Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Spider-Man: Far from Home

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Rent Spider-Man: Far from Home on Amazon Video
Written by: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers (written by),  Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (based on the Marvel comic book by)
Directed by: Jon Watts
Starring: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marisa Tomei, Jon Fareau, Zendaya, Tony Revolori, Martin Starr, J.B. Smoove, Cobie Smulders
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
Following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man teams up with Mysterio to take on new threats from another dimension in a world that has changed forever.

Verdict
It's not bad, it just feels like a typical Marvel movie. Nothing really stands out and I feel confident I could find a few lapses in logic if I watched this again. The movie is big on illusions, and I felt that should tie in better to Peter's personal journey. Is Peter worthy of being an Avenger or is it just an illusion. It could cause him to question what he sees and believes, but the movie doesn't dig that deep.
It's a fine super hero movie that doesn't do anything to really stand out.
It depends.

Review
Tom Holland does a great job as Peter Parker and the alter ego Spider-Man. Peter is torn between being a high schooler and ascribing to the call of an Avenger. He's in a unique position because he is so young. None of the other Avengers have had to deal with those pressures at such a young age. To push the dramatic tension Peter can't do both, he has to choose.
There are a lot of high school struggles with Peter pining after MJ, but unable to muster the courage to talk to her. Peter's best friend is Ned who provides plenty of comedic relief.
Spider-Man meets Mysterio.
A new hero, Mysterio emerges from an alternate universe to fight elemental creatures, fire, water, earth, wind, that destroyed his home planet. Mysterio's helmet is really cool, it's usually a green fog though I have no idea why. He can fly and shoot lasers from his hands.
What a cool helmet.
Mysterio is hiding his true intentions, and it just seems strange that Nick Fury and his team were completely oblivious. The movie plays if off as advanced technology fooled them, but if you think about it for even a minute it starts to break down.
The elemental monsters aren't quite what they seem either. This is the kind of movie where you half want to go back to see if the movie cheated in presenting the illusion but will never make the effort to do just that.
Peter is still tied to Tony Stark even after the events of Endgame. Tony give Peter glasses that in essence make the user all powerful. The real reason these are in the plot is to give the good guys and bad guys a reason to fight. The villain becomes a bit too cartoonish despite a great introduction.

MJ and Ned become targets of the bad guy after MJ finds a piece of condemning evidence. What I found strange is that the piece of evidence reveals the next illusion which seemingly wasn't fully programmed at the time she would have found it. I don't know why the movie didn't show a piece of evidence from the previous battle. It would be much more logical.

There's a scene later where Spider-Man is trapped in an illusion. It's a very cool scene. It stretches the credibility of the science in the movie, but still cool. The movie also points out early that Peter's spider sense isn't working. That is a setup for the big final battle when it comes back and Peter can finally vanquish his foes.
This isn't a bad movie, but like many Marvel movies it just feels a bit too similar to other offerings. I would completely believe this movie follows a Marvel formula. I don't condemn the good guys winning, but how it's set up and unfolds just feels like too much of a routine.

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