Film Review - Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

These are always impossible to review in many respects given our “new normal” cinematic landscape of not giving away any spoilers. Talking about Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third film in the at times uneasy new relationship between Sony and Marvel, is usually very easy but after you’ve seen the film you begin to question just exactly what you can discuss. Can we talk about the opening titles? Can we talk about that joke between Peter and Doctor Strange? Usually, scenes presented in the trailer are OK to discuss but so sneaky are the studios and trailer editors that things you have seen may well be manipulated and completely false. However, we digress, so deep breath: some thoughts on 2021’s biggest film.

Shocked by the revelations at the end of Far From Home where, despite his demise, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) pulled one more trick on Peter (Tom Holland) and revealed his true identity, forcing him to cope with the world turning against him. Sure, many of the Avengers’ identities are known to the world but Peter is masked for a reason: it’s not for him, but the people he cares about and suddenly, that barrier is gone. Compounded by the fact that he is still a naïve teenager, he wants to ground to swallow him up until he has an idea: why not ask Strange (Cumberbatch) to use his magic to make everyone forget he is Spider-Man. Sound theory but in practice there are too many variables – namely M.J. (Zendaya), Ned (Batalon) and Aunt May (Tomei) – and Strange’s spell miscasts. His secret is still out, as are now multiversal bad guys who have come to finish what they started on their other worlds.

Anticipation has been off the charts, akin to when Endgame were announced and then released in of box office potential, fandom mania and everything in between and has already broken some records – and for good reason. It’s far from perfect – most blockbusters aren’t these days, but in the realm of big screen entertainment with everything (and we mean everything) thrown at the screen, No Way Home is a triumph. Holland has already spoken of this being a “celebration of three generations of Spider-Man” and while we can’t possibly comment on it here, it’s safe to say that the incumbent of the blue and red suit will be happy with the results, because we are. Fan service it may be – which some may find irritating and abrasive – , but there’s nothing greater than being in a cinema with a packed audience and cheering, crying, laughing and wooing together, and this one will do that for everyone. We’ve taken the ride before but it doesn’t mean we won’t run around and start queuing all over again..

The sheer weight of both expectation and the narrative of the story here – and the impact on the expanded MCU universe – is immense and, given what is at stake, it does buckle a little in places but Watts and co have such a firm grasp on their ideas that their execution is immense. Sparks fly, emotions run high, craziness ensues but anchored by Holland‘s most mature and measured turn in the title role yet, as well as the sensational trifecta he’s formed with Batalon and Zendaya (also her finest work) and Cumberbatch‘s steady hand, the ride is unimaginably good.

To say anymore would be evil – and there is enough of that floating around this one – but suffice to say that No Way Home, given what it shoots for and ultimately pulls off, is something of a triumph.