Spider-Man: Far From Home

To announce this film before the release of "Avengers: Infinity War" did spoil a few things because it meant that Spider-Man was going to survive Thanos' purge in some way. These are the kinds of troubles that result when Marvel Studios has to share the rights to this character with Sony. Usually, executive interference spells doom for a live action adaptation of a comic book character but thankfully, the marketing was handled quite well so as to not spoil anything more. Because of the returning cast and crew members, this was a well-done sequel in that it lived up to the its predecessor. The story was relatable and well-crafted to entertain. I am glad that it concludes Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because while "Endgame" was a tad better, that show was a long, franchise-changing blockbuster experience that left you breathless. "Spider-Man: Far From Home" is a much more straightforward film.

This movie avoided many of the mistakes that other comic book films make. The level of foreshadowing was modest and confined towards the end of the film. There wasn't an excess of new characters either. Some sequels go for the dark approach but this movie felt very similar to "Homecoming" in terms of its mood. The first film showed us what high school would be like in the MCU but this sequel shows what citizen life would be like following what has been coined "The Blip". "Endgame" showed us the good consequences that came from their victory over Thanos but "Far From Home" showed us the weird/negative consequences. Don't worry though, the good consequences far outweigh the negative. The trailer showed a scene with Spider-Man battling in a restaurant but that scene was not used in the final film. That was a little bit of a let down. At the very end of "Homecoming", Aunt May finds out that her nephew is Spider-Man in very comedic fashion and in this new movie, she has come to terms with it quite well but it would have been nice to see their conversation after she caught Peter at the end of "Homecoming". The filmmakers once again create a relatable protagonist in "Far From Home". Now that Peter is an Avenger, he realizes that growing up does have its drawbacks and this is usually felt by those approaching high school graduation. He wants to maintain his life as a kid but that is hard to do now that he is taken seriously as a superhero. I applaud the live action adaptation of Mysterio. When adapting a comic book, you have to ride a fine line between honoring the source material and making subtle changes for the sake of originality. The filmmakers also did a great job in keeping us in the dark until the plot twist. Even after the plot twist, the filmmakers still took steps to honor the comics such as with Mysterio's outfit. I really hope that fans are not upset with the changes to this character because I feel that he is still able to provide the kind of threat he is known for while at the same time fitting logically in the MCU . Even the Elementals have some relation to actual comic book characters. Unlike Thor in "Endgame", Peter accepts responsibility in the end and I loved that. He was going down a selfish path but then changed course to fix the mistakes he caused. I love the scene on the jet as Peter starts to take on a persona we thought was gone for good. I liked the mid-credit sequence (especially the cameo by an Oscar-winning actor) because it sets up the next "Spider-Man" film. It also mirrors the scene when Aunt May found out but I did not like the end credit sequence of "Far From Home". To find out that the filmmakers lied to us throughout the whole film felt like a betrayal. There is no problem with tricking us up until the climax but having the end credit scene provide a major revelation that doesn't even set up another film in the MCU felt somewhat wrong. I also have a lot of unanswered concerns that outnumber the amount I had after seeing the end of "Thor: The Dark World".

Just as "Homecoming" had the working title "Summer of George", "Far From Home" was called "Fall of George" during filming. All the returning cast members did their jobs very well because their characters underwent some growth and evolution. In the first seven months of 2019, Samuel L. Jackson appeared in five movies. Four of those films are in the superhero genre. Even though he had a small cameo in "Endgame", it still counts for me. Jake Gyllenhaal was also amazing but in a different way. I did not care for his performance in the first half of the film but the second half was so much better and this did wonders in supporting the story. One of my favourite characters in this film was Dimitri. His introduction and subsequent roles in the story were very funny. Director Jon Watts returns to direct this sequel and that was vital. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers were two of the screenwriters from the first film but have helped to pen "Ant-Man and the Wasp" as well as some other successful films and TV shows outside the MCU. For "Far From Home", they were the sole writers for the first time in their careers and also earned their paychecks in my opinion.

I wouldn't mind a third film but Marvel Studios had better make sure they get Watts, McKenna and Sommers to create it. "Spider-Man: Far From Home" was just as good as "Homecoming" and gives us hope that Phase Four will continue the success of the MCU. Some of the films announced do concern me but I will reserve judgement until they are released. I liked the story and the performances of the actors in "Far From Home". I mostly hope that Spider-Man will crossover into other upcoming films because Tom Holland was such a home run for this cinematic universe.

4 Stars out of 5