From: Silver Screen
REVIEW: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is emotional, action-packed and the perfect MCU addition
This review contains spoilers from “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and other films in the “Spider-Man” franchise.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Sony and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest installment, is officially available to watch in theaters and it is a must see.
While many different actors have played the character of Peter Parker, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is Tom Holland’s eighth Marvel appearance and third sole Spider-Man movie, following “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”
In one of the end-credit scenes in the last Spider-Man movie, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) frames Spider-Man for the attack on London and his death, revealing Spider-Man’s true identity to the public by releasing his name and photo. Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” villain gaslights the public and sets up the premise of the new film.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” starts right where the end credits in the last film left off and focuses on how Peter is doing now that his identity has been revealed. He takes it abysmally — Peter is ruined. There are riots, the public has turned against him and, in a last ditch effort to reclaim his normal life and get him and his friends into college, he goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make the world forget he is Spider-Man. However, the spell backfires upon Peter as the multiverse, a heavily mentioned concept in recent Marvel content, is finally brought into reality.
Instead of the world forgetting Peter, people who know Spider-Man’s true identity start coming to Peter’s universe. By doing this, the film brings back some memorable Spider-Man villains, including the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, and The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) from the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies.
On top of bringing back villains from previous Spider-Man films, the movie ties in J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) from the Maguire Spider-Man films. Simmons made a cameo in the last Holland film, but takes on a larger role in this film as a cruel critic of Spider-Man and a journalist for The Daily Bugle.
While the Holland films are usually more upbeat than the Maguire and Garfield movies, this film takes on a darker look as Peter’s life crumbles to pieces as he struggles with being Spider-Man. The new film is humorous yet emotional as it holds a good balance of comedy and seriousness.
The movie pulls on the audience's heart strings at just the right moments, while also including the signature Marvel quips to lighten the mood. It’s also filled with great action sequences powered by Holland, who is known to do some of the stunts himself, and the committed stunt crew. The CGI is superb and overall the film keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Holland, who has been notoriously known for spoiling Spider-Man secrets, has kept his lips sealed on the rumored appearances of Maguire and Garfield in the new film. If you’re curious about whether or not the spidey veterans don that red suit one last time go see “Spider-Man: No Way Home” now.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” opened in theaters on Dec. 17.
