Now that most of you have already seen Spider-Man No Way Home, I guess this is a good time to give my official review with spoilers! You have been room.
Of all of the Spider-Man/MCU entries I have to say by far this is my favorite. It puts our favorite web-slinger, Peter Parker in the midst of emotion and tragedy much as we know him to be from the comics. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the innocent and whimsical Tom Holland but so far, the prior MCU Spidey flicks felt premature to say the least. But this film finally lives up to the character and to bring in the Spider-verse was dope even with its minor inconsistencies.
We see No Way Home takes place immediately after the previous film. The world now knows who Spider-Man is as his secret identity was exposed by Mysterio before his demise, which was by way of Stark technology. Although he pretty much had it coming, the world stands by the fake hero in belief that Spider-Man really murdered him… all the while everyone is unaware that he saved the world. While Peter tries to get on with his life back in New York, he realizes that his fate has now affected those closest to him. His girlfriend and best friend have had college applications denied and the authorities have gotten involved. But things don’t take a turn for the worse until he tries to remedy the situation by seeking help from Dr. Strange to erase the memory of him from everyone. But when he realizes that this includes those that he shared his secret with, he unknowingly makes changes to the Strange’s spell. Needless to say, it goes awry and ends up bringing characters from throughout the multiverse that knew his identity.
In an attempt to save them all, Spider-Man tries to cure the villains after discovering that they all died fighting the Spider-Man versions from their universes. It was this goodness and innocence here that showed us why we loved the heart of Spider-Man in the way that he was meant to be created. But it is when after losing Aunt May, that we see Peter Parker really become who he is meant to be and that very humanity become tested.
What I enjoyed from the second act this gave the opportunity to see my fav villains, Dr Otto Octavius & Green Goblin in addition to Sandman, Electro played much better this go round by Jamie Foxx. I particularly laughed and loved how Ned assumed The Lizard aka Curt Conners was a dinosaur. No Way Home has plenty of humor to go around but unlike every other MCU flick, it’s not overly done in every bloody scene but more importantly it especially doesn’t cheapen the more serious moments.
No Way Home does more than nostalgia bait and fan service and it does it great unlike so many movies that just want the fan dinero. Each and every character is treated with dignity and their respective actors are very genuine here. It’s not like they’re there for a check because we know MCU flicks bring bank. It even fixes somethings from the comic book that have been altered or left out altogether without trashing what the previous films did such as Goblin’s costume with the purple hood, Electro’s costume or MCU Spider-Man’s costume at the end. Unlike Spider-Man 3 where the film tries to appease fans, No Way Home actually does the job. This film honestly restored my hope in the MCU because with the exception of Shang-Chi, I was quite worried where things were going. But aside what I saw on screen here was despite that this was a MCU film with Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, this film felt cohesive with the other franchise films. It even gave closure to them in particular, The Amazing Spider-Man.
Despite some characters feeling boxed in for their scenes, literally and figurately, the direction this film worked really well. But the show stealers were Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their roles as Spider-Man. Bringing them in for the entirety of the third act was awesome. Because judging from the leaks, I originally assumed that they would be reduced to cameos much like Matt Murdock in the beginning or just to fight the big fight as in Endgame.
Speaking of Murdock, which was an amazing way to bring him into the MCU without a whole new origin story. Between seeing him and Kingpin now in the Hawkeye series, we could be in for a treat down the road.
I honestly adored the Netflix series, even Iron Fist (flaws and all) … All I need is the Punisher dammit!! But as far as the Spider-Man showdown… to my amazement, Tobey and Garfield’s versions were actually here supporting MCU Spider-Man. And their chemistry couldn’t be more authentic. Yet, I especially loved Garfield. There is a scene where he saves MJ that literally gave me chills. I won’t lie, I was never crazy about his Spidey films or the more recent MCU’s but their characters were always done well.
No Way Home puts them all together very well. The 3rd act is for lack of a better word flippin’ awesome. Seeing all 3 Spider-Man was dope that I didn’t even touch what was left of my food or drink.
Honestly, I was offput by the runtime but it was used very well and unwasted. From the scene with Garfield and Maguire explaining to Holland how they lost people close to the scenes with just the two of them. But another scene that moved me was when Tobey gives Andrew the pep talk and tells him how Amazing he is or when Garfield cracks his back. There are quite a few scenes in the 3rd act that even without Holland, works so well.
I could go on, but you get the point and I was supposed to put this review out days ago.
Anyway guys what did you think of Spider-Man No Way Home? As for me, it’s awesome!
Until Next Time Kiddies,
Shalom
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