Spider-Man: Far From Home

The Tony Stark era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe came to a close with Spider-Man: Far From Home. When I reviewed Endgame a month or two back, I expressed hope that this 'epilogue' would share a ton of light on how people adapted after the return of that missing half of the global population after Thanos' snap. And my request was granted!

Far From Home has Peter Parker (Tom Holland) reeling from the loss of his mentor, Tony Stark. A school class trip to Europe just might be the thing Spider-Man needs to get his head back together. Plus, Parker has made big plans to express his love to MJ (Zendaya). However, with a new Avengers-level threat taking aim at Central Europe, it appears that uber-spy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has just hijacked Peter's vacation.

Fury introduces Peter to Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), a superhero from a parallel earth. He claims that Elementals in the form of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water have arrived on our world and seek to devour it. Beck believes that without Spider-Man's help, the lone survivor of his world, now named Mysterio by the press, cannot defeat the final and most powerful Elemental, Fire. 

All Peter wants to do is relax and be a kid. Thus, without really having his Uncle Ben around anywhere in the picture, the teenage superhero must decide whether or not if it's true that with great power comes great responsibility.

Far From Home is probably the best Spider-Man film to date. Tom Holland is the perfect Spider-Man. Sadly, he's about the only character here that is pretty true to the comics. That's not to say that I did not like the other characters. Zendaya's version of MJ grew on me compared from the first movie. I think I am okay with her being a little weird. And as much as I like Jacob Batalon's Ned Leeds; he's not the one from the comics. With this in mind, there were a couple of scenes in which I felt like I was watching a Teen Disney TV show and not a superhero spectacular.

Perhaps the most unforgivable representation in the movie is that of Marisa Tomei's Aunt May. I like that she's a more hip and cooler auntie. But I felt like Kevin Feige and company really decided to ramp up her sex appeal to appease the numerous fans who have salivated over her ever since first appearing in Captain America: Civil War. The frequent gratuitous rear end shots of her proves this. In all, it felt unnecessary.

There's another big reveal that is not true to the comics but it's a HUGE spoiler. I'm still on the fence about it. All I will say is that there are 2 extra scenes during the credits and one of them will change everything you thought you knew about the MCU Avengers' origins. Or at least make you question everything.

I didn't realize how long the movie is but honestly, I didn't feel like it was a lengthy movie. There's so much jammed packed action in this film, along with a lot of laughs. But I must admit that during the credits when I saw all the listings for those who worked on the Italy portion of this film, I said to myself, 'That happened months ago!' Meaning, I had forgotten how much distance Spidey and his friends ended up travelling all the way from NYC to Venice, London and other ports of call.

This is the type of film that can only be described as an epic. Lots happen here and for the most part, you will not be disappointed. However, I did start to feel in the last about 5 minutes of this movie that I was watching the ending to Shazam! I'm wondering if DC's family friendly film didn't get producers thinking about a younger target audience. 

For one thing, a Ramones song plays during the main wrap-up scene. And then when you have the first credits, you get funny animated illustrations and trick photography like you do at the end of Shazam! DC and Marvel are constantly criticized for when things seem too similar to each other (especially in such a short amount of time) and this is an instance when I point fingers at the House of Ideas stealing some concepts from the House that Superman Built.

Overall, I really loved this movie. But I thought that some instances were too similar to other superhero flicks. Plus, while totally fine with some changes in the characters, one just went over the line. And then there's that shocking twist. I just don't know how I feel about it. I'd love to process it with you here and now, my dear readers. But that would be too much of a spoiler. In a movie in which perception is the key theme, that spoiler is one you must see to believe.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.