Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) | Movie Review
Good morning ladies and gents of the X-Army, I hope each and every one of you are good. It’s been a hot minute since my last post and for that I do apologize. Today I will be diving seep into Tom Holland’s potentially final film as Spider-Man and the next phase in a sense in the MCU, Spider-Man: No Way Home. So without further ado, let’s jump right into the review.
Plot |
With Spider-Man’s identity now revealed, our friendly neighborhood web-slinger is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life as Peter Parker from the high stakes of being a superhero. When Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Cast |
Kicking things off with cast of this film, we have the headliner himself in Thomas Holland reprising his role as Peter Parker. His identity has been revealed by the previous villain Mysterio and must somehow find a way to reclaim his life back while trying to live a normal life. Next up we have the awesome sidekicks of Peter in MJ and Ned who are portrayed by Zendaya and Jacob Balaton respectively. In the film they are tasked in helping Peter clear his name and fix the issues with the villains coming into their universe. Next Up we have Marisa Tomei who reprises her role as Aunt May. In the film she tries to convince Peter that doing the right thing, despite how difficult they may be, is what having great power comes with. Great power comes great responsibility anyone? Anyway, she tries to make Peter fully understand why his powers matter and how far he can go.
Coming up next are the villains in Max Dillon, Norman Osborn and Doctor Octavius played by Jamie Fox, Wllem Defoe, and Alfred Molina respectively. Other villains include The Lizard who is played by Rys Ifans and The Sandman played by Thomas Haden. They are brought into Peter’s universe and mistake that universe’s Peter for their respective one trying to take their revenge against him. Rounding up the cast we have Benedict Cumberbatch reprising his role as Dr. Strange. He aides Peter in his desire to make the world forget he is Peter Parker, but ends up making the villains of the other version on Peter into their universe. Finally we have the two most obvious inclusions in a film that I knew would happen before the “spoilers”. We have the GOAT in the form of Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield coming back to play their respective Peter Parkers. In the film they bring much maturity to current Peter and makes him understand the meaning of his powers from their own experiences. Wow, what a cast.
Set-Pieces |
The first set-piece sees Peter in the form of Spider-Man in the city with his true identity being revealed to the public. He is accused of killing Mysterio and is now public enemy number one by public opinion. His life is then changed for every with everyone fearing and trying to use him for clout. The second set-piece sees Peter being frustrated with the constant threats to his friends, family, and himself he ventures to the lair of Dr. Strange to seek his help. He explains the situation to Dr. Strange and he is at first reluctant to help, but seeing that Peter is indeed just a kid needs help. He casts a spell that would make everyone forget who Spider-Man is, but Peter constantly changes his mind causing a disturbance in Dr. Strange’s casting. Strange is forced to cancel the spell, but the damage has already been done. The third set-piece sees Peter having been rejected by his colleges of choice, ventures to find the recruiter of his desired school leaving New York upon Dr. Strange’s request. While finding her vehicle to plead his case he encounters Doc Oc who mistakes him for his Peter. Peter thwarts Doc Oc with nano technology and sends him to Dr. Strange’s lair. Which is what he has to do for all the villains plaguing his universe.
The fourth set-piece sees Peter capturing all the villains, along with Dr. Osborn who seems to having a depressive episode, mentions to Dr. Strange that he can potentially help them change. Dr. Strange refuses the request and informs Peter that they are villains and have to go back to their respective universes to prevent further issues to their own time. Peter refuses and ends up fighting and subsequently trapping Dr. Strange in the mirror void. Peter then takes all the villains to his safe house where he goes to keep his word of helping them. The fifth set-piece sees Doc Oc finally silence the tentacles’ voices his head which results in him having full control of his suit. In the shadows the Green Goblin resurfaces and foils Peter’s aim to help them all. The villains escape into the city for their own goals, Peter is left to fight the Green Goblin. The fight results in Aunt May being killed in due to a goblin bomb. This results in Peter’s grief and now seeks revenge for his aunt’s death.
The sixth set-piece sees Ned and MJ messing with Dr.Strange’s magic ring to find Peter after the group split. They end up finding the other universes Peter and asks them to help their Peter fight the villains they are more familiar with. The group finds Peter and consoles him on his loss. While there Peter talks to the other Peters to forge a plan of attack. Everyone heads back to the lair form the perfect strategy and decide to go at them one by one. The seventh set-piece sees the Spider-Men having difficulties taking on the villain due to them not being in sync with each other. The come as a collective and form a better course of action. One by one the villains are taken out, leaving the Green Goblin as their final opponent. Current Peter charges at the Green Goblin with the aggression of an army of men and beats the crap out of him. The other Peters sees current Peter taking it a bit too far, intervenes resulting in Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man being stabbed by the Green Goblin but luckily no serious harm was done. They cure the Green Goblin with an injection to reverse the goblin serum, resulting in everything calming down.
The eighth set-piece sees Dr. Strange seeing that other Spider-Man villains are trying to enter our universe. Peter has to accept that his original spell of everyone forgetting who he is is the only solution and he accepts. He says his goodbye to both Peters and his friends. The spell is a success and all the villains trying to enter the universe are gone, the other Peter also go back to their universe, but everyone forgets who current Peter is and that he is Spider-Man. The final set-piece sees Peter approaching his friends who now have no clue who he is and is reluctant to make them know who he is. Leaving them to live their respective lives without him. Time goes by and he pays respects to his Aunt as her grave and finds an apartment in the city. Bringing us and the story to where we are more familiar with where Peter Parker is in life. Thus potentially ending a solid three part movie.
Conclusion & Rating |
This movie was a wonderful conclusion to Tom Holland’s role as Spider-Man. I felt sad when I was younger when Toby left the role, but seeing this guy play the role was a privilege as a fan. The movie itself was okay. It made me realize that Peter Parker really is a child and his decision making really threw me in a bit of a frustration fit as an adult seeing these dumb things being done. Somehow it worked in the end because if the choices weren’t made we wouldn’t have seen Andrew or Toby. A wonderful adventure, great conclusion, a solid MCU style movie with this being the conclusion to this phase. I give it a solid 4.5 out 5. Worth the watch massively.
Guys thank you so much for checking out my review of Spider-Man: No Way Home. I hope you get a chance to see the film yourself and experience it. Please stay tuned for more content and stay safe out there. I will do my best to do more movie review with the time I now have. Anyway guys, Take It Easy!
Originally published at http://xagonspeaks.wordpress.com on December 17, 2021.
