‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ Review: It’s Not Looking Good For Our Hero

Spider-Man: Far From Home serves as the epilogue to Avengers: Endgame. For the millions of fans who wanted to know what happens next after the brutal battle with Thanos — and the losses from that battle, this is that story. It also answers some long-time questions from the MCU, as it wraps up Phase 3, and kicks off the next phase of the Marvel Studios films.

“The snap,” as it was called, is now known as “the blip,” as the folks who died returned five years later, impervious to anything that happened while they were gone. For some survivors, the five years changed them as they aged, so the return wasn’t clean and smooth for everyone. The effects of the blip weigh heavily on the story in Spider-Man: Far From Home, particularly for one character, and serves as a motivator for many of the events that occur in this film.

Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) also has his life irreparably changed by the end of the story. And not in a good way. So, in many ways, Far From Home is less a transition film and more of a kick-off to the stories that Marvel Studios will be telling for the next few years. And all I can say is poor Peter.

The main story of Spider-Man: Far From Home opens with a recap of all that we lost, and then quickly gets going on its plot. Peter (Holland) and his science class are preparing to go to Europe for a science trip. Pete has a plan to woo MJ (Zendaya), and his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), tries to talk him out of it. Ned has the romantic notion of two American bachelors loving their way across Europe, but Peter’s mind is made up: he’s in love with MJ.

Spider-Man: Far From Home continues to play up the high school comedy bits that made Homecoming so enjoyable, and director Jon Watts seems to be a master at making all this work. Laugh-out-loud moments occur, as all of Peter’s plans go sideways, but none more than when a water “monster” appears in Venice, as does a new hero, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). Suddenly, the fun and games are over, and this high school comedy remembers it’s a superhero movie.

Peter finds himself sucked into a plot to save the world after Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) recruit him to partner with Mysterio. But all is not what it seems, and Peter finds himself against a mastermind that can change reality, causing new problems for our hero.

Spider-Man: Far From Home does an admirable job of tying plot points from so many previous Marvel films together, all the while still creating new stories from which the series will build on going forward. In fact, when the Marvel movies eventually end, Far From Home will be looked at as an important piece in the greater story. The script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who return from Homecoming, deserves all the recognition for this.

Trust me, by the time the second post-credits stinger runs, this whole universe — and Peter Parker, in particular — are in for huge wake-up call. Speaking of, the mid-credits scene is only the second time in all these films where I audibly cheered. As in, I shouted at the movie screen. You’ll know why when it happens.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is a great and welcome addition to the Marvel films, and its importance can be felt as the film goes on. With Iron Man now gone, the door is open for Marvel to make Spider-Man the alpha hero he should be, and with Holland under the mask, and excellent, talented creators like Watts, McKenna, and Sommers, I can’t wait to see what happens next. And for Peter, it’s not going to be a good time.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is rated PG-13 and is in theaters on July 2, 2019.

All images courtesy of Sony.