Spider-Man: Far From Home Review: Spins A Mighty Fine Web
- naterichard98
- Jul 20, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 30, 2021
DIRECTED BY: JON WATTS STARRING: TOM HOLLAND, JAKE GYLLENHAAL, & ZENDAYA
RATED PG-13 FOR SCI-FI ACTION VIOLENCE, SOME LANGUAGE AND BRIEF SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
LENGTH: 129 MINUTES
Spider-Man is in the middle of his own renaissance, thanks to not only shining in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, having a critically acclaimed PS4 game, and being in the Academy Award winning Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, things are looking good for ol' webhead. After achieving critical and box office success with his last solo MCU outing Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony and Marvel Studios were quick to pounce on a sequel.
Spider-Man: Far From Home finds Peter Parker (Tom Holland) on vacation in Europe with his classmates. He's trying to recover from the events of Endgame as well as trying to confess his feelings to his friend MJ (Zendaya). Though his plans are thrown for a loop when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), shows up and has Peter team up with Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) to take on the mysterious Elementals.
One of the best aspects of Homecoming was how director Jon Watts was able to make the film feel like a coming-of-age film just as much as it felt like a superhero movie. That kind of feeling is back in full force here where the stakes of Peter asking out MJ feel just as big as stopping the Elementals. It's oddly refreshing for a superhero movie not to always feel like a superhero one hundred percent of the time; while there is plenty of superhero moments here the film certainly isn't afraid to also feel down to earth. The action is easily some of the best there's been in a Spider-Man movie since the days of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, especially with the final action set-piece in London which feels refreshingly unique in its execution.
Tom Holland continues to prove that he is now the Spider-Man to beat in his turn here as the web-slinger, but it's Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio who really steals the film. Any fears that Gyllenhaal would tone down some of his -isms for a mainstream superhero sequel are washed away as it certainly seems that Gyllenhaal was more than comfortable in his role. Zendaya gets much more time to shine here than she did in the previous film and is an absolute delight to watch on-screen, making MJ more than just a great romantic foil to Holland's Peter but also one of the strongest female characters in the MCU.
While actors like Holland, Zendaya, and Gyllenhaal shine, the film doesn't give Jacob Batalon, who shined in Homecoming as Peter's best friend Ned, and Cobie Smulders that much to do here and they ultimately feel like side-notes once the credits roll.
Spider-Man: Far From Home almost manages to reach the high heights of its predecessor and delivers a sequel that is entertaining to the bone, frequently funny, and an all around great time at the theater.
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