Spider-Man: Far From Home as the name suggests shows Peter Parker and his friends far away from New York on a class trip around Europe (namely around Venice, Prague, and London). Peter is still struggling to move on from Tony Stark‘s death (Just like the rest of us) and shouldered with the weight of taking over his mantle. But, this time around he just wants to be a normal high school kid and enjoy his summer abroad. Well… like they say, with great power, comes great responsibility and Spider-Man quite obviously cannot have a normal summer vacation.
Spider-Man is, after all, nothing but a teenager who’s trying to get through school. Should he or can he handle the weight of all the responsibility of saving the world? The 2.9 hours long movie is essentially an answer to this question.
I’m not going to lie, every time Peter was in a fix you, as a viewer you miss Tony Stark, just like he does. Enter, Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio. He’s no Robert Downey Jr. or Stark. But he’s a welcome addition to this world as the sensitive guide that Peter can’t find in Nick Fury. Throughout the movie, it isn’t the action that keeps you entertained, but the real storytelling through which Spider-Man has to choose between his normal teenage life vs the superhero life he has been thrown into. Like most Marvel movies the credit goes to the pacy plot twists and the very believable storyline. But it’s the climax that takes you by surprise. The mid-credit and end-credit scenes are a delight as usual.
Tom Holland is excellent as the highly intelligent but supremely scatterbrained Peter Parker/Spider-Man. It almost feels like he’s playing himself. So, does Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds aka “The Guy In The Chair” although he’s hardly in ‘action’ in this movie because he’s busy holding hands with his new found girlfriend. The highlight of this installment and the last one for me was how they treated MJ — the 2019 version of the demure Mary Jane is thankfully not a damsel in distress at all. She’s all about dark humour, sarcasm, and sly remarks and I love that, so does Peter. Zendaya makes the perfect MJ. Moreover, the chemistry between MJ and Peter Parker will make you smile. Jake Gyllenhaal might be new to this world, but he seems at ease as Mysterio. It’s really his character you want to look forward to. Apart from this, it’s Happy Hogan aka Iron Man‘s right hand you get to see a lot more in this movie.
While as a stand-alone Spider-Man movie it fares well, I’m not sure if it holds up after the Infinity and End Game wars against the mighty Thanos. But what it lacks in action it makes up in terms of pace. It is a must watch for MCU fans and uber-fun watch for noobs as well!
The movie is directed by John Watts and produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal. If rumours are to be believed there are nine more stand-alone Spider-Man films to go!
Rating: 3.5/5