part of Peter’s story is wrapped up with Iron Man, but at this point, that’s part of this version of Spider-Man’s lore. The best part of the film is, of course, Tom Holland, but Jake Gyllenhaal is pretty impressive as well. Like Michael Keaton before him, Gyllenhaal sunk his teeth into the material and relished the opportunities inherent in such a role.
As for the franchise, there will probably be another Spider-Man 3 going forward, but chances are it will be much better than the one we got in 2007. Given how young Holland is, there’s actually a good chance that we will see him as Peter Parker for a long time to come. And that’s not bad by any means: one might even say that it’s amazing (or spectacular).