Spider-Man: Far From Home Review
5 min read*Warning: The following post contains spoilers for BOTH Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. If you haven’t seen either of these films and wish to avoid having them spoiled, turn away now. You’ve been warned.*
The latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Spider-Man: Far From Home. I’ve read a few reviews of it, and people were either extremely high on it, or severely disappointed. I happen to be one of those who are crazy impressed with this Spider-Man movie, and I’d go so far as to say it’s the best Spider-Man movie ever (not counting Into The Spiderverse). The action was intense, the story was great, and Tom Holland is amazing at playing Peter Parker. That’s not all that made this movie great though, so here’s my review of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
The movie picks up with a short “In Memoriam Of” the fallen heroes from the events of Endgame. Tony Stark, Black Widow, Captain America, and Vision are all highlighted, and then the camera pans out to a couple of teenagers doing a broadcast for their high school news. We learn that the “Thanos Snap” is now being referred to as the “Blip” which is not nearly as cool. The news crew detail how people who had returned from the blip hadn’t actually aged, but the people who didn’t were now 5 years older. This complicates things in a way that we won’t explain on this post, but we will dive into the schematics of it over on YouTube. There are incredibly complex issues with how this was explained away, but it’s done so in a way that doesn’t fully detract from the movie itself.
Peter is now fully returned from his time in “The Blip” and is readjusting to life after the threat of Thanos. In addition to adjusting to life as a superhero, he must also learn to cope with the loss of his friend and mentor, Tony Stark. Peter attends an event for those who’d been displaced from their homes after the events of the blip (again, YouTube explainer) and runs into his old pal, Happy Hogan. This is a dynamic that I’ve been waiting to see happen since Happy was Tony’s right-hand man. It only makes sense for them to link up. During their meeting, Happy tells Peter that Nick Fury was going to be calling him, and he should be sure to answer.
Of course Peter doesn’t answer, and sets most of the events of Far From Home into action by doing so. The first part of the movie is kind of a slow burn towards the action-packed second half, but is very much necessary in order to tell the complete story. I’m thankful Marvel didn’t try to over-explain the Snap, but they also didn’t just cruise through it.
Peter learns that his class is headed to Europe on a sweet getaway, and on this trip, he’s planning to tell MJ (Zendaya), how he really feels about her. Halfway through the trip, their destination is attacked by a giant water monster and is subsequently subdued by a caped crusader (no, not that one) that no one has seen before. After the chaotic day, Peter retreats to his room with his best friend Ned, who gets hit by a tranquilizer courtesy of Nick Fury. This is where things start to get interesting as Fury recruits Spider-Man to help him take down a group of Elemental monsters capable of destroying the earth.
This is where we meet Mysterio, who’s played masterfully by Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal plays Quentin Beck, an alternate form of Mysterio who is from an alternate universe destroyed by the very monsters now plaguing Peter Parker and co. He’s equal parts charming and sincere initially, playing the mentor role for Parker after a few uncharacteristic run-ins with Nick Fury. In fact, for the whole film Fury seems to be especially inept at his job, but we find out why later in the film (It’s because Fury has been subbed out for a Skrull so he can take a vacation).
Fast forward and we get to the big swerve. Beck isn’t from an alternate universe, but instead is a brilliant scientist who used to work for Tony Stark and was using Parker to gain access to Stark tech. Parker of course willingly gives it to him, and he sets a plan in place to become the greatest hero ever with a mix of holographic threats and his newly acquired Stark technology. This was an excellent way to portray Beck, and it hit me right in the feels once the big reveal was completed. All Peter wanted was a mentor and a friend in the wake of Tony Stark’s death. Instead, Beck manipulated his vulnerability and in the process broke our collective hearts. What a dick.
As with all great superhero movies, Parker sees the error of his ways and embarks on a near-suicide mission to recover the Stark tech he willingly handed over. And in true hero fashion, all wrongs were righted, and everyone lives happily ever after. Except not, as the film ends with Peter getting an ever needed moment with his new love interest MJ, before being interrupted by J Jonah Jameson on a massive screen. Jameson reveals a video uploaded by Beck’s team that had been fabricated to make Spider-Man the person who orchestrated all the attacks from the Elementals. The most insane moment happens when at the end, Beck reveals Spider-Man’s true identity along with a photo of Parker as proof. Dang.
Far From Home is easily the greatest Spider-Man movie I’ve seen so far, and it was an excellent follow-up to Avengers: Endgame. There were a few plot holes scattered around, but for the most part, it was a great way to kick off phase four. Things are still looking up within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and with Tom Holland as Spider-Man, they have an excellent successor to the Iron Man throne.