‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ Movie Review – Moving The MCU Forward

Spiderman: Far From Home is easily the best Spider-Man movie, in all iterations and incarnations of the live-action character. 

The follow-up to the epic and large scaled Avengers: Endgame comes with Spider-Man: Far From Home, a much smaller movie with a heart of gold. The continued Sony / Marvel Studios joint production takes place right after the events of Endgame and deals with the repercussions in a very grounded and realistic way. I mean, it’s a movie about a spider-kid and a fishbowl helmet guy led by a dude with an eye-patch… so realism is pretty relative.

So it goes without saying, that if you haven’t watched Avengers: Endgame, read my review below, then jump back into this one. While Spider-Man: Far From Home the movie is incredibly spoiler-filled, this Review is completely Spoiler-Free. 

Note: After this point, I will be discussing Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, so read on at your own risk!

Far From Home immediately takes us back into a post-Snap world, including the 5-year time jump from Endgame as well. The rules are explained, specifically how almost all of Peter Parker’s friends are the same age as him. The answer being that the majority of their school was snapped away and returned 5 years later. Right away answering my biggest question from all the Far From Home trailers. 

Peter (Tom Holland) is dealing with the burden of being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in an era without Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) Iron Man there to guide him. Using the Iron Spider suit that Tony made for him, he’s constantly fielding questions about being the next Iron Man, to fill the void left by Tony’s death. I told you there would be Endgame spoilers!

Looking to get away from it all, Peter focuses his energies on pursuing MJ (Zendaya) and finally revealing his feelings to her during a school trip to Europe. But as usual, destiny has other plans for Spider-Man, as Nick Fury needs his help. By any means necessary. 

Spider-Man: Far From Home is by far the best movie about the character. And yes, I am including all the other live-action Spider-Man movies in this comparison. It’s eerily similar in its impact and character development to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, starring Tobey Maguire. Despite being a sequel, it’s this movie where Peter (and Holland) truly grows into the role and of the character. 

It’s an incredibly moving story arc for the character of Peter, as he has to (once again) deal with the loss of a father figure. It’s also easy to see why the death of Uncle Ben was omitted from this version of Spidey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It allowed the writers to use similar story beats for Peter’s relationship with Tony, and the fall out of his death. Geniuses!

The writing is also wonderful when it comes to the lead pairing of MJ and Peter. Despite being fashioned after the usual teen romantic comedies, similar to its predecessor, Homecoming, Far From Home avoids the usual frustrations of a teen rom-com. The way that their budding romance is handled is incredibly sweet and endearing, without the cliched obstacles and annoyances. 

Where Far From Home excels in its depiction of Spider-Man is wholly through Holland’s talent. Holland is able to portray the frustration, sadness, and overwhelming weight of the world on Peter Parker simply through a look. A painfully broken look that even made me well up.

It’s the first time watching a Spider-Man movie where I felt sorry for the kid, having to sacrifice childhood experiences to be a hero. Maybe ‘cuz I’m a dad myself, but it was incredibly sad to see someone so young have to deal with such, end-of-the-world concepts. It’s also a theme that works best with young characters. The juggling act of a superhero life with teenage drama is a great metaphor for teen angst and how everything in their lives literally feels like the end of the world. Buffy and many other shows and films use this theme with success. 

Far From Home also does a great job of keeping its story under wraps for most of the film. Although, if you’re a comic book fan, you definitely see the twists and turns coming. Director Jon Watts and writers Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers still do an awesome job of keeping the ‘how’ interesting and refreshing enough for everyone to enjoy. Even if you see it coming. However, there is a lot in Far From Home that I did not see coming. At all!

Jake Gyllenhaal is awesome. The chemistry between Holland and Gyllenhaall is brilliant and just as effective as the massive marketing campaign makes it seem. Gyllenhaal is able to take a pretty minor Spider-Man villain and imbibe him with a fierceness that is honestly exciting and oh so much fun to see play on screen. You could tell he was having the time of his life. 

Spider-Man: Far From Home continues the feels from Endgame, and there are definite callbacks to moments int he MCU that, if you’re invested, will get you emotional. Jon Favreau returns as Happy Hogan and I’ve never felt that he’s ever had as important a role to play in his other cameos than he does here. 

Ultimately, Far From Home moves the narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe forward. And it does this while still being the most grounded MCU movie thus far, and definitely the best Spider-Man movie so far. It paves the future for a Spider-Man franchise like no other film before it, and completely upends the future of the MCU.

Stay for the credits!

Let me know what you thought about Spider-Man: Far From Home in the comments below.