SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME
Magical Mysterio tour…
Marvel’s Phase Three ends with Tom Holland’s Spidey on a summer vacation.
Marvel’s wall-crawler has never been one to shy away from great responsibility. But in Far From Home, Spidey’s shouldering a weight that would make Hulk buckle. Not simply a sequel to Homecoming, it has the unenviable task of following Avengers: Endgame, a film that put a full stop on the MCU’s first decade by (spoiler alert!) offing Tony Stark.
Far From Home opens in a postStark world, but is less interested in establishing a new status quo than exploring the void Tony left behind. “The whole world’s asking who’s going to be the next Iron Man,” says Jake
Gyllenhaal’s new supporting super Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio. But Tony’s actions often have unintended consequences, and FFH deals with his legacy in smart and unexpected ways.
For Peter (Tom Holland), that means stepping up when the world needs him, even if all he wants is to spend a carefree summer (awkwardly) declaring his love for MJ (Zendaya). Back from ‘The Blip’, Pete and his classmates are whisked to Europe on an educational vacation. But then Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) enlists Pete to join dimension hopping hero Mysterio in fighting the deadly Elementals…
Mysterio’s precise role in the story deserves to remain, well, a mystery. But it’s no spoiler to say that Far From Home does an inspired job of updating the character’s VFX origins. Gyllenhaal has a hoot as the goldfish-bowl-headed hero, who reads like a cross between Thor and Doctor Strange in action.
Holland, meanwhile, cements his position as the finest live-action wall-crawler. His physicality’s flawless, but it’s Pete’s endearingly goofy demeanour that sets him apart from webheads past, the film never forgetting that Pete is a teenager dealing with responsibilities no one his age should have thrust upon them. When he confides in Mysterio that he wants a break from saving the world, it feels completely relatable, despite the comically exaggerated stakes.
On the opposite side of the divide, the Elementals bring the pixel-pushing spectacle, but the action lacks the personal stakes vital for superhero scraps to register as more than eye candy. And, unlike Homecoming’s Vulture rug-pull, there won’t be anyone who doesn’t see Far From Home’s big bit of narrative trickery coming a mile off.
What’s slightly peculiar is that Far From Home saves its only real surprises for a pair of post-credits scenes that drop paradigm-shifting bombshells. Needless to say, a threequel picking up the threads is inevitable. Tony and co may be gone, but the future of the MCU is in safe hands. Jordan Farley
THE VERDICT
Another home run that tackles the Spider-theme of responsibility within a rib-tickling summer romance.