There are two truly fantastic Spider-Man movies: 2017âs Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2018âs animated gem Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. (For those of you screaming, âWhat about the incredible 1978 Japanese Spider-Man in which Spidey battles monsters from inside a giant robot?â Please SHUT UP. Though youâre correct that this was one of the greatest artistic accomplishments of our lifetime, that was a series, not a movie. Now stop interrupting.)
Both of those wholly excellent films spotlighted the attribute that separates Spider-Man from all other less interesting heroes: his hormonal humanity. As in Stan Lee and Steve Ditkoâs original comic series, the two films leaned heavily on what itâs like to be a teenager whoâs suddenly imbued with otherworldly abilities and responsibilities that most adults couldnât handle. Spidey has âradioactive bloodâ coursing through his veins alongside equally horrifying teenage hormones, and the plots of both Homecoming and Spider-Verse celebrated this inherent tension, focusing on character over heroics.
Spidey has âradioactive bloodâ coursing through his veins alongside equally horrifying teenage hormones, and his best movies celebrate this inherent tension, focusing on character over heroics.
This brings us to the latest entry in the cinematic spider-verse: Spider-Man: Far from Home. The plot picks up after the bizarre and convoluted events in Avengers: Endgame, which are hilariously and cleverly recapped in the first five minutes of Far from Home by the adorably inept AV team at Peter Parkerâs high school (this alone is worth the price of admission). Peter (Tom Holland, always great, in spite of his weird eyebrow) and his science club palsâbest friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and awkward love interest MJ (Zendaya)âare off on a class trip to Europe, where the webslinger hopes to take a much-needed break from all his superheroics. Unfortunately, heâs pulled back into the action by super spy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and a new hero, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), to battle a team of inter-dimensional monsters, the Elementals. Naturallyâespecially for those familiar with Spideyâs historyâthings are not always what they seem.
For those who have been salivating for a sequel to Homecomingâand more Spider-Man than we got in the last two Avengers moviesâyou can relax. Spider-Man: Far from Home is pretty freaking good! It has almost everything you loved from Homecoming, plus better action sequences. That said, while Homecoming crackled with originality, Far from Home is far from what made its predecessor so great. Sure, itâs got snappy jokes, terrific characters, top-notch action, and loads of delicious teenage awkwardness. But it lacks the one thing Homecoming had in abundance: a laser-sharp focus on the emotional horror of being a teen.
Homecoming was a brilliant homage to the â80s films of John Hughes, and Peterâs relationships with his fellow teens made the movie work so much better than almost any other superhero blockbuster. Far from Home still has some of that interplay, but it comes off as perfunctoryâas if the filmmakers are saying, âThis worked great in the last one, letâs do it again!â but without any additional nuance.
And yet? I still loved it. Itâs better and more emotionally resonant than the vast majority of superhero flicks, and even when Nick Fury is being portrayed as kind of a joke (weird choice, guys), Far from Home is an excellent sequel that will occasionally illicit ear-to-ear grins. Iâm already excited for the next one, in which I hope theyâll bring the series back to its emotional home.
