Earlier this year, Avengers: Endgame concluded a culmination of story arcs that spanned over ten years. Audiences went into theaters clamoring and prepared to be completely enthralled by the final chapters of Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, and many others. And let it be clear, we the fans got everything we wanted to see and more. But with the closing of that film, we were left with the understanding that there was more of the story left to tell. We saw the torch get handed down to some of the newer heroes, such as Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and of course, Spider-Man.
However, the ending of Endgame felt so…satisfying. Of course, not every moment was sweet, but the tale, for the most part, had felt fulfilled, so the fear that surprisingly came over me was, what if this starts to go stale? How many more Marvel films are we going to need/want? (I’ll take them all), but even so. Where do we go when the story feels complete?
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the last movie of Marvel’s Phase Three. It picks up almost right where Endgame left off. All of the people that turned to dust after Thanos’ snap have returned to humanity, and now, society is left to deal with the aftermath. Peter Parker and his classmates are heading on a summer school trip to Europe, and for just once, Spider-Man would like to take a break from being Spider-Man. But it isn’t that simple. Spidey doesn’t even get a chance at some peace, as Nick Fury (Samuel. L Jackson) highjacks his vacation after a new threat takes form, and Peter has to team up with Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio, portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal.
Compared to its predecessor, Far From Home feels more significant on every scale. The stakes are higher. Its tone feels slightly darker, yet it manages to maintain the charm and comedic timing of the original, making for an all-around better movie than the first. Let’s also not fail to include praise for the film’s antagonist, Mysterio (Gyllenhaal), who’s quickly jumped to the near tip top of the ranks in terms of Spidey villains. He was one of the best assets in the movie. This psychological foe is probably one of the best antagonists not just in Far From Home, but in the entire MCU. But with so much good, there is some bad.
For people who know about Mysterio, Far From Home has a predictable lead-up that holds it back slightly, and one can’t help but feel like they know what’s coming before it’s even conjured up on the screen. The film also doesn’t touch on the aftermath of the blip (Thanos’ snap) as much as it could have. And yet, none of that ruins anything for this movie.
This time around Tom Holland hits us with a text-book Peter Parker, as the character makes all the same clumsy mistakes while struggling to reconcile everything that has happened up until this point. All the kid wants is some downtime, and he doesn’t get it, making him very relatable, and honestly, it’s Holland’s best performance as the web-head to date.
Spider-Man: Far From Home takes everything that made the original great, and expands on it in this second outing, allowing the continuation of Peter Parker’s story arc to soar. It wasn’t afraid to go bigger, wilder, and ultimately, better. This film is one of the most in-tune MCU movies out of all three phases. So if you were afraid of whether or not the MCU was going to lose steam after Endgame, it looks like everything is going to be okay.
