*MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT*
To say that I enjoyed Spider-Man: No Way Home is an understatement. I can honestly say, that I haven’t had a movie theater experience this intense since Avengers Endgame. So, with this in mind, was Spider-Man: No Way Home a perfect movie? No. Was it a good Spider-Man movie? Yes. The movie goes above and beyond to satisfy the fans in interesting and unique ways by bringing back fan favorites from past iterations of the series, while giving us such a unique and interesting story that only builds up Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in a magical way.
The movie starts off right where Far From Home left us. Peter Parker’s identity as Spider-Man is revealed to the world, causing some complications in his personal life. High school isn’t the same. Some view him as a hero while others call him a murderer for killing Quentin Beck aka Mysterio. The lives of his friends Michelle and Ned are also being affected because they are having a hard time making it into a college of their choosing all because of their association with Peter. Since all these repercussions have come to fruition, Peter decides that he needs help from one of his buddies, Doctor Strange. He figures there must be some way to reverse this. Doctor Strange helps Peter by casting a spell that is to make everyone forget that he is Spider-Man but while Strange is casting his spell, Peter changes it constantly because he wants a few people to still remember him. Strange messes up the spell but contains it just enough for things to not get so out of hand. That mistake though ends up bringing back villains such as Doc Ock and Green Goblin from the past Spider-Man movies. The multiverse starts colliding into itself essentially so Peter is told to find the “guests from the other universes” so that they can send them back. Peter later learns that the villains that came through all die at the hands of Spider-Man in their own universes, so Peter decides there must be a way to help them so that he can save them from this fate.
I’m going to go ahead and get this part out of the way. Yes, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker’s do make an appearance in this movie. They show up in the third act and their interactions with Tom Holland’s Peter was beautiful. Here you have 3 different men playing the same beloved character that generations have grown to love. They are all different and unique, but at the very heart of their characters, they are all similar. They want to do what’s right and have sacrificed so much in order to protect the ones they love. They are self less despite their tragic losses and hardships. Yes, this was fan service, but fan service for the sake of telling such a bold and different story doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. This is fan service done right. Not only were they used incredibly well in this story, but they also added even more depth to their own versions of the character. I cannot praise enough how happy I was to see them all serve an actual purpose in the story, and that their scenes together made so much sense given the context of what’s going on, while also adding so much charming moments. I really do believe that fans of Tobey, Andrew, and Tom will come out of this movie with a gigantic smile on their face. There is one particular moment in that final scene where they all group up and take on the villains together in such an epic moment, all suited up and web swinging, working together and lifting each other up when needed.
Let’s talk about the villains now. Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina steal the show. Green Goblin was always menacing, but seeing Willem’s face going absolutely bonkers when the goblin takes over was so much fun! You can tell Willem had an absolute blast too. We are reminded how iconic his portrayal of Norman was and Willem did not skip a beat. Same goes with Molina and his Doc Ock. It’s as if there was no time wasted since the last time we saw these guys. Jamie Foxx wasn’t too shabby himself and was more interesting in this film than when he was in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I really do feel like all of the villains had a great story arc that was wrapped neatly in a nice package by the end of the film. We get to spend more time with them as Tom Holland’s Peter Parker does his best to help them out. You would think that with this many characters to juggle it would be a problem, but honestly, it was done so well, I cannot complain.
Overall, Spider-Man: No Way Home spends so much time bringing us all the parts we love about Spider-Man to life and by the end of it all, solidifies Holland’s Spider-Man with a a satisfying trilogy that has us wanting more. The storytelling isn’t perfect and a bit shaky at times, but it has so much heart that more than makes up for it. Tom Holland brings so much emotional depth and growth in this movie, and drives home the fact that he is now part of Spider-Man’s legacy. This movie also did a great job of getting me super hyped for Benedict Cumberbatch’s new Doctor Strange movie which will be coming out soon. No Way Home offers many surprises and throwbacks from past Spider-Man movies that will make most fans happy and at the end of the day, this is a very good Spider-Man film. Beautiful moments are a plenty here, and this movie does truly feel like a love letter to all the Spider-Man fans out there. If you can watch it safely in a theater, I highly suggest you do.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters
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