Spider-Man: Far From Home is the latest instalment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, directed by Jon Watts (who also directed 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming). It catches up with Tom Holland's Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, as he prepares to go on a school vacation after helping to save the universe in Avengers: Endgame. However, his holiday plans are thrown for a loop when elemental monsters the size of buildings begin to show up around Europe, alongside enigmatic new hero Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).I would like to start by saying that I don't envy Far From Home. It has the sorry job of following up both April's three-hour epic Avengers: Endgame and last year's spectacular, Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It has to not only measure up to the expectations left by one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but also to the ones left by one of the best Spider-Man films. It doesn't fully succeed at either, but it is definitely an entertaining film.
Jon Watts was widely criticised for his bland direction in Homecoming, and it feels like he's made a conscious effort to be more interesting here. In certain scenes, he uses a handheld camera rather than the usual Marvel Steadicam, and there is one (already well-praised) sequence relatively late in the game that is one of the most visually inventive I've seen all year, with a hint of the psychedelic visuals of 2016's Doctor Strange. I can't go much further into it without spoiling a major plot twist, but let's just say that you'll enjoy it if you enjoy creative film moments. Watts has still got a long way to go before he can match the directorial flair of some of his fellow Marvel directors such as Taika Waititi (and even longer before anyone could class him as having a distinctive style), but I appreciate the added effort on his part.
All of the performances are pretty good. Holland is as likeable as he usually is, Samuel L. Jackson (reprising his role as Nick Fury) has a lot of screen presence and all of the other bit players get at least a couple of good comedic moments, particularly actor/director Jon Favreau (who appears in a relatively larger role than he has in the MCU's past as former Iron Man supporting character Happy Hogan) and Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Peter's best friend. However, the standout is, as expected, Jake Gyllenhaal. He is one of the most talented actors of this generation and he is perfect for his role as Mysterio. Whenever's he's on screen, the film is always entertaining. Unfortunately, he is largely absent from the first half of the film.
The screenplay and editing really let this film down. The first act is weirdly fast-paced for no discernible reason other than to disguise the fact that not much is happening. I could basically sum up the first half in a sentence and it wouldn't even be a spoiler because it's all covered in about a minute in the trailers. Basically, Peter and friends go to Europe and although it doesn't take that long, a lot of time is still wasted. Other than a pre-credits sting, Mysterio doesn't show up until approximately half an hour into the movie, the first half-an-hour being taken up with high school comedy stuff. While Homecoming did an excellent job at seeding in superhero stuff among the comedy stuff, Far From Home appears to feel the need to carve out large portions of the film for each section, resulting in a narrative that does not flow well at all. Once the plot does kick in, though, we're 'treated' to several numbing, weightless action scenes that are not helped by the fact that you've probably already guessed the twist, which seems to think that it's a lot less obvious than it is and therefore takes ages to show up. The editing really doesn't help as the scene transitions feel a lot choppier than you'd expect from a $150 million blockbuster. On the bright side, the movie really picks up from the twist onwards and the rest of the film is funny, exciting and inventive.
I just really wish the whole film had been like that, because, while Far From Home is certainly a fun, engaging time at the cinema, it never quite reached it's full potential. A good comparison point is 2013's Iron Man 3. When faced with following up The Avengers (2012), Shane Black decided to deal with the way the events of the previous film changed both the world and its characters, which resulted in what is probably my favourite MCU film (a bit controversial, I'll admit). Far From Home attempts this, but while IM3 was a tightly plotted thriller with well-written dialogue, this falls apart in the writing. However, it is definitely helped along by entertaining performances and a good third act. Unfortunately, to dig into my specific positives and negatives on this film, I'd have to go into spoilers, so let's just say that while this is by no means a perfect film, it is an entertaining if slightly disappointing follow-up to Endgame.
Score: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
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