Courtesy Marvel Studios
One could easily Denis Villineuve Marvel’s newest Spidey film with a think piece on the dumbing down of cinema, the same-ness of superhero movies or by even just pointing out how No Way Home is as predictable as a film can get. But when the chips are down in director John Watts’ third installment of modern web-swingin’ quip-master’s story, it becomes a deeply satisfying bit of fan service enjoyable for its thrills and bazillion dollar CGI.
When we join this particular universe’s Spider-Man (Tom Holland), he’s dealing with fallout of the last film wherein Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) revealed his Peter Parker secret identity through none other than unscrupulous “journalist” J. Jonah Jameson (played here by JK Simmons like he’s Alex Jones or something). In the aftermath, Peter and his pals MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) can’t get into college because of the controversy, and in an effort to undo his big reveal party, Pete visits Dr. Strange (Benedict “Ping-Wing” Cumberbatch) about a spell that’ll make people forget.
The spell goes awry and starts pulling in Spider-Foes from other universes—you know, the villains from the original run of films plus those Andrew Garfield ones? Doctor Octopus and Electro? Sandman? Those guys? We shan’t spoil it any further, but we think you know what that means in terms of star power. Thus, main universe Spider-Man’s world crumbles around him. There are nefarious deeds afoot, dear reader—magical darkness? A must!
Watts and company get pretty big points for making a film that feels like a comic book issue of Spider-Man, and Holland actually hints at depth this time out. But whereas this level of acting (which is still not, like, something on the same level as the greats of the medium) might have been nice in other installments, No Way Home is mostly a vehicle for introducing the multiverse, dropping closure bombs and giving longtime fans reason after reason to love the film despite themselves. Still, at this point in the Marvel cinema/TV canon, one could practically set their watch to the story beats.
Zendaya and Batalon bring much-needed levity to this heavier entry, and Cumberbatch’s “I’m a dick” thing works here. Too bad Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May isn’t on the screen more, and the same goes for the rogue’s gallery of villains who, at times, stumble over each other. Be advised, as well, that unless you’ve been following this stuff since Tobey Maguire first donned the tights, you could get lost. A film should answer its own questions rather than require us to be lore experts, though it’s almost impossible to escape the Marvel machine at this point. Thanks, Disney!
And so it goes, predictably, but with enough pizazz and history to make it fun. You shan’t have trouble finding indies and art films, nay-sayers, and it’s blessedly enjoyable to get a summertime-type blockbuster at the tail end of a miserable year. Sometimes movies are simply about dumb excitement, and there’s nothing wrong with that, even if No Way Home feels like a lesser version of Into the Spider-Verse, which still slaps hard.
7
+For the fans; fun cast
-Insanely predictable; begins to drag
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Directed by Watts
With Holland, Zendaya, Batalon, Cumberbatch and Tomei
Violet Crown, PG-13, 148 min.
