Spider-Man: Far From Home review – a mesmerising sequel that launches the MCU forward

“The film gives us everything that we need from the next step in the MCU Universe timeline.”

Spider-man movies are not hard to come by. Hell, we’ve had seven film appearances from the webslinger in the last decade alone! However, a good spider-man movie is pretty tough to get, and thankfully this refreshing sequel falls under that category. Welcome to ScreenHeads‘ Spider-Man: Far From Home review! This is a film that feels like it leaps right out of the Spider-Man comics, with incredible visual effects and a really fun mix-up of characters that reminds you of when the young hero would be swept up into adventures with other heroes from the Marvel Universe.

Far From Home shows us Peter Parker (played once again by the amazing Tom Holland) eight months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, preparing to go on a class trip to Europe with his classmates, such as Michelle “MJ” Jones (portrayed by the fun Zendaya), Ned Leeds (portrayed by the ever-hysterical Jacob Batalon) and Eugene “Flash” Thompson (portrayed by the entertaining Tony Revolori). However, his vay-cay is interrupted by Nick Fury (portrayed once again by the badass Samuel L. Jackson) and the mysterious (he-he) Quentin Beck (played by the electrifying Jake Gyllenhaal), a soldier from another universe who needs Spidey’s help to fight creatures known as The Elementals.

The film gives us everything that we need from the next step in the MCU Universe timeline: Peter Parker still reeling from the loss of his mentor, Tony Stark. Explanations for how the world now deals with people – in this case school students – returning un-aged in “the blip” after a five year absence. A worldly fall out for losing one of Earth’s mightiest protectors, Iron Man. We get all that we need to carry on easily without having unanswered questions from the events of the last film in the timeline.

Holland’s performance is on point as usual. He gives us such a different Peter Parker that also makes sense. All Parker wants to do this time around is get away from his Spider-Man identity and enjoy time with his friends and the girl he is falling in love with; a great change of pace from the young man who couldn’t wait to wear his spandex and save New York in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The supporting cast is brilliant, just like last time. Zendaya gives us a fresh take on the MJ character, and therefore an interesting new dynamic with Parker. Batalon’s Ned continues to provide humour and act as Peter’s faithful companion. Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May gives us a new relationship with her super-powered nephew that we’ve never seen, which is unbelievably fun to watch. Martin Starr and J.B Smoove’s Mr Harrington and Mr. Julius both respectively bounce off each other with great comedic timing and obliviousness to the heroic goings on right under their noses. Finally, Revolori’s bullying Flash Thompson provides funny moments and once again acts as a reminder of how bullying isn’t always about muscle mass anymore.

Jackson’s Nick Fury and his sidekick, Maria Hill (portrayed by the…well, boring Cobie Smulders) take over the mentor role of sorts from Downey’s Tony Stark. They give more or less what what was given by Stark in Homecoming: the need for Spider-Man to do something, the moment of disappointment in the hero and then the realisation that he was right all along. The interesting part about Fury’s part in it all is of course that post-credits scene and it’s effect on your second viewing of this film, and also the change of pace from Stark’s sarcasm and moments of being light-hearted.

We of course can’t forget about Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan as well. A MCU alumni in more ways than one, Favreau once again doesn’t fail to deliver a great performance and also, in a way, secretly act as the true mentor to Peter in the film. His involvement doesn’t just remind us of how the MCU started, but also how it will all move forward. I am of course mainly referring to the scene that involves some cool holograms, ACDC and a look approval. We can’t help feeling, with a little help from Happy, that Spidey will feature as a sort of Iron Man figure moving forward in the MCU.

Now we get onto the big guns: Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck/Mysterio. Fans of the Spider-Man comics will be aware that Mysterio is traditionally a villain a flair for the theatrical, mixing his ability to create illusions into his law breaking. throughout the first two acts of Far From Home, we genuinely believe that Director Jon Watts has done a massive twist on Quentin Beck. We are led to think that maybe he becomes some form of anti-hero, with his morals being churned for his own gain. However, the rug is pulled from under us when we least expect it. Turns out that Beck is a former employee of Tony Stark and has banded together with other members of his disgruntled work force to take back what is theres and use a heroic image – through Beck’s Mystery persona – to be heard and have a true voice around the world as opposed to being ignored. Gyllenhaal plays the dashing, pleasant hero extremely well, but when it makes the quick twist to villainous and twisted, he reminds us of why he has become such a well respected actor in his years active.

