By again, of course, I mean I watched the second Spider-Man movie in this iteration: Spider-Man: Far From Home. From a mere title, I would think the planet Titan in Infinity War would be as far from home as he could be. (Oh, were you expecting a spoiler warning? For a movie over a year old with a direct sequel that is also past it’s spoiler timing? Sorry.) But the title itself works as the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming but thematically it really suits where Peter is.
At least on Titan he had his mentor around, and now he doesn’t. The bulk of the story takes place in Europe (trailer warning). He’s with his friends. He is still an awkward 16-year old who can’t tell the girl of his dreams how he feels. It’s basic early Spider-Man stuff. Flash saying something complimentary about Spider-Man then insulting Peter is quintessential to who Spider-Man is, or at least was. In the comics they’ve let him grow out of necessity, but he’s still a young man with a 5-year gap in his history.
The movie does a good job of taking a more humorous look at life after the Snap, which is called the Blip now. All the support groups that Captain America ran? Start ’em up again because now you’ve got people returning to where they were, ignoring who was already there, or in May’s case, who had moved in in the interim. (Minor spoiler, sorry.)
Tom Holland does a good job with Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He looks innocent and sweet in the role, and Peter is fundamentally a good guy. Zendaya’s MJ is an awkward flirt. The Comic Book MJ was a teenage fantasy trophy girlfriend for years, and this MJ is good foil for Parker. I hope there’s at least one more movie with these two.
Okay, now for serious spoilers. You have been warned.
The movie opens with Peter and his classmates dealing with returning 5-years later and trying to start up when the world is completely different. These themes are address and tucked away an not brought back into play but it’s fine because every movie needs an intro. The bulk of the story is a poorly-planned science field trip to Europe. If I have any complaints about the film, it’s how poorly this trip was organized and apparently it had very little to do with actual science.
Mysterio, who I know from the comics as a minor bad guy from Spidey’s rogue’s gallery, is introduced as a hero, and he does the heroic things and describes his life on an alternate Earth. (The trailer lied to me, which is fine. Trailers that give away the movie ruin the movie.) I didn’t want a multiverse in the MCU (beyond accepting that the MCU is considered by many fans–at least by some wikis–just one part of the Marvel Multiverse. No, I’m not going to tackle the animated Spider-Man movie from last year. It was fine.) because they make everything so damn complicated. This turned out to be a lie, thankfully, and Mysterio does an excellent heel turn.
In the heel turn, the writers reached all the way back to the beginning of the MCU which was a really nice touch. Pulling in old actors in minor roles and picking at things that could be lose ends works well. The holographic technology could have become more powerful in other stories, but it was held in reserve, untouched in the writer’s rooms until now. It’s hard to imagine some of those movies and how long ago they were. I felt the way about the first Spider-Man movie, and that was only two years ago!
Spider-Man makes a huge mistake, and ultimately so does Tony Stark. Tony has left Peter with E.D.I.T.H., a massive intelligence and war machine. Peter thinks he’s not the person to have that power and gives it away, and then that power is used against him. Stark didn’t think about this, otherwise E.D.I.T.H. would have had a subprogram to not attack Peter Parker or Spider-Man.
The battle is won, and as befits any good Spider-Man mythos, it is a phyrric victory. He seems to have everything in the end: the girl, the suit, the tech, a future; then it is taken away in a mid-credit scene. Either a pre-planned screw-the-enemy move by Mysterio, or a revenge move by his team, reveals Peter’s identity to the world.
Peter, of course, can clean it up with E.D.I.T.H., removing the video from every database in the world, but he can’t use it to remove people’s memories. Life for Peter Parker is going to be much much worse later on.
Sidebar: I like the idea of Aunt May knowing Peter is Spidey and she is on his team. She went from being afraid for him to telling him to bring the suit just in case he needs it. She wants him to be a hero in this film, and that’s good. Peter needs support beyond the “that’s so cool” Ned.
The post-credit scene was a bit out there. It raised a lot of questions to get the fans coming up with ideas, so it is successful from that point of view. It was definitely from beyond the left-field fence storytelling wise. Although if this movie is the actual end of Phase 3, it could be a prelude to Phase 4.
Overall, a good movie, a good way to spend an overly-warm holiday afternoon.