Movies

‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ movie review

Spider-Man: Far From Home finds Peter Parker at a crossroads following the fallout of Avengers: Endgame

30-second review: Spider-Man: Far From Home has the same quirkiness that made Homecoming so successful, but a predictable plot and poor pacing keep it from reaching its predecessor's heights. However, it also gives us the best interpretation of the “with great power comes great responsibility” theme.

Tom Holland cements his place as the best actor to portray Spider-Man in Far From Home. But, as a whole, the movie has trouble balancing Peter's character development with its quirky tone and less than exciting plot. Although, it is still a delight to watch and gives a wonderfully bizarre performance.

Where to watch Spider-Man: Far From Home: Now playing in wide release.

Don't forget to pack your suit. Full review below ?


Spider-Man: Far From Home mostly succeeds in its near-impossible task of following up Avengers: Endgame one of the best entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a quasi-series finale for the “Infinity Saga.” However, it's clear that the impact of the events of Endgame are going to weigh heavily on the franchise as it moves forward — for better or worse.

Picking up almost immediately after The Avengers defeat Thanos — losing a few beloved characters on the way — Far From Home does quick work of establishing us in a new reality. Thanos' snap, known as the blip, has certainly had a massive effect on the planet, but to the happy-go-lucky teen ensemble, all is the same. Other than the fact that half of their classmates have aged five years while they remained the same age. 

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is looking forward to a class trip across Europe to take some time away from being Spider-Man and, more importantly, finally profess his true feelings for MJ (). Of course, not everything goes quite to plan.

Nick Fury () seeks Peter our to help a new superhero named Quentin Beck () battle monsters made of the four elements — earth, fire, water, and air. However, he's hesitant to help. Partially because he's on vacation, but also because the image of a memorialized Tony Stark haunts him everywhere he goes. 

Michelle () catches a ride from Spider-Man in Columbia Pictures' SPIDER-MAN: ™ FAR FROM HOME.

Homecoming succeeded when it didn't try to be a Spider-Man movie and was instead a high school coming-of-age. Far From Home, on the other hand, works so well as a Spider-Man movie — one where Peter directly deals with the “with great power comes great responsibility” adage — but is bogged down by the same quirkiness that made Homecoming so great — Jacob Batalon does great work as Peter's geeky best friend Ned, but isn't given enough to do to make the same impact he did in the last film.

It doesn't help either that the first half of the film is jarringly paced as it races towards one of the least surprising twists in an MCU film. However, once that's out of the way, the second half has tons of fun moments, including an Inception-like action scene that is as impressive as it is terrifying and perfectly weird Gyllenhaal performance that just leaves you wanting more.

And though the movie doesn't completely work, it solidifies Tom Holland as the best incarnation of Spider-Man. Holland's ability to translate emotion on screen — and more importantly the emotion of a 16-year-old — carries the movie past the finish line. Where the movie fails in development, he makes up for in performance. Without a doubt, he's a movie star.

Far From Home isn't everything I hoped it would be. It's a middle tier entry in the franchise at best, but it does serve as a bridge between the past and the future of the MCU. Trust me, you're gonna want to stick around for the mid and post-credits scenes. Those scenes alone tell us what the MCU needs to do to continue working — it needs to break its own mold and start taking risks. 


ADVERTISEMENT


More movies, less problems


Hey! I'm Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I'm also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

💌 Sign up for our weekly email newsletter with movie recommendations available to stream.


ADVERTISEMENT


Karl Delossantos

Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.

Leave a Comment
Published by
Karl Delossantos

Recent Posts

No Other Land is the most important documentary of our time | movie review

No Other Land follows a Palestinian activist as he documents the destruction of his community… Read More

1 month ago

Surreal dramedy The Life of Chuck ponders life and death | TIFF 2024

TIFF 2024 | The Life of Chuck follows an enigmatic man starting as a surrealist… Read More

2 months ago

Diabolically fun horror Heretic will make you believe | TIFF 2024

A pair of young Mormon missionaries find themselves at the center of a sinister plot… Read More

2 months ago

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield charm and fall in love in We Live In Time | TIFF 2024

Moving back and forth in their history, We Live In Time follows a couple through… Read More

2 months ago

Strange Darling, a thriller to die for | movie review

While it begins as a cat-and-mouse thriller, Strange Darling evolves (and genre-bends) into a psychological… Read More

2 months ago

Dìdi is a love letter to an Asian-American childhood | movie review

Dìdi is an autobiographical romp through the life of a shy 13-year-old Taiwanese-American as he… Read More

3 months ago