The second major outing for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has arrived, this time gets bigger and better. Spider-Man: Homecoming didn’t hit all too well compared to past Spider-Man films for me, but many loved it. Far From Home is a bustling extravaganza of joy, it allows for growth in the ensemble and up-levels Homecoming on many levels. This is objectively a better film that has time to hone down on the first film’s flaws.
Spider-Man goes on a hormone-driven vacation to Europe, acting as completely new grounds from the always-New York set films prior. This all culminates to a film where the stakes are far more real, grounding a sense of fear in the destruction caused, rather than feeling like the more suburban threat in Homecoming. Slinging his way through London, Prague, to Berlin, this film feels much more well-rounded.
Set in a post-“blip” world where all have reappeared and life is some-what back to normal. Peter (Tom Holland) is all avengered-out, he lusts for MJ (Zendaya), his crush whose seemingly got eyes for the now-aged-up Brad (Remy Hii). Peter and Ned (Jacob Batalon) plan their upcoming vacation, resulting in very differing ideas and results after the eventful chaos that is their plane flight to Europe. Happy (Jon Favreau) shows up revealing Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) plans for Spider-Man, whilst a mysterious new-supposed-hero shows up. That being Quentin Beck (Gyllenhaal), a hero from another dimension whose world was threatened by the Elementals and they have now arrived on Peter’s dimension.
Beginning with an utterly hilarious meme-like news-story, the tone is set for this wildly adventurous superhero romp. In all the chaos and blistering action lies a film, with a core centred around a teenage relationship. And thank God it works. MJ in Homecoming was a disservice, Zendaya shines as the charmingly awkward counterpart to Holland’s equally-as-awkward Peter. The love story is irresistibly cute and charms without hesitation, it really makes you care for the each teenager. Additionally, Betty (Angourie Rice) and Ned are a charming gem of a couple.
The action and scale is far bigger, the stakes felt real. Which is mainly down to the introduction of Mysterio, as a hero he battles the Avengers-level-villains that are the Elementals. In which Peter gets wrapped up in. Jon Watt’s direction is fine, not many sparks can be seen in the visuals, yet it’s still very watchable and perfectly fine. The CGI is shaky at points, most notably seen in the skies, but the action sure packs-a-punch which is a testament to elements of the CGI work done.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is a bristling extravaganza which lands ten times better than Homecoming. It is hilarious, charming and the twists are brilliantly intriguing. Additionally, Time is spent building character and connection that is true and charming, whilst also having the stakes follow, very neatly.
4/5 Stars ★★★★☆
Ben Rolph
