Spider-man: Far From Home Review

Spider-man: Far From Home is the first MCU film to be released after Avengers: Endgame – and the implication those events have on the film franchise. Seeing that Endgame ended on such a high Spider-man: Far From Home had a lot to live up to.

Spider-man: Far From Home picks up eight months after Avengers: Endgame where The Avengers successfully reverse ‘The Blip.’  Peter Parker (Tom Holland) prepares to go on his class summer trip to Europe and sees it as a chance to declare his love to MJ (Zendaya) and have a break from his super persona. But the life of a superhero is never easy and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) presses the teenager into service on his vacation. Spider-man has to work with Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to stop four monsters known as the Elementals.

Spider-man is one of the most exposed characters in pop culture. Since the turn of the century there have been four different cinematic versions. The basic Spider-man story is well known and each cinematic has had to do a different spin on the character. The MCU version has the advantage of having Spider-man in a much bigger world filled with heroes and villains. As the title suggests Spider-man is taken out of his comfort zone because he has to operate in foreign countries and has to work with S.H.I.E.L.D.

The previous Spider-man MCU film was made in the vein of being like a John Hughes high school comedy.  Spider-man: Far From Home continues with that style – focusing on the relationships of the characters and has the same type of humour. Plus the travel story made Spider-man: Far From Home like a teen film from the late ’90s/early noughties where a teen star (i.e. Hilary Duff, Amanda Bynes, the Olsen Twins) get to go to a major European city. Spider-man: Far From Home is one of the more humorous entries in the MCU – there were great jokes throughout and has a game cast who deliver.

Picking up where Endgame left off means Far From Home has to address some loose ends. The film states that people reappeared at the same spot they disappeared from which was treated as a joke but it does lead to some big questions. If you disappeared whilst flying in a plane would that mean when you reappeared you fall to your death? I joked on Twitter that when The Avengers reversed The Blip they caused a world of famine, poverty and political chaos – and I wasn’t far off. Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) works for a homeless charity and tells the story of someone who reappeared finding their apartment taken by another family. Like Endgame Far From Home is set five years in the future – so it was a big coincidence that all of Peter’s classmates disappeared and reappeared.

The biggest tread is Tony Stark. He was a massive figure in Peter’s life, he’s the Uncle Ben in this universe. In the previous films Peter wanted to prove himself to Stark and to be an Avengers and due to the events of Endgame Peter has a big hole in his life. Peter is seen as the heir to Iron Man, both as the senior Avenger and being the technical genius. One scene shows Peter’s technical prowess and he was in his element using the hologram systems, just like Mr. Stark.

The other part of Stark’s influence in the MCU is he has pissed a lot of people off. In the previous Spider-man film the villain had a vendetta against Stark for ruining his livelihood and the sequel sees even more people who the industrialist has slighted.

Spider-man stories are some of the most personal and Spider-man: Far From Home carries on in that tradition. There is the old stable about how being Spider-man interferes with Peter’s personal life. Peter’s arc is his doubts on whether he can take Stark’s place and Mysterio acts as a confidant and big brother for the teenager. The best sequence in the film was where Peter is trapped in a hologram and he has to face his great fears. It was both an action sequence and a moment of psychological torment. Towards the end Peter has to use his brain as well as his brawl to save the day.

2019 is the year of MCU twists. Captain Marvel had a big reveal regarding who the real villains were and Endgame had an early twist involving Thanos. Spider-man: Far From Home does something similar. However, long time fans of the web-slinger know what this twist is going to be and the film goes through the motions to get there.

As expected from a Marvel film the CGI work was second-to-none and there were some strong action sequences. There was a fair about of city-wide destruction and it is always fun to see Spider-man web sling across a city.

Spider-man: Far From Home continues Marvel’s streak with the character. The new film finds the right balance of giving audiences familiar Spider-man tropes whilst being able to put a fresh spin on the character.