“Spider-Man: Far From Home” (PG-13)
Tom Holland is back in his second webslinger solo film in “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” a very entertaining follow-up to “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and first chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-“Avengers: End Game.” Fans will almost instantly feel that the new “Spider-Man” movie is considerably lighter feels more comic book than the momentous “Avengers: Endgame” and its predecessor “Avengers: Infinity War.”
While “Endgame” bid farewell to some pivotal team members including Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), those team members, “Far From Home” reminds us that while they are gone, they’re definitely not forgotten. “Far From Home” picks up, naturally, after the events of “Endgame,” where “the blip,” as everyone is deeming it, brought back the half of humanity that Thanos destroyed with a snap of the fingers at the end of “Avengers: Infinity War.” Among those returning after five years in cosmic limbo is Peter (Holland), who came back in time to help defeat Thanos, but saw Tony sacrifice himself to destroy the omnipotent enemy and his dark forces.
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s review of “Spider-Man: Far From Home” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on “The Paul and Jordana Show” on WCCO-AM. Segment brought to you by Mike Bryant and Bradshaw & Bryant.
Still struggling with the loss of Tony in “Far From Home,” Spider-Man learns that there are still threats in the world that need superheroes like him to defend. Peter, for the time being, though, would rather ignore those threats and enjoy a simpler life, and take a class trip to Europe instead so he can tell MJ (Zendaya) how he really feels about her. He even wants to leave his Spider-Man suit behind, but Aunt May (the always wonderful Marisa Tomei) makes sure that doesn’t happen and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), also feeling a huge hole left in his life by Tony, is just a phone call away.
Also reminding Peter that he has obligations is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who purposefully interferes in the teen superhero’s plan to take on the destructive villains the Elementals, which appear to take shape of the natural elements to wreak havoc in different parts of the world. Fury has already joined forces with Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), a mysterious, crimson caped crusader from another dimension on Earth, who no doubt possesses strong capabilities, yet could use someone the caliber of Spider-Man to end the Elementals threats for good. While he reluctantly takes part with Mysterio in the battle against the Elementals’ Molten Man, Spider-Man realizes that he shouldn’t have been so lax in upholding the justice around the world the way he should have, especially since Tony willed him a powerful tech weapon that could spell disaster if it falls into the wrong hands.
If you’re steeped in the “Spider-Man” comic book lore, it shouldn’t surprise you that not everything is as it seems in “Spider-Man: Far From Home” – and to that end, the more familiar you are with the comic book franchise, the quicker you’ll catch on to which direction the film will go. On the flip side, if you’re a casual fan of the series not necessarily versed in the webslinger’s stable of characters, mostly what you see in “Far From Home” will seem status quo until some big reveals in the third act which catch you by surprise. Either way, serious and casual fans should be entertained just the same when all is said and done, it’s just that diehards have a slight advantage with their knowledge of the material going in.
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” is strong on all fronts, and while Holland is charming, Gyllenhaal is impressive as usual and Jackson is his usual, entertaining badass self, director Jon Watts can’t help but put the trio in the middle of explosive third act that’s loaded with all the CGI that the film can muster. That’s not to say the visuals aren’t incredible (they’re in fact, refreshingly trippy at some points as Spidey enters different dimensions), it just feels par for the course for a genre movie. There is a huge payoff, though, as a mid-credits scene already lays out Peter’s path for the next “Spider-Man” movie with a pair of huge surprises, to boot. After the credits, too, is another revealing scene that, while not as eventful as the mid-credits scene, gives us an inkling what other MCU characters are up to post-“Avengers: Endgame.”
Speaking of “Endgame,” while “Spider-Man: Far From Home” doesn’t come close to matching the greatness of its MCU predecessors (not that any solo MCU film could have – “Endgame” and “Infinity War” was a massive undertaking), it definitely has a life on its own and suggests that the franchise as a whole has healthy legs sans Downey moving forward. “Far From Home” reminds us that there’s still a home for Marvel superhero movies on the big screen, even though the direction of where exactly the franchise is going isn’t mapped out yet.
Lammometer: 8 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
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