Star Tom Holland weaves the best web of his career
In Tom Holland’s third solo outing as Spidey, a Spider-Boy becomes a Spider-Man. (Don’t worry, spoiler paranoiacs, I’m not going to reveal anything in this review that’s not clearly visible from readily available movie trailers.)
You’d figure the Brit had crossed that bridge by now after the death-of-his-mentor pain he endured in “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” or his first go-around saving New York from Vulture in “Homecoming.”
But it’s the gargantuan and deeply satisfying “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in which the former Billy Elliot proves he’s more than a teen idol with a perfect American accent. This time, his Peter’s got gravitas, emotional oomph, brutality, believable love, an anguished scene in the rain! The movie is the actor’s best performance yet, Spandex or no.
Director Jon Watts likes to aggressively shake up his films’ circumstances, so at the start, the vanquished Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) has revealed that Spider-Man’s true
identity is Queens high school student Peter Parker. The media descend on his apartment and condemn the poor kid as a villain. “The web headed war criminal!” they shout.
Peter’s controversy causes MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) to be rejected by MIT, so the guilt-stricken teen asks magical Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make everyone forget he was ever Spidey. But, wouldn’t you know, the spell backfires and the Multiverse is ripped open.
Then, villains from the past films that featured Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield start pouring into New York. Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie
Foxx), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and the greatest Marvel actor ever, Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin, all collide in the same place and time.
Dafoe remains exquisite as Norman Osborne, by the way.
Watts’ ending is bold. You’ll have never left a Marvel film with so much uncertainty as to what comes next.
It’s a blast if, like me, you were 12 when you saw 2002’s “Spider-Man,” 22 when you were somewhat less taken by “The Amazing Spider-Man” and — ugh, you do the math — at “No Way Home.” You’ll be thankful you have a dumb mask to conceal your ugly emotional face when the credits roll.
Running time: 148 minutes. Rated PG-13 (action, violence, some language, brief suggestive comments). In theaters.