Spider-Man: Far From Home was released July 2, 2019, and will close out the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Phase 3 of movies. The film takes place in multiple locations across Europe where Spider-Man comes in contact with an unlikely ally, Mysterio, (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) and the elemental beings they must try to defeat.
Going into this film I had low expectations. The trailers were lackluster at best. Even all the other marketing and promos I saw leading up to this movie made me think this could be the title that begins the decline of Marvel’s MCU. Even though that is what I thought, I still threw my money at the Marvel and Disney machine, crossed my fingers, and went to the theaters.
Overall, the movie was great. Marvel and Disney still have some magic in the well they keep tapping. Spider-Man: Far From Home is even better than its predecessor, Homecoming. Rare as it is that a sequel is better than the original, FFH pulls it off.
Tom Holland returns to portray Spider-Man and once again excels as Peter Parker. Zendaya’s portrayal of MJ, a different take on the classic character, is a welcome change from the “damsel in distress” from past iterations. The rest of Peter’s class returns like Ned and Flash, who provide added comic relief to the film.
What the movie probably does best is explain the “blip”. The explanation on how the students of Midtown High were “blipped” out of existence and returned exactly where they dissolved gave the answer to the question if they didn’t age in the “blip”, what happened to the rest of their class who continued to live on? This was a big question going into the film and they took almost no time to answer it, as it is shown before the Marvel logo hits the screen.
Peter appears to be coping with Tony’s loss better now that it has been eight months since the events of Endgame and is now looking forward to spending time with MJ and his friends. It isn’t until the start of the third act that we get a heart-to-heart talk between Happy and Peter to find out how both characters are dealing with Tony’s death. This scene foreshadows Peter’s path where Spider-Man becomes the next great Avenger.
The character development for Peter in this film is huge. He is starting to realize the consequences of his mistakes. He grows to own up to the problems he caused and sets out to fix them and channeling his inner Tony. Peter creates a new suit for himself to better equip him to fight Mysterio, who turns out to be the film’s central villain.
Mysterio uses projections of the elementals to make it look as if he is a good guy who is trying to help save the world. In reality, he is doing it to gain trust and power. He even fools Peter for the first three-quarters of the film causing him to transfer Tony’s technology, EDITH, over to him.
The way the movie used Mysterio and drone technology to create the elementals was a great way to bring the villain to life. It was completely believable on Mysterio was able to fool the entire population by using drones, illusions, choreography, and explosives to make the monsters and fighting look and feel real.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is superior to any other Spider-Man movie to date. It has all the elements all good movie should include: a well thought out story, action, character growth, and realism. If Marvel can keep doing these three things right, but in new and different ways, then they probably have a few more “phases” to go before they drop the ball.
Now Marvel, give us dates on what we can expect next.
