I'm not a fan of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films despite being a big fan of Holland's performance as Spider-Man. So far he's been a supporting player in all his films (I know not literally but come on it would be nice to see a film where he isn't propped up by another Marvel superhero) and I wait for the day when Iron Man, or Nick Fury, or Doctor Strange isn't taking up so much of the air in a Spider-Man film. I feel like the weight of the MCU always brings down Spidey in these films and No Way Home adds to this the weight of the legacy of the filmed Spider-Man series as well. And for me the execution of this film was a lot of missteps as well as some successes. I do believe I enjoyed No Way Home the most of any of the Holland Spider-man films.
The film begins chaotically, careening through plot points like they are signposts along a highway we pass over the speed-limit. Parker is revealed to the world, he is accused of murdering Mysterio, he is cleared (just so we can see Charlie Cox for half a second and let him tell a joke - cause this is the MCU for crying out loud), he tries to get into college, he gets rejected from college (just one of the most ridiculously unbelievable plot points in the movie BTW), and he then finally hits the main plot of the story, trying to fuck with reality to fix the situations he doesn't like. It's not Flash trying to save his mother from a murderer it's trying to get into college. I know...
I won't get into all the problems I had with the story's magic problem, Strange's eagerness, or maybe just disregard, to play haphazardly with the memories of the world or Parker's chaotic fumbling with it while he's doing it. But also the nature of the spells doesn't really make sense in terms of solving the problems they are trying to solve... but the story needs this device so okay I can forgive it.
But once the movie starts on its main story I actually got into it. I am a big critic of those who don't like "nOStalGIa" as if it's some crime to love things, want to explore them and their repercussions in new and interesting ways. I think returning to some of these characters in this way was both fascinating and redemptive. Maybe they bite off more than they can chew; certain villains get way less to do and grow than others. And maybe they limit themselves by only sticking to characters actually introduced in the previous movies. But the story of Peter's interactions with the villains of the multiverse is well done and Holland with his eager beaver teen approach and his unwillingness to send them to their deaths makes for a good story arc.
But even more so the idea of the Spider-Men of the different films coming together, sharing their experiences, finding brotherhood they never had, it was all very moving. At one point I thought they were killing Maguire's Spidey which could have taken the film to a whole other level but they backed down at the last minute. I felt there was real pathos here. And yes maybe some of it is nostalgia. Seeing Maguire and Garfield again was touching but for me it was more the idea of exploring the connections they would have. Multiverse stories have an abundance of possibilities. As this is one of the first mainstream films to tackle this sort of story on the big screen despite years, decades, or comic stories like this and TV exploring it somewhat, I was happy to see these dynamics play out.
Again the ending sort of disappointed me as the final spell again didn't make a lot of sense. Nor did Peter's end reaction. Even Fantastic Beasts handled this wrinkle better. I mean there is no reason not to tell MJ and Ned. Still this movie opens the door for more and also opens the door to allow Spider-Man movies in the future to be less weighed down by all the MCU stuff going on in the background.
Once of the disappointments for me with the Holland films (maybe we could call them the "Home" films) is that I had hoped they would just assume Spidey's origin and then just tell fresh Spidey stories. But they have attempted to work through all the origin beats again, this time with this Aunt May giving the "great power/great responsibility" line. I get that they were using it as a way of connecting the Parkers of different universes but I really want a Spider-Man story that doesn't just retell the origin again but different.
Interesting post-script, I find the Amazing movies the least interesting of all the Spider-Man films but Garfield's performance here really knocks it out of the park and makes me wish we could see more of him... just not in that universe.
Spider-man No Way Home
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Toby Maguire, Rhys Ifans, Thomas Hayden Church, J.K. Simmons, Charlie Cox, Tom Hardy
Director: John Watts
Writers: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers
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