Rating of
3/4
“Can the Spider-Man come out to play?!”
Matthew Brady - wrote on 02/24/22
“What the f-” *car beep*
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, man what a ride. This is the ultimate spidey movie, with plenty of fun to go around, which of course is most common in the MCU, but also the dramatic weight of responsibilities that was sorely missing from the previous entries. When the dramatic scenes hit, the impact is great. The fact a movie like this exist with the return of the Sam Raimi villains is something that I have yet to process. Even when watching it I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and feeling. It felt like a childhood fever dream.
There's a lot to unpack here, and yet the movie isn't a mess. Out of the three Holland Spidey films, this is by far the best one.
Tom Holland has been great in the past movies, but here I thought he finally made it his own. Holland delivers a great performance, especially in the emotional scenes. ‘Iron Boy jr.’ is no more, and that alone makes me so happy. If you're still in doubt about Tom Holland as Spider-Man, then I think this will finally turn you around, because Holland is so incredible in this movie. He fully embodies the struggle, but heroic Peter Parker who faces the most difficult choices. The final shot of him in his new home-made suit looked spectacular.
The supporting characters like MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are always a great edition in Peter’s journey. The chemistry between Peter and MJ is strong here. Honestly, out of all the Spider-Man movies, I feel that they relationship is the best.
Jon Watts direction in this movie, in terms of action, camera work, and just film making in general is a massive improvement this time around. The action scenes were memorable and creative, sometimes brutal. There’s one scene where Peter Parker, who is in the room filled with villains in an apartment, his Spidey senses are triggered, but doesn’t know where the danger is coming from. The way it was shot: the camera locked onto Holland, giving his steady movements around the space more motion, everything blurred out, trying hard to pinpoint where it’s coming from. A tense scene that was well done.
Michael Giacchino score for the movie perfectly mixes the grand superhero theme, but also the emotional weight of the scenes as well.
Now it’s not a secret at this point of the returning villains, both from the Sam Raimi version: Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Sandman, and the Mark Webb version: Electro and Lizard. None of these are just cameos or soulless nostalgia bait, but they actually serve the story and have an actual impact on Holland’s Spider-Man.
Alfred Molina's performance as Doc Ock was great and him returning to this role 17 years later didn’t feel dated; he fits back into it. His character arc wasn’t miss handled from ‘Spider-Man 2’, but instead is further expanded on respectfully. Also, the De-aging on him looked great. Jamie Foxx finally gets some justice after his version of Electro was ruined in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Willem Dafoe returning as Green Goblin in this movie was nothing short but brilliant. Really menacing, scary, and more ruthless than he was in the 2002 film. He might be the best MCU villain, as he doesn’t want to take over the world, or to be understood or agreed with, he just wants to cause pain and chaos. It helped that he was maskless throughout the movie where we get to see his evil gleefulness come through. "Strong Enough to Have It All...TOO WEAK TO TAKE IT!" - brilliant.
Benedict Cumberbatch makes a mystical appearance as Doctor Strange, who helps Peter out by crafting a spell to make the world forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man after having his identity revealed in the last movie. There’s a great and visually pleasing chase scene that takes magic and science in a creative and fun spin.
Now since the movie has been out for a while now, I feel confident in talking about some major reveals.
The return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield is a sight to behold. I still can’t get my head around them returning. They were more than a throw away cameo but played a massive impact to Holland’s Spidey. Andrew Garfield finally gets his time to shine, as he was truly excellent in this. I never understood why people considered him the “worst Spider-Man”. He was the victim of bad writing. His emotional reaction to saving the MCU’s MJ, something he couldn’t do for his Gwen, was such a gut punch. Yep, he really is amazing.
The interaction between all three Spider-Men wasn’t wasted at all and was a blast to watch. Hearing Danny Elfman’s Spider-Man (2002) - theme playing briefly in the background whilst in the cinema was just…goosebumps. The short scene between Maguire and Molina was a touching reunion.
Also, the appearance of Charlie Cox returning as Matt Murdock aka Daredevil was such a shock but a welcoming one.
The movie has got flaws. The rest of the villains Lizard and Sandman wasn’t as developed as the rest. Even then, they weren’t bad or anything. There were a couple of character choices and decisions that were questionable at best. I guess they had to get the plot going somehow.
The movie is far from perfect, but right now I'm just happy with what I saw. I walked out of the cinema satisfied.
