A film like Spider-Man: No Way Home offers a bit of a conundrum. Can a film be so clinically designed to give audiences exactly what they want and still earn the catharsis they are trying to go for? Can a film that feels as if it was methodically pieced together by a marketing firm still feel sincere? Can a film be a great time while still not being a great film? Does any of this even matter? It’s a little hard to say, especially given it’s hard to talk about the nitty-gritty details about the film’s plot without spoiling anything.
So, to cover the basics. No Way Home is the latest film in the Spider-Man series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following 2019’s Far From Home. Jon Watts returns as director, marking the first director to have a whole MCU trilogy under his belt, and it’s written by returning scribes, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. It follows the immediate aftermath of Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) public revelation as Spider-Man, and the public fallout that ensues. In an attempt to restore things to the way they were, Peter enlists the help of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). The spell goes awry, resulting in some familiar villains returning…but not the ones from this Peter’s universe.
As I mentioned in my Far From Home review, I wasn’t particularly fond of Homecoming, and overall enjoyed the sequel better, though I still had many issues with it. Continuing the trend, this is by far and away, the best Spider-Man film in the MCU so far, and one that I had a fairly consistently good time with. And it’d be hard not to. Every move this film makes feels like the filmmakers went out of their way to appease as many fans as possible, no matter how hard they have to bend the narrative in order to make it possible. The final film is undoubtedly fun, but it’s like candy, nothing but sugar.
Well, that’s not entirely true, for once in this series, we finally have a film that feels like a proper Spider-Man story, and not one where he is coasting off a much more bigger co-star, or even the shadow of a former co-star. I was worried that Dr. Strange would essentially take Iron Man’s place in that regard, but thankfully, he is ultimately a minor player in the story at large. Unfortunately, the story being told here is – in an odd, roundabout way – the origin story that this series bent over backwards trying to avoid when we were first introduced with this Peter Parker.
This is a film very much about the famous mantra of great responsibility coming with great power that defines everything about the character, and Peter coming to terms with what that really means, and the sacrifices he has to make to do what he has to do. Being Spidey sucks, and this series is finally getting it in a way that captures what always appealed to me about the comics, the humanity, the way Peter has to overcome obstacles both out-of-this-world and incredibly mundane. The inciting incident of the multiverse breaking came as a result of Peter’s concern over his best friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), not getting into college. A lot of the stuff in the first act is terrific in capturing the everyday struggles of being Spider-Man, and how something like his identity being revealed can cause such a slew of problems.
However, once we get to the actual plot (aka The main reason the film was so hyped), the story is overcome by callbacks, iffy jokes, and references. Some work better than others. It does get to something interesting when, for a brief period, the returning villains, Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Electro (Jamie Foxx), among others, are seemingly willing to work with Peter. But it’s over fairly quickly since we have to have our highly anticipated rematches. The motivations of the antagonists are a bit muddled, occasionally veering from sympathetic to being full on villains depending on what the story needs them to be at any given moment. And The balance between genuinely moving character beats with these villains and wink-nod references can be a bit of a mixed bag.
It’s really a testament to all the actors involved that they’re able to take some shaky and unwieldy material, and get some real emotion out of it. Out of all the Spider-Man films, this might be the one where I can’t find a single weak link in the entire cast. Though there are some who don’t get much to do at all. The leads are good enough to bring a sense of sincerity to the proceedings, especially with the dynamic between Peter, MJ, and Ned. And a number of the returning characters like Green Goblin and Doc Ock, as well as a couple others I won’t name (so you can pretend to be surprised when they show up), manage to commit to the material 100% instead of treating this like a simple paycheck gig.
I can’t imagine the kind of pressure the filmmakers felt in making this, not only because they have to deliver this franchise crossover event the likes of which we haven’t really seen on this scale, but they have to do it after Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse covered similar territory in a manner that felt so effortless and genuinely groundbreaking. Sadly, this doesn’t reach the level of imagination, cleverness, and visual splendor that Into The Spider-Verse brought to the table, which is a shame considering the resources at Disney and Sony’s disposal. It’s not like there isn’t thought and effort here, there are some good character arcs here, especially for Peter, but it feels like the kind of arc he should have started with in his first appearance. I don’t understand why he has to learn this specific lesson right now. Plus, like with most of these MCU movies, it’s not particularly interesting from a visual standpoint and the action is pretty mediocre. So, while I can’t say No Way Home is a great film, it was a great experience, and it’s all but guaranteed to be the film to save theaters at a time when they need it the most, and after what the world has been through, a crowd pleaser like this might be exactly what we need right now. I can understand that. I just hope its success doesn’t result in Hollywood learning all the wrong lessons. And hey, I’ll say that given how this ends, the next Spider-Man film might actually be something that’s more up my alley, so I look forward to seeing where they go from here.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now out in theaters.