Marvel Studios
Review by Curt Holman
A recurring criticism of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how much it owes to the conventions of television over movies. The 23 films (to date) certainly rely on episodic narratives and complicated continuity while having a stylistic flatness.
Spider-Man: Far From Home in particular feels like a special episode of a situation comedy that sends the regulars on vacation, leading to lame travel jokes and clichéd versions of the host nations. The MCU’s second standalone Spider-Man movie has to cut through an overabundance of comedic concepts and themes before its strongest ideas take root.
Far From Home marks a bit of a step down from Spider-Man: Homecoming, which cleverly offered a street-level perspective on the MCU, in which gods and monsters regularly battle in the skies over New York and Captain America records classroom PSAs. The new film uproariously applies Homecoming’s irreverence to the earthshaking events depicted in Avengers: Endgame, allowing the film to nod at the social upheaval and then move on without dwelling on the details.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) would be happy to hang up his web-shooters for a while and just take a high school science trip to Europe and maybe admit his romantic feelings to his classmate MJ (Zendaya). Alas, spymaster Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) drafts Spider-Man to fight a new threat introduced by newcomer Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), who’s later nicknamed “Mysterio.”
Where comic book creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced Mysterio in 1964 as a villainous master of illusion, this version of Beck is a caped hero from an alternate version of Earth. He explains that the elemental creatures that destroyed his home are wreaking havoc on our planet, and teams with Peter to battle marauding giants reminiscent of such Spider-Man adversaries as Hydro-Man and The Molten Man.
“I didn’t think I was going to have to save the world this summer,” Peter declares, ducking from his school tour group for battles over London Bridge or the canals of Venice. He sees public memorials to Tony Stark at seemingly every major city he visits and repeatedly faces the question of whether Spider-Man will be “the next Iron Man.” At the risk of spoiling the last Avengers movie (don’t say you weren’t warned), Endgame offered an emotional send-off to Iron Man. Yet while Robert Downey Jr. isn’t in Far From Home, the story feels stuck in Tony Stark’s shadow. How can we miss the character if he won’t really go away?
The idea that Peter, at 16, would face pressure to be the heir and successor of a middle-aged zillionaire superhero seems bizarre, especially coming from people who know he’s teenager. Nick Fury comes across like a coach who thinks he’s offering tough love, but is just a bullying authority figure. He could be the personification of the film franchise, forcing the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man into a leadership role that would be fine if Peter were 10 years older but seems misguided here. Spider-Man doesn’t need high-tech suits equipped with all-knowing AIs, as Homecoming seemed to establish. The script could spin this as a metaphor for the stresses adults can put on modern teenagers, but doesn’t go in that direction.
Nevertheless, the film’s second half brings up some sharp ideas that really travel, touching on the malleability of truth and public opinion, as well as the notion that superheroes (and, by extension, superhero movies) are dependent on Earth-threatening disasters. A nightmarish sequence that seems to rewrite the rules of reality is a standout set-piece from any Spider-Man movie, and feels like one of Ditko’s artistic creations interpreted with 21st century special effects.
Holland remains the big screen’s funniest and most likably earnest Peter Parker and has some strong acting partners here. Gyllenhaal conveys Beck’s sympathy with Peter as well as some amusing diva behavior later. Zendaya makes MJ more than just a hip, deadpan high schooler and proves touchingly capable of putting her heart on her sleeve. And while the film has a deep bench of supporting players, their material’s less consistent here than in Homecoming.
You can appreciate that Far From Home wanted to give the usually New York-centric MCU a change of scenery, but the film never imagines how major European cities might look different in the Marvel Universe: the fictional Wakanda feels more authentic. With the film’s post-credit sequences hinting at big events to come, one can hope that Spider-Man will stay closer to home for the next episode.
Spider-Man: Far From Home. B-. Directed by Jon Watts. Stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal. Rated PG-13. Opens July 3.