Film Review: Spider-Man: Far From Home
Set after Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home deals with a post Tony, Steve, and Natasha landscape. It’s a smaller film, both in scope and in ambition. That’s not to say it doesn’t have any curveballs to throw though. Oh no. Far From Home is still an engaging, witty, and funny film. And with some of the best post credit stingers in the MCU since the introduction of the Avenger Initiative, it’s safe to say that the future of the MCU, and of Peter Parker himself, is in good hands. ALERT SPOILERS AHEAD!
Far From Home (henceforth referred to as FFH) is a road trip film, in case you couldn’t tell from the title. Peter Parker, post Snap/Blip and still dealing with the loss of Tony Stark is back to school and is traveling to Europe on a school trip with his class, hanging up the suit for the time being. Oh, and he want to tell MJ he likes her as well. Of course, things don’t go as planned. Teaming up with a new hero called Mysterio, he must put a stop to four Elemental beings that threaten the safety of the Earth…
Of course, if you know ANYTHING at all about Spider-man comics, then you would know that SPOILER
Mysterio is a villain. And to no one’s surprise, he is one in the MCU. Jake Gyllenhaal does such a good role with the heroic persona however, that you just can’t help but want to believe he’s one of the good guys. The turn however, does give us a great montage of scientists working for Stark Industries that turned on Tony for one reason or another, most notably the guy on the receiving end of the famous cave/box of scrap line from the first Iron Man.
Unfortunately, Mysterio’s motivations and goals prove to be one of the weakest points of the film. His goal is to fake being one of the world’s greatest heroes. In order to do that, he needs an array of StarkTech satellites that are controlled by a pair of sunglasses gifted to Peter Parker by Tony before his death. This whole plan kinda falls flat because of the existence of real intergalactic threats that would expose him in a heartbeat. It’s such a dumb plan that isn’t reflective of the world he lives. By the end of the film, one gets the sense that this portrayal of him was a waste, with no real future for the character, which is a shame because Mysterio is easily charismatic and intelligent enough to become a staple in future Spider-Man films.
Villains aside, Spider-Man’s adventures are entertaining on their own. Peter Parker as a student isn’t really that explored in the films, and his school life has been traditionally relegated to his hometown of NYC, so this school trip is a real deviation from the norm. The consequences of the time skip cause by The Snap are under-explored though; mainly limited to a few brief jokes. we do get a name for the reappearance of all the Snapped- that even is hereby known as The Blip.
All that aside the road trip gives us an excellent opportunity to explore Peter Parker psyche post Thanos. His inability to deal with Tony’s death still weighs heavily on him, and it shows. The extra weight of responsibility thrust on him due to Tony’s faith in him is perhaps to fast, to soon, and it we get to see his struggle with a world that needs beacons and symbols of hope more than ever. With Nick Fury and Happy Hogan breathing down his neck, you can’t blame him from trying to get away from it all.
If you think that means a depressing, dark, and moody 2 hours though, you would be dead wrong. FFH is full of the trademark MCU humor, and particularly the childish dumb Homecoming kind (though nothing will come close to the “watching porn” line ). From Flash getting punched in the groin, to Peter getting caught undressing no less than 2 times in front of beautiful women, the film is not short of juvenile humor. Also, Peter accidentally puts a hit on a fellow classmate. Ned’s protesting of Spider-Man not being Spider-Man, but “Night-Monkey” ranks pretty fucking high on the list too.
The supporting cast does a lot to help as well. Zendaya is great as the sarcastic, wisecracking MJ and her chemistry with Holland on screen is evident. Likewise, Jacob Batalon as Ned is equally as fun, with his budding romance (and just as quick breakup) with Betty Brant (Angourie Rice). Marisa Tomei is back and as good as ever. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is too, although seeming not as sharp as he was due to being dusted, along with Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill.
The CGI is serviceable, although after the marvel that is Endgame it can be drab in comparison- the four Elementals in particular can look cheap at times (Spoiler: they are holographic illusions, so this makes sense at least). On the other hand, Spider-Man at long last gets his Spider-Sense, and its full reveal is one of the best choreographed fight scenes in any Spider-Man film. It’s just a shame that the fights in general are lackluster, mainly becusee it’s mostly a sham. The elementals are fake, and Mysterio himself doesn’t really put up much of a fight, relying on drones instead. It does give us a really trippy sequence where his illusions mess up Peter’s senses though.
And then there’s the end sequences. Oh boy. These would be major reveals in any other film, and here they’re just shoved into missable end credits sequences. There’s two of them. Watch them. That’s all.
Objective: 9.0/10
Personal: 9.5/10
CAN’T STOP WON’T STOP JPHIP
WRITTEN BY silogore
