Spider-Man: Far From Home

I was hotly anticipating the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, not just because I wanted to see what happened next in the MCU after the epic blockbuster that is Avengers: Endgame, but because I genuinely love Tom Holland's iteration of the beloved webslinger. Needless to say, this entry did not disappoint and in fact surpassed his previous solo adventure, Spider-Man: Homecoming. Now, I get to once again do the MCU movie dance where I try to review the film without spoiling the big plot moments. It's trickier than it looks. Although, the following review does have huge Avengers: Endgame spoilers so proceed with caution if you have not seen that one yet.

Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland) is trying to adjust back to normal life after the events of Endgame, being returned to life and all. He's looking forward to hanging up his Spider-Man suit for awhile and heading out on vacation with his school friends, Ned (played by Jacob Batalon) and MJ (played by Zendaya) on a trip through Europe, along with fellow classmates including Flash Thompson (played by Tony Revolori) and Betty Brant (played by Angourie Rice), as well as two teacher chaperones, Mr. Harrington (played by Martin Starr) and Mr. Dell (played by J.B Smoove). If there is anyone who needs a vacation, it's Peter and his friends who also were part of what they refer to as the blip (the people who got dusted by Thanos at the end of Infinity War). Peter is also understandably stressed as people are looking to him to be the successor to Tony Stark, something he completely doesn't feel ready for and cannot deal with, go so far as avoiding phone calls from Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson). The vacation starts off well enough, but when a large, water based creature starts wrecking havoc in Venice, Peter gets pulled into an new adventure by Nick Fury and Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders) to team up with a new hero on the scene, Quentin Beck, also known as Mysterio, (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), who says he is from an alternate dimension of Earth and has fought these creatures, known as the Elementals, there. With his summer vacation hijacked by Nick Fury, Peter has no choice but to team up with Beck and fight the newest threat to Earth.    

Jon Watts returns to direct this film from a script by Chris McKenna and Eric Sommers. The biggest thing hanging over this film is the aftermath of the two Avengers films and the impact it's left on the world, which this film covers in a efficient and surprisingly humorous way as the students that were blipped, including Peter and all his friends, dealing with being back except five years have passed and everyone else is five years older now (for example, one student bemoans that his younger brother is now his older brother). The other shadow hanging over the film is the death of Tony Stark and Peter trying to cope with the loss of his mentor as well as the pressure to take his place. This is only exacerbated by the fact that Peter is bequeathed a powerful piece of Stark tech, E.D.I.T.H, that he has to figure out how to use. It's this emotional backbone that makes the film really have resonance. I also liked that Peter found a new mentor of sorts in Quentin Beck, who plays as sort of a big brother to our beleaguered webslinger that pays off in some unexpected ways. Jon Watts also does a great job staging some very inventive action sequences in the film. I can't really elaborate on them because of spoilers, but they were dazzling and thrilling. I also appreciated how balanced the film was between the serious moments, the action and the more humorous aspects of the film. 

Tom Holland continues to impress as Peter Parker. I've found things to like in every incarnation of Spider-Man, but I feel like Tom is the first one to really nail both aspects of the character and I just adore him in the role. He really coveys Peter's uncertainty and pressure to step up his hero game. He is understandably feeling not ready to take on that kind of responsibility as a sixteen year old kid and really he shouldn't have to yet. But, when you have superpowers and there are giant monsters attacking the city, you need to step up. Jake Gyllenhaal makes his MCU debut here as Quentin Beck and is great in the role. He adds a lot of welcome complexity to Beck and his relationship with Peter throughout the film had a different beat to it than Tony and Peter in Homecoming, with a bit more of a brotherly dynamic. Zendaya is fantastic as this iteration's version of MJ. I get a great deal of enjoyment out her character and her dark, sarcastic sense of humor as well as her strong and fiercely independent personality, which is a refreshing change of pace for films like this. She plays off Tom Holland well and I love seeing the two of them together. Samuel L. Jackson adds an interesting new dynamic as he brings Nick Fury face to face with Peter Parker and proves to be a bit intimidating to the young superhero. I've always enjoyed Jackson in the role and seeing him start to lose his patience with Parker's own insecurities provides plenty of humor. Jon Favreau has a supporting turn as Happy Hogan and gets involved in a bit of the action during the climax of the film, while also adding some of that great Favreau charm to the film as well. Especially with an amusing subplot of a possible romance between him and Peter's Aunt May. Speaking of her, Marisa Tomei only has a couple scenes in the film as May, but makes the most of every scene she is in, portraying the close bond her character and Peter share with ease.      

Spider-Man: Far From Home continues the streak of excellence that has defined the majority of the MCU, while also being a decidedly lighter film that the one that preceded it making for a welcome bit of summertime blockbuster fun. At the same time, it sets up some interesting possibilities for the future (including a surprise cameo that had my whole theater cheering. No spoilers though). I, for one, can't wait.