Posted by Teenager gets [spoiler] by a spider before [spoiler] and then [spoiler] until [spoiler]
I remember watching the first Spider-Man movie on the big screen back in 2002. Batman was the hero of my childhood, up until they ballsed that up with Batman & Robin in 1997. Then the X-Men came along and breathed life into superhero movies. However, it was Spider-Man that caught my attention. Spider-Man was made for the big screen, how it took that long to get to the big screen was a surprise in itself. Spider-Man: No Way Home feels like a celebration of Spider-Man’s cinematic adventures over the last couple of decades. Wow, that was more than half my life ago. I’m old.
I watched No Way Home on the day it was released – I’m a nerd like that, but I’ve purposely not written a review til now because, well, there’s not much I can say without spoiling the movie.
No Way Home picks up where the last Spidey movie, Far From Home left off. Spider-Man’s identity has been revealed and everyone thinks he killed Mysterio, the villain in Far From Home that everyone also assumed was a hero but wasn’t (spoiler alert?). With the identity-reveal causing issues for everyone Peter Parker cares for, he approaches Dr Strange to cast a spell to make everyone forget he is Spider-Man. Due to a technicality, the spell is banjaxed, opening the multiverse, and bringing back villains from all past Spidey movies.
Ok I’m going to stop right there. I can say no more regards to the plot.
What follows are spoilers.
Turn back now if you haven’t seen the movie.
Seriously, don’t do this to yourself.
Are you sure you want to continue?
Last chance.
Here goes…
THEY ALL DIE!
Ok, I lied. I mean everyone dies eventually in life, so not so much of a lie. But not everyone dies in this movie.
Honestly – I don’t even know where to start. I’ll break it down into the following categories.
Opening / First hour
First spoiler – Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock is revealed to exist in the MCU. For those not aware, Marvel developed several Netflix tv shows based on characters that existed in the same world as the MCU characters, however, it always felt like a one-way thing. So, whilst the MCU was referenced in the Netflix shows, the MCU movies themselves never acknowledged the Netflix shows – so they didn’t seem official MCU material. Until now. Charlie Cox’s appearance means those shows “may” be canon so ultimately, I need to catch up on a bunch of Netflix shows I didn’t bother watching. Still with me?
As much as I loved this movie, I have to say I felt rather indifferent to the opening. At least up until Dr Strange was out of the picture for a while. This may be my own fault – watching several hours of YouTube videos analysing the No Way Home trailers to the point the opening act wasn’t particularly new to me. Or maybe I was just waiting for the inevitable appearance from past heroes.
There were other parts of the opening hour I found a little odd. Like the scene in the Sanctum Sanctorum seemed to show Dr Strange’s hair changing in between shots and appearing overly fake at times. I’m guessing this had something to do with reshoots, but I found it a little distracting.
The biggest issues with the opening – for me – was Peter’s and Aunt May’s motivations to help the villains cure themselves. After everything the world went through with Thanos, surely you’d be better off listening to experienced, powerful individuals such as Dr Strange. Instead, Peter rebels and causes all sorts of issues. I guess they needed something to drive the plot, but I found Peter’s actions very questionable for the leading character in this story.
Villains
Having so many villains appear in No Way Home had me fearing we’d end up with the same villain issue in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. However, that’s not so much of an issue this time round, though they work to various degrees.
Lizard and Sandman almost seem to be there just to make up the numbers. They’re just CGI characters that had me questioning whether the actors, Rhys Ifans and Thomas Haden Church, were playing them. They’re briefly shown in human form when they’re cured at the end, but it made me wonder if that was old footage of them.
Jamie Foxx’s Electro has had a welcome redesign in this movie, more in keeping with his comic appearance. Though, it’s not really explained why his appearance is so different in this movie compared to The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He goes from balding, spectacled, eccentric dude to cool-looking Jamie Foxx dude. I’ll have what he’s having.
Alfred Molina picks up exactly where he left off with Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2. I guess he was perfect in that movie, so he didn’t really need to try anything different.
