I’m a firm believer in not watching movie trailers. They so often reveal THE ENTIRE three acts of a movie in less than 120 seconds to the point that there are no surprises left. Watching movies become a lot less interesting as a result.
Why is why I like to go into a movie blind; the less I know, the better. I find the viewing experience of any movie to be tremendously better this way, and Spiderman No Way Home is no different.
“Strong enough to have it all, too weak to take it!”
But there is one thing I did get spoiled on beforehand: green goblin making a comeback. What I didn’t know was how much of a central part he had to play; dude was the film’s main antagonist.
William D̶a̶G̶O̶A̶T̶ Dafoe makes a return as Peter Parker’s main adversary, again, nearly 20 years after his first appearance. Dafoe was at his menacing best, he goes straight into my Top 3 MCU villains. Really good choice to let goblin use the hoodie more instead having his face covered up by a helmet; he always seemed like he would make a good Joker and this is probably the closest we’re going to get.
Turns out ALL villains in this movie were characters we’ve seen before on the big screen. Electro, Sandman (who is remarkably just as forgettable as he was in Spider-Man 3), Dr. Connors and Doc Ock. And therein lies the plot of the movie: Doctor Strange messes up a spell — in large part due to a teenager not getting admission into his preferred college — resulting in opening up the multiverse.
“With great power, comes great responsibility” — Aunt May
I was convinced Aunt May had split in two after Green Goblin’s glider had accelerated towards her at full pelt. But then she just…got back up???
Tom Holland’s Spiderman gets his Uncle Ben Moment; compared to the previous two versions, Aunt May’s death definitely hits a lot harder since we’ve known her for considerably longer (5 movies!!) by this point. She has been a rock, Peter’s constant pillar of support that he could always rely on. A huge character moment. Just as Peter reached his lowest point, he got a visit from a couple other Friendly-Neighbourhood-Spidermans…
When Ned opened the portal the first time I thought to myself, “Why does Spidey look a little different”: more hunched, taller and the eyes were bigger. A millisecond later my brain’s light bulb turned on; they really did brought back Andrew Garfield.
I remember when Into the Spider Verse was released people were saying stuff like “Wouldn’t it be cool if they had gotten Tobey Maguire to voice the older Peter Parker?” That would have been beyond amazing, but also seemed nigh on impossible. How often does an actor reprise his role decades later? But that’s what this movie sets out to do, making the impossible possible.
I’m so glad this movie didn’t just shoehorn-in both Maguire and Garfield; they could have made them appear for a few seconds and then leave which would have been a bummer. They were ACTUAL supporting characters in the final act of the movie and played a pivotal role in Holland’s Peter Parker character development.
The scenes where all three Spiderman interacted with each other were a 10/10 every single time; their chemistry was fantastic.
“Are you going into battle as a cool youth pastor?” — Peter 3
Tobey will of course forever be my favourite Spiderman — mostly for nostalgic reasons. His story probably doesn’t really need a follow-up, a little snippet we got was that he’s now happy with MJ, which is fine by me. Just the very fact we got TOBEY MAGUIRE to put on the Spiderman suit again was a miracle in itself. But the real star of the comeback kids: Andrew Garfield.
I love how Andrew Garfield seemed so happy and enthusiastic in reprising his role as Peter Parker; it felt like watching a fanboy living his dream. It’s a shame his Spiderman movies weren’t amazing (pun intended), through no fault of his own mind you. He is undoubtedly a great actor, but talent and an insanely good chemistry with Emma Stone can only go so far with a bad script. This movie is of course Tom Holland’s Spiderman story, but Garfield outright stole the show. The “stopped pulling my punches” line he had contained so much weight in so few words, referencing his struggles after Gwen’s death. With that backstory, him flying through the air to save MJ was my favourite scene from the movie.
Now that the MCU has firmly established the Spiderman Multiverse, how awesome would it be if they did a standalone Spidey flick in Garfield’s Peter Parker universe. There’s still a story to tell with his character, I don’t need a whole trilogy or anything crazy like that, even a limited series on Disney Plus would go a long way towards tying up those loose ends. Not something that Andrew Garfield needs, but deserves. Here’s hoping.
My issue with Tom Holland’s Friendly-Neighbourhood-Spiderman from the beginning has always been how not neighbourhood-friendly his Spiderman is. Devoid of an origin story, thrown straight into saving the universe mode with The Avengers in a high-tech suit is cool and all, but it feels like a totally different character. Turns out the WHOLE TRILOGY was his origin story, and only now is he becoming a small time superhero. Absolutely wild; I love it.
This movie somehow elevated all previous Spiderman movies in its own way, it was a lot fun and the 2hr30min runtime went by real quick. I definitely left the theatre with a smile on my face.
I give Spiderman No Way Home an A.
