A Worthy Successor

Spider-Man: Far From Home had some big shoes to fill after Avengers: Endgame. And while Far From Home was not as good as Endgame, Far From Home lived up to my expectations perfectly.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Spider-Man: Far From Home follows Peter Parker as he goes on a school trip to Europe and has to juggle his normal life with his life as Spider-Man. I found this to be a very interesting conflict, because it showed Peter’s growth from Spider-Man: Homecoming. In Homecoming, Peter wanted to be a hero just like his mentor Iron Man. However, after the events of Infinity War and Endgame, Peter wants nothing more than to just take a break and relax, especially because his mentor is now dead. That was something else that I really liked about Far From Home–it showed the difficulties and challenges that people faced after losing five years of their lives. It would have been easy for the movie to just ignore the inconveniences caused by half of the population randomly reappearing after five years, but it shows enough details to illustrate that it is an issue while also not getting bogged down by the details. I think that Far From Home handles this aspect of the world wonderfully.

As for the villain of the movie, I think that Mysterio was great. Even though all of the trailers made it seem like Peter and Mysterio would be working together to defeat a larger threat, anyone that knows about Spider-Man’s villains would have been a bit suspicious. Because of that, I saw his betrayal coming, even though it wasn’t given much foreshadowing. The other thing that I really liked about Mysterio was his growth as a character. At first, he genuinely sees Peter as a friend and hates the fact that he must kill Peter after Peter discovers the truth. It turns out that Mysterio was tricking Nick Fury and Peter in order to get a special AI named Edith that Tony Stark had designed and given to Peter in the form of AR glasses. However, by the end of the movie, Mysterio genuinely wants to kill Peter. Besides, I appreciate how the MCU Spider-Man movies have all been using some of his smaller and traditionally less dangerous villains while still making them formidable; it just makes me all the more excited to see what happens with a character like Green Goblin. I also think that Mysterio had a great motive, because it didn’t make him truly evil. Quentin Beck just wanted to be the next Iron Man, even if it was all just an elaborate illusion. This motive also draws parallels between Spider-Man and Mysterio, because after Iron Man’s death, Spider-Man is expected to take over as the new Iron Man. And frankly, that is the driving force behind the movie–how will Peter respond to this new calling?

The ending of the movie only makes that question more difficult to answer. Even though Peter is able to stop Mysterio and get his Edith back, Mysterio doesn’t fully lose. The truth about Mysterio is never revealed to the public, and instead Quentin has his team members upload a modified video of Spider-Man that makes it look like he killed Mysterio for no reason and planned to use the AI and the drones it controlled to kill a lot of people, effectively placing all of the death and destruction caused by Mysterio’s drones on Spider-Man. Oh and the video also reveals Spider-Man’s identity as Peter Parker. This ending was shocking and unexpected and I loved it. This simple scene has incredible ramifications on the future of Spider-Man as a character and the MCU as a whole, much like the ending of Iron Man. This ending also further draws parallels between Tony and Peter and the idea that Spider-Man will become the next Iron Man, even if the situation surrounding the two reveals is completely different. Besides, it’s impossible for me to not be happy that J.K. Simmons is returning as J. Jonah Jameson. After the original Raimi trilogy, I, as well as many other people, saw J.K. Simmons as the definitive live-action Jameson, and it looks like that fact won’t change.

Something else that I have to talk about is the relationship between Peter and MJ. For me, their relationship and interactions often felt very awkward, and to me that was perfect. Peter has always been this nerdy kid and he has this mildly complex and convoluted plan where he plans to confess how he feels to MJ while on their trip in Europe, but of course everything falls apart. This leads to many small and awkward exchanges, all of which I found to be perfectly fitting for high schoolers. I thought that their relationship was handled wonderfully, and I can’t wait to see how it changes and develops in the future, especially after Peter’s identity was revealed.

And now we come to what would have been my biggest gripe with the movie, even if I do still have a little bit of a problem with it. About half-way or so through the movie, it is revealed that Mysterio’s entire backstory, as well as the battles against the elementals (living embodiments of earth, wind, fire, and air focused on eradicating humanity), is all fake. My issue, though minor, is that none of it felt properly explained. In Mysterio’s backstory, he claims to be a warrior from a parallel earth, but it’s never explained how exactly he got to this earth, how he got his powers, or anything about the elementals other than that they want to destroy. Peter briefly reacts to notion of a multi-verse, but it is never revisited after its initial introduction. I know that all of these details are incredibly small, but they all seem pretty important to me, especially considering the fact that these were the lies Mysterio fed Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D in order to get close to Peter and get Edith.

SPOILERS END

Finally, I would be remiss without saying that Far From Home looked absolutely incredible. The fights were absolutely fantastic, and the special effects involved were spot on. In my opinion, it’s these aspects of a movie that can really make or break it, and Far From Home absolutely nails both of them (especially during the climactic battle). And I will say this, there are definitely some scenes where lesser special effects would have negatively effected the movie as a whole and made it a lot less powerful.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is everything that it needed to be. I firmly believe that Avenger: Endgame was what the perfect superhero would be. However, I believe that Spider-Man: Far From Home is what most superhero movies should be. Far From Home is not as good as Endgame, but it it and other superhero movies were, then Endgame wouldn’t be nearly as special as it was. And in the end, Spider-Man: Far From Home was a fantastic movie that I would highly recommend. It is truly a fitting conclusion to Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a great ending to the Infinity Saga. Spider-Man: Far From Home receives a solid 8/10 from me.