Review of 'Spider-Man: Far from Home'
Following on from the events of not only Tom Holland's first outing as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming but also Avengers: Endgame. “Far from Home” sees Peter Parker trying to leave his super-hero alter-ego behind on a school trip to Europe. In pursuit is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who is investigating a series of attacks by “elementals” aided by a super-powered suited Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), “Mysterio”. Planning to finally let Michelle Jones/MJ (Zendaya) know his true feelings the nervous Peter is encouraged by friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) to finally open up. Peter is reluctantly dragged into helping Fury and Beck in tackling the elementals when a water creature attacks the school group while in Venice. Peter later receives a gift from the late Tony Stark: EDITH (voice of Dawn Michelle King), in typical Stark arrogance standing for “Even Dead, I'm The Hero”, which allows Peter to control the military might of Stark Industries.
This is a fun, enjoyable film that continues the successful formula of “Homecoming” with a Peter Parker that acts like a real teenager trying to find his way in the world while also enjoying the superpowers he has been given. Here Peter continues to learn that “with great power comes great responsibility” which here interferes massively with his personal life as he travels through Europe: Venice, Prague and finally London. Midway through “Far from Home” it looks like everything is all fixed but a surprise twist really ramps up the stakes as we wonder how Peter will triumph…or even if he will, after all, we have seen in Avengers that not everyone comes home. The story is a bit convoluted and keeps us entertained throughout.
“Far from Home” is filled with lots of fantastic, epic, action sequences set in the sights of Europe that are on par with many we have seen in the Avengers series. Having been to all of the locations featured here I was impressed that the filmmakers did not distort the settings at all which really brings us into the action. The film really looks great.
Tom Holland is perfect as the flawed teenage superhero struggling with both his personal and alter-ego lives. Holland brings a youthful charm and innocence to the character that was missing in the original films featuring the (then) older Tobey Maguire. It is also great to see Jackson return as the dominating Nick Fury who has little patience for Parker's youthful needs and desires though reluctantly adapting realising he has little choice. Another nice surprise is the return of Stark's forever jovial assistant Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) also returns with a touch of adult supervision and support for Peter all the while showing an interest in Aunt May (Marisa Tomei).
Though a bit on the long side, “Far from Home” ramps up the action and stakes for Peter Parker that keeps you guessing up to the final reel.
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2021-07-31
Directed by: Jon Watts
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Year: 2019
Length: 129 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6320628/
Other reviewed films by Jon Watts:
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)