"Spider-Man: No Way Home" Review: A Reward for Comic Book Movie Fans

On the heels of the MCU's introductions to new mythic and cosmic characters comes a very familiar face from superhero films over the past twenty-or-so years: Spider-Man. On its third rendition of the character, and the first to integrate with the greater universe of Marvel characters, the closing of Tom Holland's “Home” trilogy is set to take the character on a nostalgia trip through the character's previous renditions. With trailers revealing the return of villains from past Spider-Man films, and rumors indicating cameos from past Marvel properties, the mutli-verse spanning “No Way Home” is easily set to be the most ambitious solo character title audiences have ever seen. But the anticipation is gifted with a strong sense of apprehension: can a single movie balance the various plot threads while still honoring the narrative as a Spider-Man story?

Platform: In Theaters

Release Date: December 17, 2021

WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND

Picking up right where “Far From Home” ended, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” finds Peter (Tom Holland), MJ (Zendaya), and Ned (Jacob Batalon) stuck in the middle of the fiasco unleashed by Mysterio's revealing of Spider-Man's identity to the world and the subsequent accusation of murder. As their personal lives are caught in the crosshairs, Peter visits Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the hopes that he can use his magic to reverse the effects of his unmasking. Unfortunately, as Peter struggles with the ramifications of his request, he tampers with the Doctor Strange's spell, resulting in a tear in the fabric of the multiverse and the arrival of villains from other Spider-Man universes (i.e. Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Lizard, Sandman, Electro). While helping Strange trap these villains so that he can send them back to their respective universes, Peter decides to set them free and help them avoid their fates of dying at the hands of a Spider-Man. When this plan falls apart, a heartbreaking death leaves Peter questioning and crumbling under the weight of his responsibilites. As allies arrive in the form of two other Peter Parkers (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield), the three web-heads work together to free the villains from their evil fates. But as the effects of Strange's original spell continue to escalate, Peter must make a decision that embodies the sacrifices it takes to be a hero and a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Note: I am aware that the proper plural to Spider-Man is Spider-Mans, but I chose to use Spider-Men because it reads a lot smoother.

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" is a very convoluted film, not in its storytelling, but in its various elements, so it was a bit harder to write this review than others have been in the past. I will start by reiterating something that I have mentioned across conversations pertaining to this movie and other pop culture mediums: leaks, spoilers, and rumors really suck. I do not feed into them and try to avoid cementing them into my head as to not deter expectations or minimize surprises, but simply being exposed to them does dilute the end result. This movie was easily the most fun I had at the theaters this year, though, not the best movie I have seen (I actually think I would place two or three films above it). There were some clear sacrifices made in plot, pacing, and tone development, but these do not end up out-weighing the climax and stakes of the film. It does keep it from being close to a perfect film, but not from being in contention for the best Spider-Man film ever made.

The movie is, to no surprise, a nostalgia trip, but unlike films that capitalize on that nostalgia to drive the plot, this film is more humble in how it uses the nostalgia of the previous Spider-Man films to progress Peter's journey to achieving his specific version of Spider-Man. I will not harp on the excitement of seeing Tobey and Andrew don their red and blue suits again, but I will say that they seemed as natural in their roles as they did leading their iterations of the character years ago. Tobey brought his wisdom and Andrew brought his wit, with both using their past experiences to reinforce Tom Holland's Peter's growth from a teenager with super-powers into a super-hero. Something that I typically do not care for became some of this film's highlights, with that being the slow down for verbal exchanges between the three Spider-Men (especially when Tobey throws some well-deserved respect towards Andrew's Spider-Man). These helped establish Holland's Spider-Man as just that, a Spider-Man undergoing many of the trials and tribulations expected of the character: responsibility, loss, and the balance of being Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Much of these were elements maybe slightly touched on in Holland's previous films, as the MCU aspect of those movies seemed to be prioritized over the personal struggles that Peter is used to managing throughout his stories.

