Spider-Man: Far From Home – A Movie Review

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Article by Nathan Hurlbut

Spider-Man has had a more volatile movie history than probably any other superhero in modern times. First there were the fantastic Sam Raimi movie adaptations with Tobey MacGuire as Peter Parker that featured the one–two punch of Spider-Man (2002) and its superior sequel Spider-Man 2 (2004). Together they helped revolutionize the superhero movie with these two immensely entertaining movies that set the standard for years to come.

Unfortunately, this success story was followed by Spider-Man 3 in 2007, which proved to be much less successful. It proved disappointing enough to end Raimi and MacGuire’s reign as the purveyors of cinematic superhero excellence, and when the studio opted to do another Spider-Man movie, they decided an entire reboot was necessary.

So Andrew Garfield filled Parker’s shoes with Marc Webb directing, and they came out with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. This promising movie, and its inferior sequel, were highly competent but not particularly memorable, and the series had already fizzled out by the time The Amazing Spider-Man 2 appeared in 2014.

Much better was the spectacular Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse animated film from 2018. It so vividly captured the style and imagination of an actual comic book that it competes admirably with any of the other films as the best Spider-Man movie yet.

So we’re now on the third incarnation of the live action series, as Tom Holland stepped into the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017. The new sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, manages to even improve on that film’s accomplishments, making it one of the best Spider-Man movie yet.

Spider-Man: Far From Home takes its teenaged, high school environment more seriously than any of its other counterparts. It’s easy to forget that Peter Parker is a high school student when movie stars in their late twenties like Tobey MacGuire and Andrew Garfield are playing the role. Not so with Tom Holland (just 21 at the time of his debut as Spider-Man in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming), as the charismatic young actor incorporates all the awkwardness and uncertainty of those teenage years into his character with an unerring authenticity.

It’s typical of the movie itself, and the teenage characters take center stage here as Peter Parker’s high school vacation is, in his words, “Hijacked by Nick Fury”. Peter’s high-school classmates are vividly drawn here, possessing all the memorable attributes of those awkward years, making the characters of M.J. (Zendaya), Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), and Betty Brant (Angourie Rice) both realistic and endearing at the same time.

The movie’s plot similarly incorporates Parker’s youth into its story as well, as we watch the young superhero struggle with his unique situation. His yearning for a more normal high school student life that he confesses to Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) is made with emotional conviction, as he struggles with accepting the responsibilities of his superpowers. This delicate balance between maintaining anonymity as a typical teenager and also being forced into the position of occasionally saving the world from mass destruction is at the heart of the movie’s dilemma. Holland effectively works with director Jon Watts and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers to bring this aspect of the story vividly to life.

Fortunately the movie is frequently funny as well, and the filmmakers obviously opted not to let the movie take itself too seriously. Moments like when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) expresses frustration at his discussions with Peter being constantly interrupted by his classmates is priceless. As is the scene where Peter geeks out on Mysterio after learning of the existence of “alternate Earths” as the rest of the superhero team look on with disdain. It’s all part of a winning package that makes Spider-Man: Far From Home both inspiring and entertaining, and it’s a series that only seems to be getting better.

Rated PG-13.