Erupt: Spider-Man: Far From Home — Movie Review
More than just a blip on the radar
“I don’t think Tony would have done what he did, if he didn’t know that you were gonna be here after he was gone.”
Marvel’s latest outing after the extraordinary Endgame is here. The Avengers flick that hit the screens just over a couple of months ago was a magnificent joyride and an absolute tearjerker. It is only right that the immediate successor in the MCU carries on the legacy of what the lovable, decade-long series had promised in every outing: a celebration of superheroes. Does Spider-Man: Far From Home stand ‘in memoriam’ to the past?
If Ant-Man and the Wasp was given the duty of providing a transition between Infinity War and Endgame, Far From Home is assigned with something much more complicated — to offer a warm welcome to Phase Four of the MCU. To be fair, it does do justice to this… for the most part.
The movie had an unenviable task of following up on what is arguably the greatest superhero movie ever made, and its producers seem to have recognized the futility of this pursuit. Instead of matching up to its predecessor’s unassailable charisma, it steadfastly sticks to its comic book roots — the adventures of a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, with a change of scenery to the charming cities of Europe.
It is evident that the death of his father figure, Tony Stark, has taken a toll on our titular hero, and his reluctance to step into his mentor’s shoes form the crux of the story. An educational trip to Europe fails to provide a respite for Peter Parker, as otherworldly monsters wreak havoc across the globe, and the task of stopping these creatures inevitably falls upon him and Quentin Beck (Mysterio), a new superhero from an alternate reality.
Far From Home’s defining aspect is undoubtedly its characterization and the emphasis it gives to human feelings. We see an emotionally broken Peter Parker, stuck between overcoming the death of his mentor and expressing his admiration towards the girl he likes. Tom Holland plays Peter with ease and his parts with Happy (Jon Favreau) are a delight to watch. Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio stands true to his name — a character so enigmatic and yet instantly likeable. Zendaya (Michelle “MJ” Jones), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Jacob Batalon (Ned) do complete justice to their roles, even with the limited screen time offered to them.
The ingeniously infused humour in Far From Home lightens the mood at regular intervals and blends in naturally with the incredible character development. The high-school vacation theme works nicely in favour of the film’s fun quotient. Marvel’s CGI standards don’t disappoint us yet again as the movie is filled with colourful, realistic and vibrant imagery. The writing, albeit flawed in a few places, is enjoyable and doesn’t seem overdrawn, courtesy of the slick running time of just over 120 minutes.
The other technical aspects are also stunning, right from the cinematography that perfectly sets the European mood to the score by Michael Giacchino that takes us down the memory lane by re-scoring the classic Spider-Man theme song. The cameos by Stan Lee will be dearly missed, as Far From Home bags the tragic distinction of being the first MCU film without his venerable appearance.
Even with all the aforementioned positives, the plot-line suffers from the affliction of a clichéd superhero tale — the movie starts, the hero gets a good old-fashioned beatdown, finds newfound motivation and powers, defeats the bad guys to ultimately save the day. It is also similar to Spider-Man: Homecoming, with respect to its continued reliance on Tony Stark’s character.
While the transition to a new MCU phase is beautifully provided by introducing new characters and a set of amazing mid and post-credit scenes, it still leaves us with a speck of uncertainty on what the future of the MCU could be. There are multiple events introduced to us in the film that aren’t connected coherently in the form of a proper story-line, and predicting its effects is an exercise in futility. However, the film’s downsides are barely noticeable, owing to the insane amount of excitement the film promises and almost delivers.
Far From Home might not be the best Marvel film ever made, not even one among the greatest (that boasts the likes of films like The Avengers and Black Panther). But ironically, it delivers to us what Parker wanted his vacation to be — fun. And it does live up to the lofty expectations of its franchise, in spite of the predictable story-line and incoherent parts.
If you aren’t already at a theatre and have a question of whether this is a good film, the answer is certainly far from no.
This review was written in collaboration with Antony Terence, Abhishek Ramachandran, Srinivas Rajagopalan, Shiva Kanth Sujit and Akash Mani.
