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Posted in: Marvel Studios, Movies, Review, Sony | Tagged: spider-man, Spider-Man review, spider-man: no way home, tom holland, zendaya
Spider-Man: No Way Home: An Uneven Love Letter To Spidey Fans {Review}
Spider-Man: No Way Home will be remembered for a lot of things. We cannot talk about some of them yet, since they are massive spoilers. None of that here. But the third outing for Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and director Jon Watts takes some huge swings, on the level of a Russo Brothers Avengers film. While it is not as successful as those films, in size and scope, it delivers in many ways, some even surprising and will catch you off guard.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Packs A Punch For The Second Half
After the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter is now out as Spidey, and it is affecting his life and those he holds dear. Because of this, he attempts to enlist the help of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to make people forget he is Spider-Man. This goes haywire, and instead of that, it begins to pull people who know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man to our world from the multiverse. This includes some of the villains from previous films, including Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church), and Lizard (Rhys Ifans). With help from MJ and Ned, along with others, he must figure out how to get them back to their own worlds. We stop there so as not to spoil anything.
This is a very uneven film. The first half is so full of jittery performances that this cast is known for that it is maddening to watch. Are we sure Tom Holland can carry a movie? Honestly, it is starting to look like he works better in an ensemble, where he doesn't have to do all of the heavy lifting. He has his moments in this film for sure, but his best ones come when he is not the focal point of the scene, and that is a problem. There are all sorts of weird, choppy editing going on in the first half as well, and while it never gets confusing, one wonders if they had not been rushed during this production if they could have cleaned it up a little bit. The bit with the staff at Peter's school is painful to watch especially and is a perfect example of a big problem with this batch of Spider-Man films.
That is not to say that the first half doesn't also have standouts. Zendaya and Batalon are better than ever. Their bond is excellent. All of the returning villains are awesome and, in one of the running themes in this film, are given much better material than they were given before, especially Foxx and Ifans. Those two Amazing Spider-Man films were done dirty, and this one fixes a lot of that. And boy, is it great to have Molina and Dafoe back. Both of them are on another level here, especially Dafoe.
For as many problems as the first half has, the second has none of them. It becomes an epic story and a giant love letter to the Spider-Man film universe as a whole and fans. The action is some of the best in the series so far, and nobody will leave without a smile on their face from certain things that go down. That being said, nothing that surprising happens, and for that, we can blame the fandom and discourse around this film. So much speculation and leaks and such went on during the lead-up to Spider-Man this time, and it doesn't matter if it is true or not; it takes a little of the steam out of some of what goes on.
Though uneven, Spider-Man: No Way Home ultimately succeeds as an event film, chock full of fist-pumping moments in the second half that will send the audience home happy. It will be interesting to see where they go from here and where they leave Peter at the end. But those are for another time. For now, if you are a Spider-Man fan, go, enjoy, and shout with joy.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
7/10
While uneven, Spider-Man: No Way Home ultimately provides plenty of fist-pumping moments on the level of an Avengers film, sure to have fans leaving the theater buzzing and smiling.
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