Review: SpiderMan No Way Home

Perhaps the largest film release since Avengers Endgame hit the world Christmas 2021 and is a  complete hit in every possible way. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man finally gets his 3rd film of the  trilogy being the second to do so since Tobey Maguire’s Spider-man in 2002. Jon Watts, the first director in the MCU to direct a full trilogy, is shattering box offices; hitting 1.637 billion dollars in a pandemic. Not only extremely impressive but this is a bright beacon  of hope for movie theaters and other filmmakers still  deciding whether to release during a time of uncertainty. 

The story picks up immediately after the events of Spider-Man far from home, Peter’s identity  now revealed to the world and he is actively feeling the effects it has on his life, and the people  around him. This is done superbly because not only is he struggling with not feeling normal  about going to school, or having a private life but the events are actively affecting the lives of his  friends and family. Michelle, Ned, and Peter are all being rejected from their dream colleges and  being nationally ridiculed both on and offline by J Jonah Jameson (played by J.K Simmons) and  the general public. Peter, wanting to have a normal life, tries contacting Dr. Strange who is  capable of casting a spell that could cause everyone on Earth to forget that he is Spider-Man.  Peter selfishly messes up the spell, constantly interrupting Dr. Strange during the casting causing  a reality split allowing the alternate Spider-Man universes to collide. This causes the previous  Spider-Man villains from Tobey Maguire’s 2002, 2004, and 2007 Spider-Man films and Andrew  Garfield’s 2012, 2014 films to arrive in the MCU.  

This is nostalgic for anyone that grew up watching Spider-Man films whether a fan of Maguire  or Garfield. The film allows the viewers to get a new perspective on past characters while also  enjoying their original qualities. The villains already have character arcs, personalities, and  development, so the movie does not spend any time with an origin or reintroduction as it expects  audiences to be familiar with the characters. While some could consider it cheap to use a past  movie’s characters that are already fleshed out instead of creating their own it does help both the  story itself and the amount of time to tell that story in not having to introduce or flesh out a  character’s origin and motives. Peter goes on a mission to capture the past villains and return  them to their world but comes to find out most of the villains’ foreseen futures are ultimately  dying at the hands of their versions of Spider-Man. Peter is troubled by the thought of allowing  them to simply return to their worlds just to be killed, and he would rather give them another 

chance. This perfectly portrays Spider-Man’s morality and innocence as he would rather help  troubled and even evil people at the risk of his safety. The villains agree to the terms to receive  help but are hesitant to try anything because Peter can send them back to their respective  universes at a moment’s notice. 

Peter brings them to his apartment and starts the process of working on cures for each of them,  but (as expected) he starts to feel odd. His spider senses are telling him something is about to  happen. He turns around finding that Norman Osborn (Green Goblin) is trying to destroy the  cure claiming that Spider-Man is trying to stop them from their destiny. The rest of the villains  quickly follow suit and they begin attacking Spider-Man, throwing him to the floor and  trampling over him. This scene of Spider-Man being attacked by Goblin is one of the best scenes  in the entire film. It feels extremely personal and is not just a massive CGI spectacle but instead  just two extremely powerful individuals punching each other to bloody pulps. This marks a shift  in the movie’s tone as it becomes darker and serious. 

The fight arrives at the bottom of the apartment complex as both Goblin and Peter are extremely  beaten and hurt. Aunt May comes out from hiding and stabs Goblin with the cure but it does not  work. Goblin gets up and attacks Aunt May with his glider, a callback to the way Goblin died in  the original 2002 Spider-Man. Goblin strikes down Aunt May seemingly cutting her while then  

flying away on his glider. While being extremely hurt Peter rushes to Aunt May tending to her  but starts crying out for help as she begins to heavily bleed from her stomach. This is an  extremely gruesome and sad scene as a very helpless and hopeless Spider-Man cries out for help.  Aunt may ends up dying in front of Peter as he starts to get shot at by the police he was yelling  for. This scene continues the very dark tone and sets Peter up to be an angered and no longer a  merciful Spider-Man. Peter is now helpless and does not know where Ned or MJ are. Then, just  in time a little help arrives. It is Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire Spider-Man from their  respective films. They mentor Peter and grieve with him as they both have gone through similar  experiences in their universes. This was a very clear selling point from the start with this film as  it was heavily rumored that the two past versions of Spider-Man from 2012 and 2002 would  make their return in this film. After Peter is helped by the Spider-Men, the audience reach near  the end of the film where the climactic battle happens with all three Spider-Men and the sinister five villains from all Spider-Man’s worlds. This fight, while super fun, suffers from bad lighting  and some mediocre CGI. Perhaps due to Covid-19 and the restrictions, such a massive project  might have had. 

In the end, the villains are defeated by the Spider-Men and are cured and sent back to their  respective worlds but Peter still has to suffer the consequences of sending them back which  includes all of Earth to forget he’s Spider-Man including everyone he knows. This sets up for a  very classic Spider-Man story as he is now alone and solo. Spider-Man No way Home is a  heartfelt and emotional conclusion to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy. It does a great job of  setting a very new tone of redemption in a new dark way while also being consistent throughout  the film. The film had the task of introducing a large number of characters and did very well at  that while keeping the focus on Tom Holland’s Spider-Man who the movie is about. Even non  marvel fans should go as the film is a cultural event that everyone should see. While I want to  give the film a 10/10 for nostalgia alone, some very iffy CGI and a slow start mark the film  around a 9.5/10 must-see.