Movie Review: Spiderman No Way Home
January 4, 2022
Content warning/editor’s note: This review will feature spoilers for the movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Directly following the events of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” “No Way Home” deals with the aftermath of antagonist Mysterio revealing Spider-Man’s real identity as Peter Parker to the world.
The movie is a love letter to Spider-Man fans old and new across three generations of cinema and decades of comics. “Spider-Man No Way Home” takes great risks in its storytelling and allows for world-changing consequences that will affect the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for the foreseeable future.
The movie is jam-packed with several different characters, heroes, and villains alike. With this large of a cast for a solo film, it can risk taking the spotlight and story away from the main character (Spider-Man). An abundance of characters has ultimately been the problem with previous Spider-Man iterations. One of the issues people had with “Spider-Man Homecoming ” was the involvement of Tony Stark also known as Iron man and the role he played in Peter’s life. His involvement took the focus of the movie off Parker and onto Stark through a cohesive storyline that connected all the characters together instead of a free-for that doesn’t flow. “No Way Home” manages to have all these same characters, but the movie doesn’t feel crowded or overstuffed.
The reveal that has been anticipated finally came— all three Spider-Men teaming up to fight the villains that have crossed over into Tom Holland’s Spider-Man’s universe. The reactions in the theater were at par with or surpassing Captain America wielding Mjolnir in “Avengers Endgame”— when both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Macquire appeared.
The ending of this movie is one of the most permanent conclusions of any MCU film to date. The entire world forgets who Peter Parker is, the 17-year-old superhero ceases to exist in the minds of the people he loves; Peter does this to save his universe from tearing apart. The ending gives new meaning to the movie’s title “No Way Home” because Parker now truly has no way home.
This movie plays true to the Spider-Man theme of with great power comes great responsibility. This is very present throughout the film as we watch Parker try to balance his new life. His identity is now out in the open as Spider-Man and he desperately tries to get his old life back. He struggles to have it all and ends up losing everything he wanted to protect.
Tom Holland is brilliant as Peter Parker and Spider-Man in this film. He truly makes Parker his own in this movie, his performance was chilling and left an impression on viewers that they are unlikely to forget.
The most anticipated Marvel movie of the year, “Spider-Man No Way Home” swung into theaters on Friday, Dec. 17.
