Walking a tightly strung web all the way from Queens, New York to historic Europe, Spider-Man: Far From Home has a few stumbles, but miraculously stays balanced on its epic journey.
A sequel to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, this 2019 adventure, which is also helmed by director Jon Watts, takes place almost immediately following the events of Avengers: Endgame (fear not, still no spoilers – though there are in this film), with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man (Tom Holland) struggling with his newfound fame (after all, he is still just a high school student). Dealing with questions like, ‘Is he an Avenger?’, or ‘What part does he play following the outcome of Endgame?’, he is like a spider in the headlights. . . looking for some much needed time off.
Heading on a vacation with his school, it seems like the perfect time to get closer to the awkwardly literal, rather blunt MJ (Zendaya once again hitting it out of the park) – his longtime crush, even if his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) reminds him that “we’re going to be bachelors in Europe. I may not know much, but I know this – Europeans love Americans!”.
Avoiding calls from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his trusted sidekick Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and trying to ignore the fact that his handler, Happy (Jon Favreau), seems to have a thing going with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), Peter heads to Europe with his school chums – including his main rival, who ironically loves Spider-Man, Flash (Tony Revolori), and their only supervisors, Mr. Harrington (Martin Starr) and Mr. Dell (J.B. Smoove). . . is it just me, or is this a lawsuit waiting to happen?
Like a James Bond feature, Watts relishes filming in historically important, picturesque locales like Venice, Prague, and London – these exquisite cities provide a varied backdrop when compared to the traditional energetic flow and skyline that is New York City – a rare change of pace (and the first of seven Spider-Man pictures to do so).
No longer the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, soon trouble comes a calling, and Fury tracks down the kid. . . pairing him with a being from another dimension, Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), to fight the Elementals – four destructive monsters born from the classical elements, they have destroyed Beck’s version of Earth and are now looking for new lands to ravage.
In this world of ‘fake news’, there is something fitting about Far From Home’s story (written by Chris McKenna, screenplay by Erik Sommers). Though, to me, it seemed rather predictable, other critics have called it twisty and unpredictable, so to each their own. Whether you fall in the former or latter camp, you cannot say that it is not entertaining. With breezy quips and solid acting, most of the film just flies by – a perfect summer popcorn flick. If there is a problem with the writing, it is within the comedic aspects found early in the narrative, which feel forced – especially between Peter and best friend Ned. It is like they felt that they had to outdo the last movie’s banter, and it comes off a bit cringey. Yet, once it hits its flow, it is full speed ahead. Starr and Smoove especially deserve credit, playing two less than slick teachers who desperately want to keep control (and think they are – it is simply Fury pulling the strings), but, in reality, they don’t have the skills or smarts to.
With some nice call backs to previous MCU films (like AC/DC in Iron Man – which Peter confuses as Led Zeppelin), the script also captures the generation gap that is growing oh so apparent – old-school (channelled perfectly by the ever-cool Samuel L. Jackson, the cheeky Jon Favreau and the bubbly Marisa Tomei) versus the new-school – technology, social media, and the like. Perhaps the most fascinating tie-in brings things all the way back to the original Tobey Maguire franchise, with J.K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson in the first of two after credits scenes.
Funnily enough, I’ve always wondered why they’ve never used The Ramones version of the Spider-Man Theme for one of these movies. . . that is not resolved here, but the soundtrack does feature the group’s I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend – teasing us that one day we might get to hear it grace a future film.
A fun, one hundred and sixty million dollar summer popcorn flick, Spider-Man: Far From Home achieves what it sets out to do, melding its flawless CGI with an entertaining story (which is acted by a stellar cast) to create two hours and nine minutes of pure escapism. I don’t want to drone on and on, so get to the nearest theatre to see a projection of things to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.