'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Is Beyond Amazing and Spectacular

If Spider-Man: Homecoming is amazing and spectacular, then the sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home must be beyond so, for it’s definitely a step up.  It’s a movie that only gets better and better as it progresses.  I had quite a blast with it; there was no moment in it that I didn’t like.

The plot follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his classmates as they go on an educational trip in Europe.  Still distraught over Tony Stark’s death and burdened by the implication that he has to fill in the void left by Iron Man, Peter hopes to use their European trip to take a break from Spider-Man matters, forget his worries for a while, and just focus on his plan of confessing his feelings to MJ (Zendaya).  However, to his dismay, Peter is dragged by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) into the conflict against a quartet of inter-dimensional, apocalypse-ushering monsters called Elementals, whom they are working to stop with the help of Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), a superhero from an alternate universe whose Earth has been destroyed by the Elementals.

Spider-Man: Far From Home truly captures the essence of what a Spider-Man story should be; specifically, it totally nails the recurring theme of Spider-Man’s responsibilities constantly getting in the way of Peter Parker’s pursuit of happiness in his personal life, and that even so, Peter/Spidey will still choose to do the right thing.  The pacing is terrific, the script is clever, and the direction is steady.  It is my opinion that its drama and characterization are just as strong as Homecoming’s.  But as for its action and set pieces, it’s objectively more exciting, more memorable, and more confidently helmed.

Moreover, it’s as much of a high school rom-com flick as it is a superhero movie.  However, although it utilizes clichés of that genre, it doesn’t come off as cheesy but is rather adorable.  The rom-com aspect is executed really well, constantly putting a smile on my face.  This is also a very funny movie, and most of the jokes that landed come from its rom-com side than its superhero side.  In addition, Tom Holland and Zendaya have fantastic chemistry.

Speaking of Tom Holland and Zendaya, their respective performances here are phenomenal.  There’s now no doubt in my mind that Tom Holland is the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man in film – he’s incredible at playing both.  As for Zendaya, I like her here better than in Homecoming.  I finally get to see her character as a valid alternate version of Mary Jane Watson.

Meanwhile, as expected from someone of his caliber, Jake Gyllenhaal is a delight as Mysterio.  I really dig his portrayal of the MCU’s vision for the character (more on him later).

Lastly, its mid-credits scene is one of the best, if not the best, I’ve ever seen in an MCU film.  It’s simply brilliant in several ways.  First, it completely changes the movie.  Second, it sets up an intriguing problem for Spidey to deal with in the sequel.  And, third, it has the biggest surprise I’ve had from a movie since Bruce Willis’ David Dunn cameod at the end of Split (more on this later).

In the end, this may be a case of recency bias, but in a way, Spider-Man: Far From Home may even be a better film per se than Avengers: Endgame.  Now, I still love Endgame more, but it’s more due to it gratifying as an unprecedented event-payoff for the build up from all the films that came before it.  On the other hand, as a life-long Spider-Man fan, I was more pleased by Spider-Man: Far From Home as a standalone.

Regardless, Spider-Man: Far From Home is definitely one of the all-time best MCU films to date.

Miscellaneous musings (w/ SPOILERS):

• The scene in the trailer of Spidey ribbing some NYPD officers was not in the movie.  I wish it was.
• Spidey didn’t do much wise-cracking in this movie.  But given the context of the plot, I could understand why.  Still, I prefer if there had been more of Spidey’s trademark humor and quips.
• When did Tony leave E.D.I.T.H. for Peter?  Didn’t he die soon after Peter’s “resurrection” from the Snap?  And prior that, wasn’t Peter gone for five years and presumed dead?  And why was it up to Nick Fury to deliver E.D.I.T.H. to Peter?  Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate for Happy or Pepper to do it?
• Also, come to think of it, isn’t E.D.I.T.H. just basically another version of Ultron?  I thought Tony already learned his lesson.
• Ned and Betty’s summer fling was hilarious!

• I enjoyed a lot how the movie amusingly handled its discussion of the effects of the Snap – the Blip, as it was called in the movie – on ordinary people.  That scene of a marching band returning to the very same basketball court on which they vanished from 5 years ago, causing players of an occurring match to bang into them, gave me my first of many audible bursts of laughter during the film.
• On the other hand, if people returned to the very same place they vanished from, that means that those who were riding airplanes when they disappeared from the Blip would have returned in the air and dropped to their deaths.  Yikes.
• There was a quick, subtle “fake news” dig at the mainstream media inserted in a dialogue somewhere in this movie.  And I was startled and amused by it.

• Anybody who had a modest knowledge of comic books would have guessed that Mysterio was really a villain.  But I think that, based on the outstanding execution, anybody who wasn’t aware that Mysterio is a popular Spider-Man villain would have been floored by the reveal.  I love how the heart-to-heart scenes between Quentin Beck and Peter were sold quite effectively, as if the former was sincerely benevolent.
• So, there was no multiverse after all.  It was, of course, part of Mysterio’s ruse.  We’re still zero steps closer to my dream of Spider-Verse happening in the MCU. But the Mysterio arc was just done so well that I didn’t feel bummed at all.
• Also, J.K. Simmons showing up in the mid-credits scene, and revealing that he’s also the MCU version of J. Jonah Jameson, was every bit as mindblowing as if it had been Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield showing up.  Okay, not really.  Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland doing a Spider-Verse would have still been more awesome.  But that J. Jonah Jameson cameo was a jaw-dropper nonetheless.
• I hope J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson will have a more meaningful part to play in the next movie.

• Wow, Mysterio really did a number on Spidey!  I really like how the film proper wrapped up with the usual “good guy winning over the bad guy” resolution, and then after letting the primary credits roll, turned the tables around by shockingly revealing that the “bad guy” won after all.
• I’m extremely looking forward to seeing what will be the repercussions on Peter Parker’s life after what Quentin Beck has done, and how he will get himself out of this pickle.
• I don’t really know what to feel about that post-credits scene, which revealed that the Skrulls Talos and Soren had been posing as Nick Fury and Maria Hill all along, and that the real Nick Fury was in a Skrull spaceship somewhere in space.  If it was done for a gag, then… meh.  But if it was hinting on something bigger, then I’m really excited for it.