Spider-Man: No Way Home (Spoiler Free)

Details: Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jaime Foxx

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 17, 2021

Quick Note: This review contains nothing about the movie that has not already been revealed by the trailer. If you've somehow managed to avoid every trailer, poster, and interview regarding this movie then good for you, don't read this review. Since I can't talk about anything plot-related for this movie, the review might be a bit vaguer or shorter than usual but in the coming few days I'll release a full, in-depth, spoiler review.

Review: Ladies and gentleman, arguably the most anticipated movie of the year has finally arrived. 2021 has been a treat to Marvel fans with content galore ranging from movies to TV shows. For me at least, a majority of this content has been underwhelming, at least with the movie department both with the Eternals and Black Widow. The 2021 track record of mediocre marvel movies, combined with the overwhelming hype and conspiracy theories revolving around NWH made me even more nervous walking into the packed theater. Luckily, I can confirm, No Way Home lives up and exceeds the hype. Not only is this the best movie of 2021, but it's also one of the best Spider-Man movies (a little bit below Into the Spider-verse of course) and without a doubt a top 2 Marvel movie of all time. Jon Watts really outdoes himself with the careful construction of, what's essentially a love letter to the character of Spider-Man. Purely looking at the movie on a technical level, Tom Holland as Spider-Man is amazing. This is the best I've personally seen him not only as Spider-Man but just as an actor in general. The movie can get surprisingly dark and emotional at times and Holland really sells the emotional gravity of the movie. One of the biggest improvements No Way Home had when it came to the overall development of the character of Spider-Man is that this is the first time Tom Holland actually felt like Spider-MAN. Before, he always seemed a bit too childish with the way he looked and the way he acted. The lines he gave, the delivery of those lines, and the actions Holland's Spider-Man did felt too kid-like. Like, I get he's supposed to be in high school but every time he's on-screen homie's acting like he's 12 years old. With No Way Home, Holland's Peter Parker actually deals with some of the darkest stuff he's dealt with since Infinity War. He finally feels like a somewhat mature Peter Parker without losing the classic Spider-Man charm. With that being said, in classic Marvel fashion, there are definitely tonal inconsistencies. For the life of me, I can not figure out why Marvel insists on having a joke every 5 seconds. Don't get me wrong, a lot of them work really well, but sometimes when there's a dark moment carrying some sort of emotional weight, Marvel has to put some sort of joke that takes the audience out of the experience and undercuts the entire emotional gravitas of the scene. Someone I'm not seeing get talked about enough is Zendaya as MJ. NWH really focuses on cultivating the romantic relationship between MJ and Peter which is sold really well by Zendaya, causing the audience to really care about their relationship. With that being said, if I had to pick an MVP of the movie in terms of acting it would one-hundred percent go to Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin. Don't get me wrong, Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and Jaime Foxx's Electro both are really entertaining and well done but nothing tops Green Goblin. I didn't do what many Spider-Man lovers did and watched the previous movies with Tobey Macguire and Andrew Garfield, so I hadn't actually seen Dafoe's Green Goblin in years. But seeing his initial appearance in the film and every appearance after brought me goosebumps. Even Doctor Strange was surprisingly good in the movie. I don't know why but based on the trailers I thought Doctor Strange wouldn't have too major of a role in the movie as he actually ended up having. He's in the film for a considerable period of the two-and-a-half-hour run time. With that being said, Watts does a great job letting the audience know that this is a Spider-Man movie, not an MCU Avengers-esque movie. Even with the lengthy run time, NWH never drags or feels boring. One more little gripe I have with the movie is the plot. There weren't any gaping plot holes or anything like that but it definitely is 80% fan service. The way I'll put it is if you were to go into the movie with it being your first-ever Marvel movie or even like your first Spider-Man movie, you won't have nearly as much fun as other fans are having. As a stand-alone movie, it's barely a top 10 superhero movie, but as a fan of Marvel, superheroes, and Spider-Man, this is easily one of my favorite superhero movies of all time.

Star Rating: 9/10

Final Thoughts: Packed with nostalgia, fan service, and great acting from everyone involved in the movie, No Way Home is easily the best MCU Spider-Man movie as well as one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen.