Spider-Man: Far From Home

This film is the essence of “With great power comes great responsibility”. Instead of giving Peter this speech, he learns this lesson throughout the course of the film, opting for a show don’t tell approach that works perfectly. Watts continues his masterful way of telling two stories simultaneously to great effect. This film perfectly blends a teen road trip movie with the internal struggles of being a superhero and both manage to compliment and extenuate the others ideas and themes.

Holland’s Spider-Man is thematically my favourite. In Homecoming he learns to appreciate being a ground-level hero and wants to look out for the every man. Then he’s thrust back into big scale action in Infinity War until he’s blipped away and comes back five years later, to a brand new world that’s struggling to rebuild. Then after eight months he finally gets a break, to spend some time with his friends away from the limelight of being Spider-Man and the work he’s had to do in restoring New York with everyone back.

However things don’t go his way and responsibility is thrust upon him again, despite this being the last thing he wants. He tries so hares to pawn the responsibility onto someone else, he tries to give the glasses to Quentin Beck, he ignores Nick Fury’s calls multiple times, he leaves his suit behind, he just wants a break from the need to be a superhero and to live his life as a normal teenager. 

Then in what’s one of the best moments in the film Peter gets to admit to Happy why he’s been struggling to be this superhero the world wants him to be. And it’s that he is scared that he can’t fill the shoes of Tony Stark. Peter idolised Tony and for the world to suddenly expect him to take on this mantle is daunting to Peter and moreover he hasn’t really had time to process this grief so this is all coming from a place of hurt. Pair this with the constant reminders everywhere of Iron Man and Tony, Peter begins to break and he finally gets to confide this in Happy. But this conversation allows Peter to come into his own, as he’s helped to realise that nobody will be like Tony but Tony trusted him and that’s all that matters. Happy’s look that he gives Peter as well is just a genuine moment of care, as he’s also grieving Tony but seeing a piece of him in Peter that gives him hope for what he’ll do.

The performances continue to be outstanding in this film too. Tom just fully embodies everything that Peter Parker should be, both in and out the suit. All of his school friends are brilliant too, especially Ned and Betty and also MJ getting more development in this film was great and their relationship developing in this film felt natural and real. This film does two things that are so smart with MJ. One, letting MJ figure out Peter was Spider-Man was so well done and tying into the fact that she likes him was such a great decision too, instead of it being Peter dumping over a girl who doesn’t like him. And two, having MJ be the one to make the first move is incredible cause it’s exactly how this would happen in real life. Peter is so awkward he didn’t have the guts to ask MJ out or make the first move, he wanted things to be perfect and had a plan to do it but MJ just does it spontaneously and moreover their relationship feels like a real teenager relationship. It’s not really sensual like Garfield and Stone and it actually exists unlike Maguire and Dunst, it’s incredibly cute and exactly how a relationship at this age would feel.

Also the Watts movies are two for two with their villains as Jake Gyllenhaal knocks it out of the park. Mysterio being built up to be a good guy, far longer than you expect, is ingenious as it allows him and Peter to cement a real relationship with him that makes the twist hurt more. The film tricks you as it sets up Mysterio to be this new ‘dad’ figure for Peter, someone who also understands what it means to be a superhero which makes it all the sadder when he turns as Peter really trusted him. Gyllenhaal’s performance is magical, as he plays this friendly hero perfectly but also the maniacal menace that’s bubbling underneath. When he goes unhinged, every scene with him is just so fun to watch and tying his backstory to Tony and trying to break free of his shadow is brilliant as it mirrors the theme of the film that Peter is struggling with.

The way that Mysterio’s powers are brought to life in this film is beyond smart as it feels real in this world, having a team behind him as well makes all these illusions feel believable. It also leads to one of the best scenes in the MCU ever: the full Mysterio illusion. This is just genuinely fantastic, the action, the visuals, the way it’s used in the story, the layers of the illusion, it’s one of the most creative and inventive scenes in the MCU.

This just feels so John Hughes in the first half mixed with an incredible superhero drama in the second that it’s hard not to love if you’re a fan of either. Pair this with some great twists, visuals, action and music by Michael Giacchino which is some of the best in the MCU then it makes for an absolute treat of a film