Sean Marshall The film picks up where Spider-Man: Far From Home ended with Spider-Man being revealed to be Peter Parker. This leads to him lying low for a while with MJ & Ned until he figures out that the only thing that can save him & the ones he cares for is Doctor Strange making it so nobody remembers him. While Strange is cooking up this grand spell, Peter causes him to lose focus which causes past Spider-Man enemies from the multiverse to slide into his universe & wreck havoc. It’s Peter’s inexperience & emotions that cause this universe to flip upside down for good.
Tom Holland does a solid job in this film. However, it still feels like the character of Peter hasn’t come into being Spider-Man throughout this series until the end of it, which kind of makes this ride with Spider-Man feel less enjoyable & more frustrating for me as a longtime Spider-Man fan. We’ve been with Holland’s Spider-Man since Captain America: Civil War & he’s still making the same mistakes he made in his first film in this one & the shift in his character comes too late, especially since Sony confirmed him for one more film. We’ve seen this trope throughout the Tobey Maguire & Andrew Garfield movies, & I would’ve liked to see them divert from reusing the same formula for Holland’s Spider-Man. Doctor Strange had little to do with this film, which is great because I didn’t want Strange to replace Tony Stark as a mentor for Peter. The humor in this film was great!
This film was heavy on the emotional side, but one scene that should’ve hit more than the others felt forced & without weight because of the character playing the background throughout most Spider-Man films. The film suffers mainly from Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers’ writing. The reason for Flint/Sandman going from calm & understanding to full-on villain again wasn’t touched on at all. The rest of the villains stated their reason for flipping the script in this universe, but Flint just seemed like he didn’t want to be left out & joined the villains. At the end of the day, the only reason the Sinister Five, not Sinister Six, was in this film was to bring on the not so epic fight scene at the end.
This film has more ups than downs but still maintains an enjoyable ride. It isn’t the best Spider-Man film as Maguire’s Spider-Man 2 still holds that spot, or the best Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Endgame stands firm with that title. I mean, if the film didn’t cater heavily to the fans with certain choices, No Way Home would’ve been as grounded as Homecoming & Far From Home. I will say that out of everything in this film; I’m excited to see where Peter’s heading in the next movie because things in this film changed him forever & we finally see his growth.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Pros
- Peter's growth towards the end of the film
- Some solid fan-service
- Great ending
- The humor in the film was spot on.
Cons
- Certain decisions that should've held weight felt forced & unnecessary
- The film suffered from carrying over the same formula from past Spider-Man films.
