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By Sunil Dhokia Action-packed, fun and exciting, Spider-Man: Far From Home delivers for the web-head in more ways than one and ends Phase 3 of Marvel Studios with a home run. Spoiler-Warning: This is going to be a spoiler-filled review of Spider-Man: Far From Home, so if you have not seen the movie, I would advise that you watch the movie first and then come back to my review to avoid any narrative details. What's the Movie About? Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) is a superhero movie that follows the continued adventures of Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Tom Holland). In this story, Peter and his classmates including MJ (Zendaya) go on a school trip to Europe until Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) along with Quentin Beck / Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) recruit Spider-Man to aid them in their mission to defeat the villainous Elementals. Positives In usual Marvel Studios fashion, the focus on its characters along with their ability for spectacular action is the movie's core strengths: Focus on Characters and Performances There's a reason why Marvel Studios are in the 23rd feature movie of their multi-billion-dollar franchise. It's their focus on the strengths and flaws of their heroes that have allowed the studio to accumulate and grow their fan base to where they are today as the dominant studio in Hollywood. Spider-Man: Far From Home continues this trend by exploring how Peter Parker is feeling the effects of (spoiler warning for those who haven't seen Avengers: Endgame) Tony Stark's death in his everyday life. This casts a shadow over Peter as the story explores the themes of father-figures, growing up into adulthood and responsibility as one gets older. This evolution in Peter's character arc means that Tom Holland can balance the action elements of Spidey with his ability for plunging into the emotional depths of Peter's psyche. For example, when Peter tells Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) how he misses Tony Stark, Tom Holland conveys Peter's heartbreaking emotions for Tony with such flair and ease. Confident storytelling along with Peter Parker's defined character arc means that when the big set-pieces arrive (and trust me, they do), we're already emotionally involved in Peter's journey and his drive to be the hero that the world sorely needs. Michelle Jones aka MJ played once again by Zenadya makes a return in this movie. Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers give MJ a lot to do in the story as she frequently interacts with Peter Parker and becomes entangled with his crime-fighting alias. It's a vast improvement over MJ's role in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), where she appeared for the sake of saying dialogue in a deadpan delivery to various characters. While this trait is retained in the sequel, it's thankfully reduced to a handful of moments. By the screenwriters adding more dimensions to MJ's character, it allows Zendaya's charming personality to come through in her performance. This is evident in the Prague bridge scene between MJ and Peter Parker as Zendaya balances MJ's teenage awkwardness with her growing affection for Peter. By the movie's end, we're just as invested in MJ as we are with Peter Parker. Following Michael Keaton's nuanced portrayal of Adrian Toomes / Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the sequel picks up the baton and delivers once again in crafting a compelling villain in Mysterio. Jake Gyllenhaal is in scene-stealing form in a role that's a departure from the heroic roles we've grown accustomed to seeing from him. The outbursts of anger from Mysterio, particularly in the climactic battle with Spider-Man each time his plans don't come together is a joy to watch. It allows Jake Gyllenhaal to give his interpretation of a moustache-twirling villain without veering into campy or ridiculous. These moments of villainy only work however, if the movie gives Mysterio clear motivations for his actions along with crafting a developed character arc. Fortunately, the movie delivers both in spades as the 'big twist' in Quentin Beck's character arc is how Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) betrayed him in Captain America: Civil War (2016) by stealing his E.D.I.T.H A.I technology and renaming it B.A.R.F in the process. This reveal gives Quentin Beck a reason for why he wants to retaliate against the world after not being shown any affection by his former boss. It's this care and attention into Mysterio's character development that allows Jake Gyllenhaal to combine the dramatic aspects of his character with his likability and appeal as an actor. Action While the action scenes in the MCU by this point have generally been of a high standard, it seems that Spider-Man in his first solo MCU outing may have gotten the short end of the straw. By no means is this a slant on Homecoming though as it was looking to move away from the big action of the previous Spidey movies in favour of a scaled-down approach. It only felt right therefore that the sequel upped both the stakes and scale of its action set-pieces. And Far From Home is a definite improvement over Homecoming in that regard. The first decision that Jon Watts made in his approach to the action was to place Spider-Man in a foreign setting. By moving away from New York City and setting the action across Europe allows the movie to give audiences something both familiar and different at the same time. The familiar is seeing Spidey do battle, this time against 'The Elementals', whilst the uniqueness comes from the variety of villains that Spidey faces with their different power abilities. This is complemented with the contrast of high and low-key lighting techniques, moving from the bright, sunny location of Venice in Spidey's battle with the Water Elemental to the harsher, dark landscape of Prague in his fight against the fire Elemental. The second decision that impacted the action is the use of a Spider-Man villain not depicted on-screen before. With Mysterio's illusion technology, it allowed Jon Watts to come up with some interesting and inventive action scenes that explore some of Spidey's deepest fears and inner conflicts. Moments such as Mysterio dropping MJ from the top of a building or Iron Man rising from his grave to attack Spider-Man are great examples of Jon Watts visually conveying Spidey's fears without the overuse of exposition. And in a lot of ways, that's far more interesting than just watching the good guy beat the crap out of the bad guy or vice versa. Negatives A few issues in the pacing and editing departments stop Far from Home from achieving top marks in class: Pacing and Editing Much like Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far From Home follows a similar suit in its slower pace to the second act of the movie. While it's understandable that the movie takes this time to flesh out more of the characters' inner conflicts such as Peter's need to step out of Tony Stark's shadow as a hero, it also removes some of the spark that was felt in the first act of the movie. As a result, the movie feels slightly padded out then it needed to be and some tighter cuts in the editing department would have helped the movie maintain a sense of energy from to start to finish. Summary
A sequel that improves upon its predecessor in almost every way, Spider-Man: Far From Home is superhero escapism at its finest with stellar performances from Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jake Gyllenhaal, grand-scale action and a mid-credits scene that will leave you in a shock. Verdict on the Movie 8 out of 10 Your Thoughts What are your thoughts on Spider-Man: Far From Home? Do you agree that it's better than Spider-Man: Homecoming? Comment below as I'd love to hear your thoughts. All images above and below and their copyright belong to Sony Pictures Releasing, Marvel Studios and any other respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
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About MeMy name is Sunil Dhokia, I'm a movie fanatic and love all things Hollywood. Blog Archives
June 2020
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