Spider-Man: No Way Home – Film Review

Note: This is a spoiler-free review.

With Spider-Man’s (Tom Holland) 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 (Benedict Cumberbatch), the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Ever since I was a young kid, superheroes and comic book movies have been some of my favorite things to ever exist in the entire universe. I’ve read countless comic books, played numerous superhero video games and I’ve seen all the superhero movies out there.

When I was younger, my number one favorite hero was Batman because I absolutely loved his Rogues Gallery and I adored seeing his growth from Bruce Wayne into the dark and fearless Caped Crusader. But around the age of sixteen, I started to favor Marvel’s iconic Spider-Man a little bit more, mainly because of just how relatable he was to me.

Peter Parker is an extremely nerdy kid that doesn’t have too many friends and has a crush on a girl that he’s too nervous to talk to, and his life is troubled. Just when things start to look up for him, something truly terrible comes along to erase all the good he just felt. When I first watched Sam Raimi’s trilogy as a kid, I honestly felt like Parker and I were one and the same.

Over the years I’ve come to adore almost all of the Spider-Man films except for The Amazing Spider-Man films due to their abysmal scripts. As for Tom Holland’s solo films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)… well, I kind of love them. Homecoming isn’t marvelous or anything, but it’s a solid introduction for the character. Far From Home on the other hand is a staggering, bold, and different take on the web-head that features an end-credit scene that quite literally changed the game.

In it, Jake Gyllenhaal‘s Quentin Beck / Mysterio reveals Spider-Man’s identity as Peter Parker to the entire world and manipulates a video that seems to show Parker giving orders to “execute them all”, referring to innocent victims. Of course, that didn’t actually happen that way – Mysterio is the one that murdered innocents – but the world is fooled by this footage and now the public’s view of Spider-Man is nothing good.

In No Way Home, Peter’s life is immediately flipped upside down. He can’t even stay inside his apartment with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) anymore because helicopters constantly hover the building with additional press and media reporters stationed outside the door who are willing to wait as long as it takes for him to come outside.

He can’t even attend college with his friends because no college wants to be the one that enrolled an alleged murder into their campus and facility. This is when he turns to his old ally Doctor Strange for some existence, who tells him he can cast a spell that will make the world forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

Of course, seeing as how this is a blockbuster Marvel movie – and one that’s two and a half hours long – this isn’t as easy as it seems. The spell goes wrong and it ends up opening the multiverse, allowing villains from different universes to cross over into Parker’s universe. Now it’s up to him to fend for his life and do whatever he can to make it home, all while trying to erase his identity.

No movie has been hyped up this much since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and there isn’t even a shred of competition. Seriously. I’ve actually seen some people online who were more excited for this film than they were for the final chapter in the Avengers saga. No Way Home‘s director Jon Watts had some gigantic weights on his shoulders because this was never going to be an ordinary Spider-Man film.

Many people – myself included – were wondering how in the world Marvel would pull off such an ambitious film. Would the story be cohesive? Would this be a satisfying end to the Homecoming trilogy? Would the villains feel shoehorned in? Gratefully, I can assure you that whatever expectations you have for No Way Home will be surpassed when you go and see the film. This just may be the best film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s also the first film in the franchise to fully understand the character of Peter Parker. Far From Home is an excellent film and all, but it was definitely a bit frustrating to see that the writers were still hung-up on making this version of Parker so obsessed with following in Tony Stark’s footsteps. This, of course, led many fans to refer to Holland’s iteration of the web-head as “Spider-Boy” and “Iron-Boy”.

Why can’t we just have a film that fully understands Parker? One that puts him through the wringer and forces him to go through some major consequences to protect the ones he loves most? That film is finally here. No Way Home is without question the darkest film featuring the title character to date, and that includes the ones from decades past.

There were many plot lines and emotional beats in this film that truly took me by surprise in all the best ways. It was so satisfying to see a film featuring Holland’s Spider-Man that finally made his actions have consequences. Trust me when I say that there are a handful of moments that will come as a surprise to even the most veteran of movie-goers.

Holland delivers the best performance he’s ever given as Spider-Man / Peter Parker here, as well. He truly feels emotionally distraught this time around, and you truly feel for him in every single scene. This script asked a lot of Holland and yet he did everything he could to make this outing as Spider-Man his best. He succeeded.

And this time around, they finally made Zendaya‘s MJ a fully fleshed-out character that exists outside of just being Parker’s girlfriend. Much like Kirsten Dunst’s MJ in the Raimi trilogy, Zendaya’s MJ has hopes and dreams in this film that are clearly expressed. It was seriously wonderful to see her get a ton to do here, and it also helped that Zendaya was at the top of her game here, too.

Now, you’re probably wondering how the villains are in the film. I don’t blame you. After all, the moment we first saw Alfred Molina‘s Doctor Octopus in the film’s first trailer was so mind-blowing that it became one of the most talked-about movie moments of the year.

All of the returning actors that reprise their villainous roles do an absolutely spectacular job here. Molina gets a surprising amount of stuff to do in this script, and it was so nostalgic and exciting to see him back on the screen. But it’s Willem Dafoe who gets the juiciest role here.

Just like in the Raimi films, Dafoe delivers a darkly chilling performance and one that is sure to send shivers down your spine. Nobody delivers a terrifying and menacing line quite like Dafoe does. Jamie Foxx also returns as Electro, reprising his role from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – this time around, he’s not blue though. Thankfully.

He, too, gets plenty to do here which was great to see. Lizard and Sandman don’t have meaty roles like the others, but it was still super rewarding to see them back in action once again.

Talking about No Way Home without mentioning spoilers is hard, but don’t worry, that’s not going to happen here. But what I will say is that there are a couple of moments in this film that are certain to make you gasp and squeal with excitement. My theatre was erupting with cheers and clapping many times throughout, and it was a magical experience to simply be back in a theatre with a crowd that was just as excited as I was.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is an emotional gut-punch of a film, jam-packed with tons of goosebump-inducing moments that are sure to make the biggest fans of the web-head squeal with delight.