Warning: There will be spoilers below.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the 23rd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is the official end of phase three. While we have no new release dates to look forward to yet, the Disney+ streaming service coming this November will give us new shows soon enough, with Falcon & Winter Soldier starting filming in August, and the as-yet untitled Black Widow movie is currently filming in Budapest, Hungary.
Let me just start off with saying — wow. This movie is everything we have come to expect from Marvel, and a bit more. It is fast-paced and funny, and yet extremely emotional, especially if you love Tony Stark. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is struggling with the loss of his mentor, and the entire world around him is filled with reminders that Tony is no longer there. The world has also started looking for the “next Tony Stark”, and a lot of people are turning to Peter to fill that position, despite his young age.
Tom Holland does a superb job portraying everything I want from Peter Parker. He’s a nerd, which shows clearly in not just the discussions he has with BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon), but also in his excitement when he is introduced to the prospect of an actual multiverse upon meeting Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) properly for the first time. He also plays the distress that Peter goes through with such emotion that it is impossible to not be affected by it as well.
I vaguely remembered Mysterio from the animated Spider-Man TV series from 1994, but I chose to actively not look into him more before seeing this movie so as to not inadvertently spoil something for myself. Gyllenhaal really pulls off Mysterio perfectly in my opinion. He makes the character believable and it is definitely easy to see why Peter would trust him as quickly as he does. Gyllenhaal also has this amazing way of swinging between appearing completely normal and within a split second showing how very disturbed Quentin Beck truly is. He does it all with just a slight change in his posture and eyes, and it is frankly a bit creepy.
I had a bad feeling about Mysterio from the start, probably because I remembered him from when I was a kid. Knowing Marvel and how they usually don’t let their movies go just like the comics, I was hoping that the big twist here would be that Mysterio would turn out to be a good guy. I didn’t get my wish, but I was still not disappointed in what the movie delivered.
There is tons of scenery footage from Europe all throughout the movie, and the whole film in general is shot beautifully. The special effects and CGI were on point, and during one fight between Mysterio and Spider-Man I felt like a child looking at a kaleidoscope for the first time, completely enthralled. It might be something that could cause problems for people with sensitivity towards flashing lights and objects moving rapidly, however, so be careful if that is something that troubles you.
The biggest twist of the movie comes in the two end-credit scenes, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet — or if you have and years of Marvel movies still haven’t taught you to stay through the end credits — I highly recommend that you stay for both because the implications of those scenes open up so many possibilities for future movies.
Spider-Man: Far From Home feels kind of like a coming-of-age movie. Peter is trying to find his new normal after everything that has happened, and though not a lot of things go right, the most important things succeed. He manages to confess his feelings to MJ (and she feels the same about him), and defeats Mysterio through smarts and help from his friends. By the end of the movie, it feels like he is starting to be ready to step into the very large shoes Tony Stark has left him, and I am very excited to see what the future will bring for Peter Parker.