NOTE: This review contains NO SPOILERS
The wait is finally over. After a year of intense marketing and secrecy surrounding it, Marvel releases Spider-Man: No Way Home. In a year which saw the releases of Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals, No Way Home arrives to complete the Spider-Man: Homecoming, once again placing both Tom Holland and Zendaya in the main roles. With much speculation going around regarding the films true premise and whether it lives up to the standard of both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home, fans can rejoice in knowing that the newest sequel not only delivers immensely as tremendously fun entertainment, but exceeds the expectations placed upon it.
Continuing from where Far From Home left off, No Way Home's plot has Peter Parker (Tom Holland) seeking the help of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in making his identity as Spider-Man a secret again after being framed by Mysterio. In doing so, a multiverse is opened, allowing numerous supervillains from alternate timelines who fought their own alternate versions of Peter Parker to enter his universe. In bringing these villains together, director Jon Watts and Marvel producer Kevin Feige not just give audiences a fitting cap off to the Homecoming trilogy, but present a story that's bigger than any previous Spider-Man film done prior. What's more impressive about No Way Home outside of its unifying of key villains, is the amount of heart the film carries with Tom Holland cementing himself as being one of the best Spider-Man's to grace the screen. The film not only works as being bigger and bolder than its previous films, but dares its main character to question about what it means to be a hero.
The soul of the film lies within the fantastic performances of its main cast with Tom Holland and Zendaya demonstrating themselves as being the MCU's power couple. With Peter Parker, Holland really comes into his own here. He goes from being a young teenager struggling to balance his normal life along with realizing the full cost of being a hero. Zendaya is stunning as MJ with her character really showing her love and commitment to Peter in this one with both actors chemistry being spot-on. Benedict Cumberbatch is stellar as Dr. Strange with the audience getting a kick out of their of their friendship as it becomes tested throughout the film. Both Marissa Tomei and Jacob Batalon give strong performances as Parkers aunt May and his best friend Ned, with Jon Favreau lending support as the likable Harold. As for the returning villains, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx all give top-notch performances as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, Doctor Otto Octavius, and Max Dillon/Electro with everyone further demonstrating that they're still the ideal choices for their parts while getting the opportunity to expand on them. No Way Home's cast has much to do with why the film is thrilling to watch along with being surprisingly emotional.
The directing by John Watts, who helmed the previous Homecoming films, is highly commendable in delivering the biggest Spider-Man film thus far in terms of scope. Like the other films, he starts off by presenting a breezy High-School atmosphere while making the story feel more mature as it progresses. The films comic book style violence is well-handled with it relying on a heavy usage of impressive CGI to excite audiences. The film contains action set-pieces that are deeply thrilling to watch such as Spider-Mans first encounter with Doc Oak, which has been repeatedly shown in the trailers or the climactic fight with all the main villains, that gives it an Avengers: Endgame style feel. Boasting a 2.5 hour running time, No Way Home effectively uses every minute to steadily build up its story. One technical aspect of the film that feels underwhelming is its score with the music lacking a powerful theme that's memorable like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy. In terms of establishing the overall look and feel of the film, Watts nails it in keeping consistent with the previous Homecoming films while making this one feel much larger in scope.
Out of the three Holland Spider-Man films, No Way Home's writing stands as being the strongest of the three with the story having its main character realizing the full consequence of choosing to help others, while raising the stakes higher than ever before. Here, the audience really find themselves caring about the main characters with the film being stuffed with the traditional Marvel style humor that accompanies each film. Each character outside of Parker and MJ are given their key moments to shine, and ultimately add something to the story that strengthens it. The script carries it all from action to comedy and drama with numerous callbacks to previous Spider-Man films being thrown in. Though there's much to digest here with the film story wise, the screenplay for No Way Home does exceptionally well in placing its main character front and center in the multiverse while giving him the attention he appropriately requires for fans who've grown with Tom Holland's Spider-Man to see him mature and grow into adulthood in the most emotionally satisfying way.
When audiences didn't think that Marvel could top what was pulled off with Endgame, the bar is raised even higher with No Way Home. The film has everything that Spider-Man fans could want, including major plot twists and revelations that'll generate tremendous amounts of excitement, along with celebrating the entire cinematic mythology of Spider-Man. Fun, thrilling, funny, and touching, Spider-Man: No Way Home honors the past while showing what's possible for the future with such a beloved young character whose shown to finally be morphing into the hero that comic book fans know him to be. The film carries a powerful message regarding the importance of doing good deeds, along with the responsibility of carrying great power. Not only will it please Spider-Man fans, it redefines all the possibilities of what can be done with a top-notch superhero story.
Final Verdict: For both Marvel and Spidey fans, No Way Home is a must see.
Images Courtesy Of SONY
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