This Mysterio twist is probably the best part about the film. We are constantly waiting for Beck to turn evil and we kind of give up hope about two minutes before it is revealed he’s been scheming to trick Peter, Fury and the entire world the whole time. We even get a call back to the first Iron Man through Stark Industries scientist William Ginter Riva. With Far From Home being the film that closes off the first saga of the MCU, it felt right to have a call back to this cinematic universe’s first outing.

The chemistry between both the returning and new cast is perfect. The budding relationship between Parker and Leeds just gets better, and it is interesting watching the romance between the former and this new type of MJ blossom. Parker’s relationship with his aunt only gets better also now that she knows his secret identity; it’s nice to get an idea of what the older Parker may be like if she knew her nephew was an Avenger.

The friendship between Parker and Beck is sweet, and you can tell these actors have a good time both on and off screen. However, when they face off, you can see a bit of a Jim Hawkins/Long John Silver kind of conundrum (people with knowledge of Treasure Island please nod in agreement).

The juiciest bit about the film is the effects. With a film that involves a villain that uses imagery and illusions constantly, they needed to be up to scratch, and boy where they! The scene where Spidey is put through a continuous rally of illusions is unbelievable. Arguably one of the boldest and most creative scenes used in the MCU (potentially on par with the multiverse scene in Doctor Strange?). It is a few minutes of effect after effect after effect and everything lands well, working in perfectly to nods from past films, Marvel comics and just Mysterio being down right cruel/cool/ready to take Spidey to school.

Having praised this film so much, there are of course some moments and points that fall flat. The story surrounding Beck’s deception is great, however it can be slightly confusing on your second viewing. For example, everything surround Mysterio flying and and fighting and shooting lasers from his hands is a holographic projection…so how does he float when he talks to Peter halfway through the movie in that heart to heart scene. Surely if the guy was floating and then sat right next to him, Peter would know if it was real or fake? It’s moments like these that are necessary to make Beck’s lie that more heart hitting when we find out and to help in moving the story forward…but in the long run it just makes you question stuff.

There is also the fact that this film takes place eight months after Endgame. In perspective, that’s a pretty long time – would people still be asking Spider-Man if he’s going to be the next Iron Man? Would Peter still be struggling to cope to Stark’s death? If there was even mention of Uncle Ben then we could denote that Parker is having to cope with losing another father figure but…we having nothing actually solid about Peter’s deceased uncle so he isn’t enough I’m afraid. If this picked up not long after Endgame, then it would have been ideal timing.

The film’s post credit scenes are interesting. Very interesting. We get Spider-Man’s identity being revealed in Quentin Beck’s final moments. For a film that closes off the first saga that was started with Iron Man – which reveals the hero’s identity in the very final moments – and that also deals with Spidey kind of transforming into the next Tony Stark in some ways, it is fun for his identity to be revealed also, except Parker doesn’t get to do it on his own terms. The reveals also weaves in the existence of thedailybugle.net (the MCU’s modern version of it’s famous newspaper) and the return of J. Jonah Jameson through the Raimi Trilogy’s J.K Simmons incarnation. This is a moment that is sure to get a few shocked faces and a few cheers, but…as cool as it is, it’s also confusing for us fans. Do I even need to explain why?

The second scene shows us that Fury and Hill have actually been Skrulls the entire time, whilst the real Fury has been on vacation is space! An unexpected twist if you ask me, and the fact that these guys are not who they’re pretending to be makes more sense when you watch the film again and listen CAREFULLY. It’s giving a nod to the fact that Skrulls will be involved in the MCU’s future and that they could be ANYWHERE.

On the whole, Far From Home is a solid film. It gives us exactly what we need moving forward, whilst also giving nods to all the way back to the beginning of the MCU. Quite poetic really. The cast, attention to detail in every frame and the massive salutes to the character of Tony Stark every few minutes just works tremendously well. Although there are moments of fan service and plot holes that feel like they could have been avoided, you need to remember that there are films in this universe that happen to do everything right in these respects but are just god awful anyway (no offence Dark World).

From us, it’s a solid 8.9/10.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is in cinemas everywhere now!