Yet, it’s Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin that makes the biggest impression from the villains. I loved his portrayal of Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in the first Spider-Man movie, and here he seems to go one better, this time not having to hide behind the Goblin mask. From the vocals of his psychotic laugh to his facial expressions, to transitioning between the two different personas – he truly feels “dangerous” at all times. His line “I’m something of a scientist myself” got a laugh from the audience – a line taken directly from the first Spider-Man movie too.
Aunt May
The biggest casualty of this movie – Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May dies at the hands of the Green Goblin. I did not see that coming. I mentioned earlier the choices of May and Peter to help the villains was a strange one, but I like the fact that this had a direct effect on Aunt May’s fate.
I watched a YouTube video making Aunt May’s death a sexism issue, but I have to say I do not agree. Yes, the female representation in this movie is dire with Aunt May and Zendeya’s MJ the only major female characters. But to say this is a reason not to kill off Aunt May is completely missing the point.
It HAD to be Aunt May that died in this movie. Uncle Ben has been missing in the MCU Spidey series, but it’s Ben’s death in previous Spidey movies that makes Spider-Man who he grows to be and what he represents. Aunt May is the closest living relative to Peter, losing her sets up the ending with Tom Holland’s Spidey being an isolated figure motivated by “with great power comes great responsibility”.
Spider-Men
And the main event… The appearance of Tobey Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men. Let’s face it, we all expected it. This was very well done, Andrew’s Spider-Man coming first got a huge round of applause in the cinema screening. Coming off the back of Aunt May’s death, the appearances of Tobey and Andrew are played for laughs but the shift in tone is just done so, so well. After realising they’ve found the wrong Peter Parker, Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ attempt to find Tom’s Spidey only to have Tobey’s Spidey appear.
Ok, he didn’t appear quite like that, but he may as well have had! That being said – Tobey Maguire has certainly aged – to the point I couldn’t quite recognise him. But age does that to you, I guess!
A quick word on the previous Spider-Man movies. I absolutely loved all of them. Even Spider-Man 3 with emo street dancing Peter, and TASM series which are largely seen as the worst Spider-Man movies. The ending of TASM2 with Gwen’s death is probably the best climax of any Spider-Man movie. I watched all previous Tobey and Andrew Spidey movies in the days leading up to seeing No Way Home, and my opinion has not changed.
Critics being critics, TASM and its sequel gets a lot of negative opinions – which unfairly reflects on Andrew Garfield’s performance. However, that is pretty much addressed in this movie with Tobey repeatedly assuring Andrew he is amazing, and Andrew having his redemption moment saving MJ from a similar fall where Gwen died. I have to say Andrew Garfield’s acting is top notch. Without saying a word, he was able to express his feelings in such a magnificent way. I thought the same with his acting in Gwen’s death in TASM2 to be fair. For me, he steals the show in this movie and comes out of it my favourite Spidey/Peter Parker.
The relationship between the three Peter Parkers is great to see. Like three brothers each having a connection to the other from the offset. I could quite happily have watched them interacting for 2 hours in the movie. The scene where they get into science mode and discuss Tobey’s organic web shooting was hilarious.
Post-credit scenes
There are two post-credit scenes, the first having Venom disappear just as fast as he appeared in the MCU without interacting with any other hero. I thought this was funny – just as he was about to get into action. The left-over symbiote goo does make me wonder if that’s something they’re going to explore in future Spider-Man movies. I’d like to see Venom and Spidey go at it properly (the weakest part of Spider-Man 3 was its portrayal of Venom) – however, they wouldn’t introduce a new Brock, would they? Tom Hardy seems to have this covered in the Venom-verse. Maybe Flash Thompson will become Venom like the comics.
The second post-credit scene is basically a trailer for Dr Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness. Surprisingly I don’t have much to say about this apart from mentioning the possible appearance of Strange Supreme from the ‘What If?’ Marvel series.
Verdict
This has been the longest review (or overview) of a movie yet for me. I absolutely loved this movie, especially the second half which I’d go as far as saying is one of the most perfect examples of cinema you will see. I do wonder what the average movie-goer who hasn’t seen the previous movies would think. Having been a fan of all the Spider-Man movies to grace the big screen, it goes without saying I knew I would love this movie. My high expectations were exceeded!
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