Sometimes all you want is a vacation, and work pulls you back in. When you’re a famous superhero in a post-Tony Stark world, you learn this at an early age—as in high school, when you mainly just want to tell the awkward girl who likes to talk about death that you like her and enjoy Venice in peace.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is a fun, entertaining follow-up to both Homecoming and Avengers: Endgame, a movie that—like its predecessor—thrives on humor and an aces cast. The action is pretty decent, too, for what it’s worth—the standard MCU CGI-fest that may not be mindboggling, but is certainly consistent.
Tom Holland dons the Spidey mask once again, and boy was he a good casting choice. At some point he and his character will need to grow up, but Holland is able to find that perfect balance of boyish charm/awkwardness and serious superhero with surprising ease. The great thing is he isn’t alone—Jacob Batalon is once again priceless as his faithful sidekick Ned, and Zendaya is terrific as well.
The addition of Jake Gyllenhaal is an inspired one; while the film’s primary weakness is his lack of real character development, Gyllenhaal delivers a compelling performance, one of the better ones seen in the MCU. Spoiler – a big plot turn (if you’re not a comic book reader, you’d call it a twist) involving his character also works surprisingly well, even if you know what to expect. Don’t question the science too much, but director Jon Watts and his visual effects team do a good job of bringing Mysterio’s powers to life.
One of the big complaints I’d heard going in was the movie’s obsession with Tony Stark—this is, after all, the first Marvel production post-Endgame—but screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers do a fine job of weaving Avengers plotting into the story without being overbearing. Hopefully the next one will move on and be more of a standalone Spider-Man entry, but as is the filmmakers make the most of the film’s placement in a much larger universe.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is arguably the weakest of the three most recent Spider-Man movies (counting Into the Spider-Verse), but it’s still another solid entry, a fun, fast-paced experience that will make your Peter Tingle run strong.
P.S. I normally wouldn’t say this, but stay for the mid-credits sequence: it’s a pretty major moment that shouldn’t be missed.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.