Each of the villains are reprised by the same actors who portrayed them in the past, but I want to focus on Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Jamie Foxx's Electro. They were all very well acted, but Willem Dafoe re-establishes his claim to one of the best acted comic book villains of all time. The man puts on a tour-de-force of capturing Norman's split personality with the Goblin and oozes the sinister nature of his alter ego. The fight scenes throughout the film were fun, but none were particulatly encapsulating in the way that the brawl between Dafoe's Goblin and Holland's Spider-Man was. Such a raw and relentless set of power moves that made it actually feel like Spider-Man was in trouble. Foxx's Electro, while also well-acted, sticks out like a sore thumb in that every other actor practically portrays the same version of their characters while Foxx gives Electro a bit of a personality make-over. I think this was a better version of the character, but he felt a tad out of place amongst all of the familiarity. This was even more jarring since Andrew's interactions with him appeared written for the super nerdy Max that we got in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”.

Similar to Iron Man 3, “No Way Home” strips away a lot of Holland's Spider-Man element, until the third act, and focuses primarily on being a Peter Parker story. The plot had a strong human ethical dilemma element which was not only a good anchor for exploring character growth, but helped put Holland in scenes where he could really show his acting range. This situated the film to have a lot of emotional blows, however, as cited earlier, I found the film struggling to establish its emotional tone. It showed a lot of Peter's struggle with the cost of being a hero, but in the events that pushed that cost, such as May's death, I did not find the film emphasizing its impact before flipping to the excitement of the previous Spider-Men. It was hard to bypass the warm and fuzzies that come with the nostalgic scale of the story. Only Tobey and Andrew's heart-to-heart with Holland's Peter and Andrew saving MJ (which could have been shot much better), drew some reaction from me. I kind of expected the third act to be destined for a singular tone wrapped around the fighting tandem of Spider-Men, but other Easter Eggs and surprises seeped a similar impact across the previous acts as well.

Even for comic book films, blatant story in/conveniences can become eye-rolling. Having Ned inately discover how to open portals and Doctor Strange's odd hesitations to send the villains back considering how adamant he was to do so earlier in the film were very troublesome, though likely ignored for how they allowed the story to expand. The script and story telling was sacrificed to account for the brilliant use of legacy characters, so it is admissable and less distracting. These decisions also helped the plot move along in a film that had a lot of tasks to achieve. The truth is, you end up so drawn into the fun that you ignore that the movie's pacing is not really good, which was a bit of a detriment when it came to the lawsuit subplot. I would have loved for that to carry throughout the film some to provide more weight to the Peter Parker struggle. There were probably other plot points I thought deserved more time, but I can not complain about how much time we got with all the Spider-Men and would not have wanted that to be sacrificed either. It is impressive that even with 150 minutes of screen time, the film effectively hits all the notes it wanted to while leaving the character with a clean slate. It is almost as though this trilogy was just an MCU prequel to the first, real Spider-Man movie, kind of. I do not like that, as of now, Spider-Man will not have MJ or his Aunt May moving forward considering how vital these characters are to his story. Again, the personal balance of being Peter Parker and Spider-Man is the essence of that character and Holland's immediate future as the character does not have much of the vital Peter Parker elements left.

This is a film that warrants many rewatches, or at least rewatching the crowd pleasing moments. I do think it takes the belt for the top Spider-Man movie of all time for its combination of personal stakes, its human story, and its Spider-Verse elements. Seeing all of that in live-action and realizing how bold of a move it was for the director/studios to go this route leaves such a satisfaction when it is all said and done. Leaving us with just the mid- and end-credit tags, we also know that the MCU will eventually introduce a Venom-like character (or just its own Venom), which could lead to another adaptation of the symbiote suit storyline. The end-credits gave us the first trailer for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and, damn, that is going to be one convoluted story. I just hope Raimi was up to the challenge of painting a clear picture of all the elements the first trailer introduced. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was the conclusion to not just Holland's first Spider-Man trilogy, but also the conclusion to his seeming reliance on the MCU for his storylines. I have to say this movie may have been the smartest way to reboot a character I have ever seen.

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RATING: 🕷️ 🕷️ 🕷️ 🕷️.5 / 5

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