spider-man — Reviews

8/10

An emotional rollercoaster thrill ride that also manages to hit all the right nostalgia buttons.

While the first act of Spider-Man: No Way Home seems content to follow the routine Marvel movie formula, the film packs enough twists and turns to elevate it above the previous two installments.

I usually prefer superhero films that are grounded in an element of reality (i.e., The Dark Knight), and the latest three Spider-Man films are definitely not that. They are almost meta in their hyper-awareness of their fictionality and cartoonish crossovers to other Marvel films.

Then again, the story is about a teenage guy who swings via a spider-like web over urban landscapes. How much realism should I really expect?

This film picks up where the previous entry left off. Spider-Man’s identity has been exposed, and it’s giving both him and his loved ones hell. With the aid of Dr. Strange (another Marvel superhero), he attempts to revert the past to a version in which no one ever knows that he is Peter Parker. The attempt goes awry (of course) and opens up other dimensions. Characters from previous Spider-Man films who know of Spider-Man’s identity are invited into this world. That means that previous Spider-Man universe villains appear (they’re the main characters who know that Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker, after all), and they’re all too eager to wreck havoc.

The film really piqued my interest when the previous two actors who portrayed Spider-Man, Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield, show up too. They are also Peter Parker, after all, albeit in different universes. They provide a much-needed emotional punch to the film and a few life lessons to pass on to this universe’s Peter Parker.

This film is ultimately a story about forgiveness and redemption, and bringing in the previous Spider-Man stars was the perfect way to explore these themes. The heavy emotional weight of the final act adds substance to the characters and plot that the previous films didn’t provide. I was glad that the movie dared to take a few unexpected and highly emotional turns.

As far as Marvel movies go, this is the best one in a long time.