Spider-Man spins a web of fun in Marvel’s ‘Far From Home’
Last year’s animated “SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse” set the bar so high for “Spider-Man” movies that it’s going to be hard for all the subsequent “SpiderMan” movies — of which there will no doubt be many — to compete. Certainly, “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” opening Tuesday, the follow-up to the live-action “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and the second Spidey film to star British actor Tom Holland as all-American kid Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, doesn’t spin as intriguing a web.
But it’s a fun goof of a movie that ultimately falls into the same trap so many Marvel movies do: They collapse under the weight of an action-heavy third act where it’s all about the CGI. For anyone who’s not a committed Marvel fan, that can be a bit wearying.
Up until that point though,
“Far From Home” is an entertaining chapter in the life of a maturing Parker. Teetering on the precipice between adolescence and adulthood, self-doubt and selfconfidence, the teenager suddenly finds himself thrust into a very grown-up situation thanks to The Blip. That was the jaw-dropping moment at the end of “Avengers: Infinity War” when much of the world’s population, including many of our superheroes, disappeared and then returned in “Avengers: Endgame.” During
The Blip, Spider-Man had to help defeat the evil Thanos, earning Tony Stark/Iron Man’s respect. So much so that, before he died, Stark passed the mantle as the globe’s guardian to Parker.
But Parker doesn’t want the job. He really just wants to go on his school trip to Europe and spend time in Paris with MJ (Zendaya), the classmate from “Homecoming” whom he now has a crush on. In fact, he doesn’t want to even pack his Spidey suit to go to Europe but, thankfully, his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) makes sure he has it anyway. Because, wouldn’t you know it, strange things are starting to happen thanks a new crop of villains called The Elementals. And it looks like all of Europe — from Venice to Prague to London — is at risk.
Holland makes for a likably affable Spider-Man, but it’s Jake Gyllenhaal as the mysterious Mysterio/Quentin Beck who is the movie’s MVP. To say too much about his role would spoil one of the film’s most important twists, but Gyllenhaal plays it
with a balance of seriousness and fun without tipping over into camp.
But, coming after the heavy atmospherics of “Endgame” and “Infinity War,” the levity of “Far From Home” — which is often quite funny — comes as a relief.
As directed by Jon Watts, who came out of the world of music videos (Death Cab for Cutie, TV on the Radio) and made “Homecoming,” and based on a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, “Far From Home” moves at a quick pace despite its 129-minute running time (of which you have to sit through every moment to see the extra scenes, which are totally worth the wait). Even better is a scene about halfway through the film, in which Parker is being tormented about his doubts and fears, that ranks as one of the most visually powerful moments in a Marvel film.
It would have been more impressive if the entire film could have been shot with this level of creativity but, considering that this is a summer that birthed the woeful “Godzilla: King of the Monsters, that “Far From Home” is more entertaining than a sequel has a right to be is miracle enough.