Hello Fellow Journeyers,
Once again we find ourselves at a break from the books to return to the fun world of movies and in one of my favorite genres: superhero movies. Right behind Dune, this movie was my most hotly anticipated title I was anxious to watch this year and there is a lot to get into.
What's the story about: Spider-man: No Way Home picks up right after Spiderman: Far From Home in that the world now knows that Spider-man is indeed Peter Parker. The repercussions are everywhere from Mysterio's death to new issues that plague Peter's life and those closest to him. With all the weight being too much, he calls on Doctor Strange to assist him in erasing the memory of Spider-man being Peter Parker from the world. Things don't go according to plan when the spell misfires.
First off, to describe the amount of storytelling that had to be done in this movie was staggering. Much like Avengers: Age of Ultron, a lot was packed into this seemingly 2.5 hour movie. The first part had to deal with the repercussions of the previous movie's shocking revelation, get a new plot going, and accelerate the movie's plot in a short 50 minute segment that is fast-paced and doesn't hold your hand. Luckily for me, this meant that all the time wasted for Spider-Man's high school hijinks and what not is thankfully cut and abandoned in favor of including Doctor Strange, who played wonderfully into the plot of this movie. There is also an additional small cameo from a character I didn't expect which was an unexpected treat.
The second part is definitely the weakest of the three acts. It introduces us to the villain(s) in a natural way but is also mindboggling. For the most part, it's exactly what everyone expected from the trailers. Without giving very much away, the villains show up, and it's up to Spider-Man to stop them, but he uses a roundabout way of trying to prevent mayhem, which was at least unique and out of the commonplace for Marvel superhero movies. Unfortunately, there was something...disjointed about the villains that were added to this story in the second act. Because the villains come from different universes, they seemed odd and, frankly, cheesy in this universe which made the believability go down considerably. Green Goblin and Doc Ock are especially unbelievable, but the others work well enough. That was unfortunate because I couldn't say I'd felt that way in a Marvel movie almost ever.
Finally, the third act is just bonkers in the best way. There is a late movie tie-in that I thought would be left out entirely by that point but once included, the movie goes into all out fan-pleasing insanity. While the first two acts of the movie were enough storytelling to be an entire movie itself, the last 50 minutes moves so quickly that you tend to forget that some of the slower moments lose their poignancy because of the plot's speed. There is heart here, but unfortunately, it is pretty late in the movie to include the heart that was supposed to be there at the beginning, that never really was. Despite that, almost all of the chaos works to No Way Home's advantage and it's just plain fun. Don't expect to be wowed by the action or anything, but there is enough here to really enjoy the movie theater experience.
Final Verdict: ★★★★ 4 Stars - Spider-Man: No Way Home showcases that Marvel still knows what it takes to make a movie great and doesn't shy away from crazy ideas to make it happen. Despite having so much working against it being a great movie, it really turned out to be a pretty fantastic story and worthwhile movie experience in one. This movie was a truly full and wild ride in the end. Having so many things to balance at the same time, it does it all fairly well considering I only partially enjoyed the previous two movies in this trilogy. I was simply blown away by how well they tied everything together when it could've been a huge letdown. Much like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse was a few years ago, Sony and Marvel have balanced storytelling with fan-favorite gold in this one of a kind movie experience.
Let me hear from you! If you like what you read, want to hear more thoughts on this movie, other reviews, or talk movie recommendations and Essential Reading, leave a comment below.