This has got to be probably the worse Spiderman Film ever made, but in reality it's not a Spiderman film at all, just another in the Avenger series with Nick Fury! The storyline is really silly, full of holes and has very little continuity. Moving on from the end of the last Avengers movie, Endgame, this simply throws at us a preposterous and pathetic theory of what happened that does not make any sense at all. Then gives us what in essence is yet another re-hash of other movies. It's quite clear that Marvel appear to be concentrating so much on merchandising, that they've forgotten how to make decent films! They need to stop throwing lots of characters from different time lines and worlds together and go back to basics again, concentrate on one superhero and the time to give us a decent story, with some new and original ideas, instead of just mashing it all up and being lazy! All the PC boxes are noticeably and blatantly happily ticked, Muslim Girl, Black, Indian-Middle Eastern, East Asian, Jewish, Fat Cheery Guy, etc, ensuring no-one complaints that the film wasn't inclusive and allowing it to be shown in various world territories! And that's another thing, many film makers today seem to be so bent upon not upsetting certain markets, such as the Middle East or China, that any gritty or controversial elements are taken out or subdued, and this completely destroys any sense of gravitas that the film may have had. For me this film was really boring to watch, unoriginal, badly scripted, badly directed, the camera was all over the place, way too much CGI and I'm not sure there was much acting in it either!
Set amongst the beauty spots of Europe (Venice, the Alps, etc), this fairly zips along without the usual Marvel baggage. The up-to-the-minute plot revolves around deepfake technology and gives rise to some imaginative surreal sequences, making even the cgi battles against monsters less boring than normal.
It works even better as a superior high-school comedy as Peter Parker (Spider-teen) and his classmates go on a European school trip. JB Smoove (Larry David’s house guest in Curb Your Enthusiasm) is a riot as their teacher. Instead of yawnfest superhero angst and soul-searching we get fun set-pieces and punchy dialogue. Sample: when Peter tells the girl he fancies that she’s pretty, she replies haughtily “And therefore I have value?”. Marvel nerds may be disappointed, but for those who find most superhero films a waste of screen time, this one’s impossible not to like.
A typical addition to the Marvel Comic oeuvre culminating in the usual big battle destruction of famous landmarks. Tom Holland has a neat charm in the character but this film lacks the spark that previous MCU films have in abundance. Here we have a new baddie, a teen romance, oodles of CGI and not much else really. Peter Parker (Holland) heads off to Europe on a school trip pining over his love MJ (Zendaya) but the irrepressible Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) needs Spider-Man as all the other heroes are either dead or unavailable to deal with some other worldly monsters that keep turning up. It all turns out that Jake Gyllenhaal is behind it all and has to be put down. There's the usual end credits sequence to set up for the next instalment so let's hope there's an injection of something new. Or at least bring back Tony Stark!!
How do you follow up a film such as Avengers: Endgame? The epic superhero ensemble picture brought to a close an arc that had brewing over the course of a decade which reshaped the entire world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man: Far From Home may seem like an odd choice to be the next film following and the final entry of Marvel’s Phase 3, considering the Spider-Man outings have been somewhat lighter adventures. But this plucky superhero is more than up to the challenge.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) tries to return to life as usual, even after being snapped out of existence for five years. This means that while his non-snapped friends have already graduated, Peter and his teenage friends still have to finish their studies. Once again, they’re off on another science field trip to Europe that may or may not have anything to do with science. It doesn’t matter to Peter considering this could be his big chance to form a relationship with the snarky MJ (Zendaya) and/or chum it up with his geeky friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). Even with the constant questioning of superheroes and the effects of the snap, everything seems to go back to the way it was with the teen comedy aspect of Spider-Man’s life once more present from Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Also back in full swing is the superhero aspect as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) follows Peter to Europe with another superhero mission. It seems like business as usual, considering Peter will have to combat a series of monsters known as The Elementals with the help of the magic superhero Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) from another dimension. It sounds fairly typical and for a character such as Spider-Man, it seems like just another job. Peter doesn’t think he’s up to the challenge of trying to balance this new hero stuff with Fury while still maintaining a normal high school life, despite Fury’s inspiring words; “Bitch, please, you’ve been to space.”
All of this seems somewhat expected and for the first half of the film, it seems to be headed down a simple path. But then, just when it seems like the film has settled into a groove, a new villain arises and shakes up everything. It’s a new development that takes great advantage of how superheroes have become the norm of this world and how gullible people are willing to believe anything when aliens, robots, wizards, and interdimensional beings are rampant. Listen close and you may just hear some commentary on the nature of superhero films being the only voice in the room that only from within the genre can something big be said.
Of course, all the expected Spider-Man elements are still firing well. Holland and Zendaya have amazing chemistry as the awkward teenage coupling coming together. Gyllenhaal has such a power to explode on the screen. Even the smaller supporting roles such as J.B. Smoove are astoundingly hilarious for the few scenes they occupy. The action is once more fast, clever, and loaded with plenty of sweeping sequences of Spider-Man bounding across cities, slinging web and saving civilians.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is fun, sure, but also a great assurance and excitement for what will follow as we head into the fourth supposed phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It takes many risks with the hero and brings him into his own as the next generation of superheroism that may not be sure of himself, but will do just fine. Plus, the film features perhaps the most shocking and rewarding post-credit Easter eggs of any Marvel movie.