Movie Review: "Spider-Man: Far From Home" - Swinging High Again

"Spider-Man: Far From Home" is a lot of things. It's the second Spider-Man film in the MCU, the epilogue to the three phase spanning "Infinity Saga", and our first look at a post-"Endgame" world. While the latter two are important for the larger universe as a whole, this installment is important for the Spider-Man franchise and the tedious partnership between Marvel and Sony regarding the character. Said partnership is based on a limited contract and how many films, both solo and ensemble, they include Spider-Man in, and some fans think Sony could pull the character out at any moment. Not only is that idea ridiculous since Sony makes all the money on the Spider-Man movies while allowing Marvel to do all the work and ride on their coattails, but I feel that "Far From Home" cements Spider-Man's MCU future for years to come.

As mentioned before, the film takes place after "Endgame" and we get to see how the typical person deals with the fallout of them or someone they knew being gone for five years. For some, younger siblings could now be older than them now. But a more prominent issue are those displaced, as between Thanos and Bruce's snaps, some people may have no place to live. One of the things that come from that are outreach programs to help those affected that way, and we even see Aunt May working in such a place, similar to her work with FEAST in the comics. I'm sure more fallout will be explored in future films, but I like how just as "Endgame" didn't just erase "Infinity War", things aren't just getting swept under the rug and returning back to normal; there are true consequences.

With four movies already under his belt, Tom Holland delivers his best performance as the character yet. In "Homecoming", Peter was more concerned about becoming a big time superhero rather than being a normal teenager. This time around, it's the opposite. With everything that's happened to Peter since "Infinity War", it's understandable that the teenage hero would just like a break. It's hard though when he gets roped into a new adventure he makes it clear he didn't want to be on and the pressure he feels he's under due to being Tony's apprentice. If you didn't care for Peter's story in "Homecoming", "Far From Home" delivers a more emotional, relatable journey as we get the classic dilemma of the character trying to balance his hero and civilian lives. But still like "Homecoming", they make it clear that Peter's just a teenager dealing with the problems you'd expect one to have at that age.

Zendaya returns as Michelle Jones, nicknamed "MJ". And let me get this off my chest: people just need to accept that she's the MCU Mary Jane, even if she's not named that. I know people have a specific look in their heads when they think of the character, but considering how many changes the MCU makes to characters in the transition from comic to screen, I don't know why this one gets some riled up.

As for the character herself, I'm thankful she has a much bigger role here compared to "Homecoming". In the intervening time, Peter and MJ have become closer friends, with Peter beginning to reciprocate a crush she already had on him, but neither not sure how the other feels. Her personality from before remains in tact and we get to see through Peter's eyes what he likes about her. The chemistry between Holland and Zendaya is adorable. The romance isn't as passionate like Tobey and Kirsten or Andrew and Emma, but it works because they're both awkward teenagers, and they make a cute couple. But much like Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy though, she does try to help Peter as Spider-Man in some instances.

When it was revealed Samuel L. Jackson was playing Nick Fury again for this movie, I was really excited to see him and Spider-Man interact since I really enjoyed their relationship in Ultimate Spider-Man (the comic, not the cartoon). Compared to Tony, Nick is a much sterner mentor to Peter, getting real close to asshole territory. It sounds bad, but it's just about what I expected. And much like the Ultimate comics, Fury gets put in his place over his treatment of Peter by Happy, much like the Thing had done.

Now let's talk about our villain of the movie, Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck/Mysterio. Yes, he's the villain, and I feel like anyone who knows anything about the character wouldn't have bought the whole "hero from another universe" story; being a conman is his whole schtick. Putting away the obvious non-twist, Gyllenhaal is one of the finest villains to come from a Marvel or Spider-Man film. He plays "the part" of the hero well, manipulates Peter in a way that he comes off like a mentor, and we get to see his composure go from confident to unhinged as he becomes more desperate to complete his plan; it's similar to how Michael Keaton's Vulture started to lose it more and more. Being behind the Elementals is one thing, but we also get to see Mysterio live up to his title of the Master of Illusion, giving us the most trippy scenes ever seen in a Spider-Man film. It also creates some paranoia, with Spidey and the viewer questioning if what they're seeing in certain scenes are real. Without spoiling anything, much like Thanos, Mysterio is a villain that's been building up since "Iron Man", but in a more subtle way. This goes in line with "Far From Home" being the true finale of Phase Three and the "Infinity Saga". Finally, fans wondering why Fury recruits Spider-Man out of all the other heroes is also part of Mysterio's grand plan.

The action and visuals in this film are spectacular. Along with Mysterio's illusions, we get a lot more excitement when it comes to Spider-Man's acrobatics. I felt with "Homecoming" that some of the swinging and action was somewhat subdued, something I hadn't realized until I saw Spider-Man actually swinging between buildings in "Infinity War". In "Far From Home" though, they really cut lose, giving us the best Spider-Man swinging action since the "Amazing Spider-Man" movies. The final battle also shows Peter in his most ravaging battle yet, forcing him to think more on his feet and making his victory even more satisfying.

Like a Spider-Man video game, we get a good variety of suits in this film. All the previous suits are present, from homemade to Iron Spider, and then there are two new ones. The first is the Stealth suit, which will probably start being called the "Night Monkey" suit; I love how there was some influence from the Noir version of the character, making it a more modern design. Then there's the upgraded suit, which is more or less the MCU version of the advanced suit from the PS4 game; it's like the old suit but with slight modifications and a unique design. What's nice though is that this is actually the first Spider-Man suit Peter has actually created himself since the homemade one, and it's a sign he's finally starting to become his own hero without anyone holding his hand.

The film includes a mid-credits and post-credits scene, both of which are important to the future of the MCU.

The mid-credits scene is a real game changer to Spider-Man's world and the shock value of this scene is on par with the end of "Infinity War" with all the characters getting dusted. Rest assured, this will make the next Spider-Man film very different from any that had come before.

The post-credits scene can be a little confusing, but doing a little research, I think it's set-up for the next major threat to the MCU.
In both cases, they imply a necessity for a new Avengers team to form going into Phase Four.

Overall, when it comes to the live action films, "Far From Home" is the best Spider-Man film yet and while I may be biased due to my love for the character, I also found it to be one of the best MCU films as well. Dramatic, action packed, and pretty damn trippy, "Far From Home" is another must see for fans of the wall-crawler and Marvel as a whole.

My Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings:
1/2. Avengers: Infinity War/Avengers: Endgame
3. Spider-Man: Far From Home
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
5. Black Panther
6. Captain America: Civil War
7. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
10. The Avengers
11. Guardians of the Galaxy
12. Doctor Strange
13. Spider-Man: Homecoming
14. Ant-Man and the Wasp
15. Ant-Man
16. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 3
18. Thor
19. Captain America: The First Avenger
20. Iron Man
21. The Incredible Hulk
22. Iron Man 2
23. Thor: The Dark World

One last comment: f*** Brad. That will make sense when you see the movie.