“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Film Review

By Quinn Marcus

I was ten years old when the world was introduced to the first film in Jon Watts’ take on the web-slinger, 12 when Far From Home was released, and now, during a worldwide pandemic, in the winter of 2021, I got to see No Way Home; the supposed magnum opus for the MCU and Spider-Verse, a culmination of 20 years of storytelling finally arriving on the big screen for all to witness, and I loved it. Now, this isn’t quite going to be a traditional review, I made my decision, and I can’t resist the temptation to discuss so many of the films key plot points, but I am fair, so, if you haven’t seen the film, don’t worry, I’ll be saving my spoiler thoughts for the end of this review. Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero, every time I've watched a movie with this character in it, no matter how bad the film, I didn’t care, I just wanted to swing around on webs and fight evil lizard men and goblins. As I’ve gotten older though, I began to realize that the character of Spider-Man has such a relatable quality to him unmatched by most superheroes. Peter Parker goes through everyday struggles and challenges with romance, school, and friendships because, at the end of the day, he’s just an awkward teenager who happened to gain heroic abilities. The mask he puts on is essentially an escape from his fears, and in my opinion, no Spider-Man film has ever encapsulated this better than Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, my favorite live-action Spidey film of all time.

Why did I decide to open my review like this? Well, I guess I just wanted to establish (if in a very simple manner) how much I love this character, and where I stand in terms of the movies. Now, right off the bat, Spider-Man: No Way Home did not take the throne from Raimi, however, I will say that it may just be the best of Watts’ trilogy by an inch, I appreciated so much about this movie, and a lot of it works really well. Do I consider it to be a masterpiece? No, it is flawed, but at its best, Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the more satisfying and bold MCU movies to date, and I mean that in all honesty. On occasion, this film surpassed my expectations completely. For starters, I’ve always loved this cast, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, and of course, Tom Holland as Peter himself. This ensemble has had great chemistry with each other since 2017, and their performances have gradually gotten better and better, but I can confidently say that Spider-Man: No Way Home has them delivering their best work yet. Especially Holland, he blew me away during this movie, carrying out some truly heartbreaking and nuanced moments, mainly during the second and third acts, which I’ll get to later. Willem Dafoe was a joy to see onscreen as Green Goblin again, seeing his face contort and his voice getting all evil and creepy gave me chills, and his performance was fantastic too, easily the best of all the villain characters.

Comedically, the humor is just as strong as ever, though not every joke landed, as per usual with the MCU, there were bits and pieces of comedy that were some of the cleverest that MCU has had to offer. I laughed a lot during this movie, but I was genuinely impressed as to how much of the drama got to me as well. Actually, the weaker parts of the film came out of the CGI surprisingly, it was extremely iffy at times, undermining the action sequences quite a bit, and, to be frank, I was slightly underwhelmed by many of the bursts of action this film had. Much of this comes down to Watts’ execution, the action was serviceable for the film, but I thought there was a bigger opportunity to get weird with this one. There’s this battle that happens in the middle of the film (it’s in the trailers) between Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, it ends with Peter telling this wizard “you know what’s cooler than magic? Math!” Yeah, maybe that wasn’t the best call on the writer’s part, but my point is, that battle had so much potential, and it looks fine, but it felt rushed and less epic than I was hoping for. Visually, the film isn’t as interesting as it could have been, some of the shots looked fake and glossy, and there are certain editing choices made that came across as out of place rather than quirky, which is what I think the intention was, especially during the first act.

Perhaps this was an attempt to keep the film in its teen roots, but, at the end of the day, Spider-Man: No Way Home is propelled almost solely by the characters that inhabit the frame, I was so invested in these people the entire time, and that’s surely a win. Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack is his strongest yet, having composed both Homecoming and Far From Home, the last 30mins has a particularly strong musical score. The film does suffer from some uneven pacing, the second act dragged significantly compared to the rest of the movie, and I didn’t love a couple of the villains, but holy crap, the ending packs a punch. A certain choice is made leading into the finale that honestly made my jaw drop, the MCU took a legitimate risk, and I hope it isn't resolved in some stupid way, that would undermine the ending's impact so much. I got close to tearing up, the conclusion to this movie was amazing and so fulfilling. I won’t say anything (yet), but how Spider-Man: No Way Home explores what it means to be Spider-Man made for some of the best sections of the movie, this Peter Parker is put through some dark stuff, and for the most part, the punches aren’t pulled.

Okay, now it’s time to get into the good stuff (you know what I mean), leave if you don’t want to know anything, otherwise, let’s do this. So, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield came back, three generations of Spider-Men in the same movie, I never thought I’d see the day, but Jon Watts pulled it off rather spectacularly. Yes, it's fan service, the way they’re introduced wouldn’t make me think otherwise, but damn, the chemistry between Holland, Garfield, and Maguire was perfect, literally flawless. The shared moments of humor and analysis of what Spider-Man represents between the three…I still can’t get over how unbelievably insane it was to see them all together, it was glorious, and the final fight didn’t disappoint. There is a character death in the film which serves as a moving second act turn, and that is of Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May. I loved how this death was handled, it’s sudden in the film, but it largely works thanks to Holland and Tomei’s brilliantly poignant and grounded work during that scene, every Peter Parker has had a death in the family, and this one got to me. I will say that Tomei getting the “with great power comes great responsibility” line felt a tad out of place during the scene, but that’s pretty much my only gripe with it.

Now, this scene sets up Holland’s most compelling character development of the film, he’s become driven by grief and revenge to kill his Aunt’s murderer: Green Goblin, and I greatly appreciated the turn Peter’s once hopeful character has during the film leading into the 3rd act, arguably the best of the film. Alright, let's talk about that ending. After Peter’s attempt to kill the Green Goblin is thwarted by Maguire’s Peter (it’s an awesome scene), that choice I was talking about earlier was to make everyone in the world forget who Peter Parker is to save the universe and bring the multiverse visitors home. I couldn’t believe it myself, but it makes for some very affectionate moments between MJ, Ned, and Peter, watching them say goodbye to each other was a little bit devastating, but the decision Peter makes ultimately works for his character, putting others before himself, it’s a strong message, and one worthy of a Spider-Man film. The aftermath, seeing Peter attempt to talk to MJ, try and make her remember, but seeing that she’s okay without him, it’s beautiful to watch, easily one of the best finales to an MCU film ever. I left the theater wide-eyed and smiling, this film is absolutely wonderful, and the audience was surprisingly respectful, which was a nice bonus.