We’re finally here, the “real” conclusion of Phase 3 of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe with Spider-Man Far From Home.
So my overall thoughts… with SPOILERS from the start.
When I first came out of the cinema, I felt the first half
was quite slow (and I was surprised how little costumed Spidey was in it),
however I absolutely loved the second half, for me it’s really once the
Mysterio twist happens (and Jake Gyllenhaal lets loose with his insane acting)
that it all comes together. The action also get more intense and much more
inventive as a result.
Let me expand on that, so the first half felt a bit clunky
for me – it’s a lot of set-up that jumps around and there’s no real Spidey
action, there is a cut scene in the trailer where Spidey takes on some thugs in
a restaurant and I think the film could have really benefited from that being
included. I get that from a time perspective, it was probably edited to get the
European trip started as soon as possible, but seeing Peter / Spidey in New
York before leaving would have been a nice contrast, and I can’t imagine it
would of lasted more than a few minutes anyway. Jon Watt’s said that sequence
(together with Peter getting is passport for the trip) is completed and will
feature on the blu-ray as short film. Hopefully there’s also an option to
incorporate it within the actual film.
A few other things, I didn’t really gel with how Nick Fury
was acting, he seemed overly aggressive and short with Peter, which just seemed
off to me. Now seeing the final post-credit scene and the Skull reveal it makes sense, however on a first viewing it
wasn’t working for me so I kept questioning it. Likewise, with Quentin Beck /
Mysterio, anyone whose read the comics know there’s a twist coming, so again
all the Mysterio scenes early on I was second guessing.
It’s also just really odd to see a Spider-Man story that’s
not set in New York, again I get why the studio wanted to do something
different, but Spider-Man swinging in Manhattan is so intricate to this
character / story that when it’s not there, it feels odd. In fact the final few
moments of the film, when we see Spidey swinging through New York made me
realise how much I’m dying to see the Tom Holland version of Peter Parker /
Spider-Man actually have a film set in the city of New York (Homecoming was
very much in the suburbs).
So that sounds like criticism, but it’s really not – it’s
just for the first hour of the film I was thinking this is “ok to good,” but
then the 2nd half really kicks into gear and I absolutely loved it.
The film really changes the second the Mysterio reveal happens, Jake Gyllenhaal
performance (which had been played very straight until this point) immediately
transforms and becomes a hell of a lot of fun. His Mysterio is pitch perfect,
and one of the best comic book villain adaptions brought to the big screen.
Also, once the trickery involved in Mysterio’s schemes are
revealed the encounters with Spider-Man become a million times more inventive
and exciting (probably another thing that bothered me about the first half is
that fighting giant CGI monsters just isn’t that exciting). The main illusion
sequence is absolutely breath-taking, so many inventive visuals. Skeleton Iron
Man…?
Tom Holland continues to be the perfect actor to balance
both Peter Parker / Spider-Man and he again delivers an amazing performance,
with all the supporting cast (especially MJ and Ned) being just as great as
they were in Homecoming. Like I said earlier, I had some issues with Sam
Jackson’s Nick Fury, but that’s somewhat acknowledged by the post-credit scene revealing
it wasn’t really him.
From visual effects / action perspective, this is all great,
but again the 2nd half is just so much better, the sequence in
Venice has a few dodgey digital double shots which pulled me out of the moment,
but once we get costumed Spidey fighting the real Mysterio it all just comes to
life. The London sequence is also spectacular – absolutely loved it.
On that point, I loved how the Mysterio illusions were
created in the context of the universe and call backs to earlier MCU films, to
show all this tech already existed in some form. A mix of holograms and drones -
really clever stuff.
There’s been a lot of marketing talk recently from Marvel
Studios head Kevin Feige about how Spider-Man Far From Home is the “real”
conclusion to Phase 3 of the MCU and caps off Avengers: Endgame, however
originally it had been positioned as the 1st film of Phase 4. Now
having seen it, it most definitely feels like a film that is kicking off a new
Phase of the MCU, obviously there’s threads from Endgame (the impact of the
snap and Tony Stark’s death are central story elements), but Endgame felt like
a conclusion. FFH feels like set-up, it even ends on a literal cliff-hanger for
peeps sake!
On that point I have no idea how the third film is going to work
based on that ending! I could see how the (re)introduction of J Jonah Jameson
and then the framing of Spider-Man for Mysterio’s death was going to play out
in a very traditional way for the character, but to have his secret identity
revealed when he’s still a school kid?? Part of the fun of Spider-Man stories is
the dynamics and challenges he has in his personal and superhero life, I can’t
see how that can still happen now. As Spidey said “What the F?!.”
So, with all these movies I’ve got plenty more to say, but
think that’s enough for my review now. In summary, I really liked to loved this
film (especially the second half), it’s probably not as high on my list as
Homecoming but it’s still one hell of Spider-Man film. I definitely want to see
it again, as a lot of my issues with the first half were explained by the end,
but for a first viewing experience it probably influenced my feelings more than
it should.
Irrespective, it’s still one of the best Spider-Man movies ever
made.
Side note - on reflections there’s also quite a few
similarities with Iron Man 3 (however I think Far From Home is a much stronger
film!). The main being… the hero is dealing with the aftermath of a huge
crossover event, he’s also taken out of his local setting for majority of the
film, the main villain has a twist reveal, and our hero is rarely in his
traditional costume until the 3rd act of the movie. Not that this
really means anything, but just an observation.
I think there is an argument or theory that the film was cut intentionally to fit the whole of the first 3 phases in 3000 minutes. I love you 3000.
ReplyDeleteAs for his identity reveal. It has happened before in Spiderman comics and also for a much older spidey in Civil War series. Interesting to see which way Marvel/Sony go to resolve this problem for Peter