But there was more than just the MCU connective tissue which pulled me from the film. Villains make or break superhero films and this one is severely problematic. Without spoiling anything Mysterio is a villain with a wonderful inspiration who is executed poorly. I love, love, love the action sequences of his battles with Peter and I love the idea of his character, but the way his arc plays out is Mandarin reveal bad. It all starts about a third of the way through the movie when he starts monologuing in a horrible, horrible scene. It's the kind of monologuing The Incredibles critiques... and it's to his co-conspirators. He basically explains his plans to the people who are in on his plans with him!!
And the Nick Fury story line is pretty much BS too. Without spoiling the post-credit scene (which doesn't fix this storyline problem by the way) we are supposed to assume SHIELD is just that poorly run that Mysterio is able to pull the wool over their eyes so damn easily. But it is more than that. The whole nefarious scheme relies on too many coincidences (the villain even says "well that wasn't so hard" at one point) to be believable.
So I thought the main plot driving the film was flimsy and unbelievable. I also felt all the Endgame references were forced and distracting. Seriously the age difference thing is poorly explained and when you think about a really bad idea. Like with Homecoming, I could have done with a lot less Iron Man. Maybe one day Spider-man will get his own movie again. Maybe.
But there were things I really liked.
Once again I love Holland's take on Spidey. He imbues just an energy and a adolescent energy that no cinematic Spider-man had captured before (with the sole exception of the recent Spider-verse). His anachronistic relationships with MJ and Mae and his diverse peer group is so much fun to watch and well constructed when they aren't trying to fit in characters from other movies. In fact the mid-credits end scene (sure to be controversial) with a familiar face from the Maguire movies, was so refreshing for being related to Spidey himself instead of to the MCU at large.
As I mentioned, the action sequences are amazing. Visually the film is stunning. The way Mysterio fights Peter is remarkable and so exciting to watch. While I didn't like his story I did like his abilities and his fighting style.
When Far From Home is about Peter Parker and his struggles as a teen being a hero, and when he's fighting a criminal with power to make him question all that he sees, I enjoyed the film. When it's forcing us to think about the "blip" and connections to alien invasions that have nothing to do with the plot I get frustrated. And when it actually insults my intelligence by having it's villain conveniently pull of a scheme that is rather transparent (no pun intended) by relying on a number of coincidences I get mad.
While I know it's probably too much to ask, I hope one day to see Holland in a Spider-man movie, not a Spider-man chapter of the MCU series.
Spider-man Far From Home
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Cobie Smulders, John Favreau, Marisa Tomei
Director: John Watts
Writers: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers
No comments:
Post a Comment