Based upon the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
Screenplay Written by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers
Directed by Jon Watts
**** (four stars)
RATED PG 13
"THAT'S how you make the movie!!!! THAT'S how you make the movie!! You do it like THAT!!!"
I practically shouted those words at full volume in the movie theater at the conclusion of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" (2004), a wondrous, dazzling experience richly filled with genuine excitement, pathos, and heart pounding romance, making it simultaneously a rarity in the comic book film genre while raising the bar for the genre as a whole. What Raimi achieved for my sense and sensibilities, was a film that harkened back to the quality of the big budget escapist films I grew up with during the late 1970's and the 1980's, when at their finest the stories were first and foremost, filtered through a collective of actors committed enough to make the most fantastical live and breathe purely and, most importantly, the special effects were a tool and decidedly not the engine for the enterprise. Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" was up to the minute in 2004 yet it almost felt like a throwback due to its utter lack of cynicism or any potential mercenary qualities of the type when you just know the filmmakers are treating you the viewer as product and not deserving of sharp, smartly executed entertainment.
Sam Raimi's film was a jewel during a period when superhero/comic book movies were not omnipresent and the ones that did arrive were usually not terribly good. Flash forward seventeen years to the present where superhero/comic book movies are omnipresent, the film industry, at last, having devised as to how these types of films can be made. Whether so many of these types of should be made with such breakneck frequency, especially at the expense of nearly any other types of movies that could be made, is an entirely different subject. But if you have been frequent visitors to this blogsite over the past decade, you will already know and understand my own sense of superhero fatigue.
With regards to our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, all of the sequels and reboots have almost exhausted me, yet none, save for Sam Raimi's overstuffed, chaotic mess that was "Spider-Man 3" (2007), have disappointed me. Surprisingly, just as I was about to throw up my hands with the notion of another Spider-Man anything, the character, as so winningly portrayed by Tom Holland, has been my absolute favorite incarnation of the character since he officially joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Yes, for all of this time and even with the terrific heights scaled in Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017) and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019), Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" was the gold standard.
Until now.
Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: No Way Home," the third solo entry in our hero's MCU adventures and 27th film in the ever expanding MCU overall, is superlative, spectacular, sensational entertainment. Grabbing the brass ring as previously attained by Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" (2018) and Anthony and Joe Russo's "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), the film is overflowing with storytelling invention and ingenuity, fueled by a narrative that honors fan driven nostalgia with dignity while also pushing our character into deeply uncharted territory, as foretold by the film's own title. Kaleidoscopic in scope yet never losing sight of the heart, soul and core of the characters, Jon Watts delivered a work that is downright sparkling for certain but most importantly, one that carries a profoundly effective emotional weight and resonance. As previously stated, for me, out of all of the Spider-Man cinematic adventures, for so many years, Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" was the very best. Jon Watts' outstanding "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is even better.
Opening at the precise cliffhanger moment which concluded the previous installment, Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: No Way Home" finds Peter Parker (Tom Holland) reeling from the shock that not only has his secret identity as Spider-Man been revealed to the world but he has also been framed for the death of Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) with blowhard...ahem..."newsman" J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) loudly calling for his head.
Now shouldered with the now constant invasive and unwanted attention which threatens to continuously upend his life, including his hoped for acceptance into M.I.T. alongside his best friend Ned Stacy (Jacob Batalan) and new girlfriend MJ Jones-Watson (Zendaya), Peter Parker pays a visit to his neighborhood superhero colleague Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) with a request: devise a magic spell in which the world can forget he is Spider-Man. But, wait...except for Ned...but uh..wait again... except for MJ...and what about Aunt May (Marisa Tomei)?
The fallout from this request and the interference into a dangerous magic spell, opens a rift within the Multiverse, making for an adventure even more fraught with dire consequences of the intimate and epic, threatening to leave Peter Parker in a world forever changed once more.
In the history of this blogsite, never have I revealed spoilers and I will continue that promise at this time, even though--and even after the film has existed in the world for only one week, at that--essentially ALL of the secrets have been released through a variety of sources including the folks at Marvel Studios. Regardless, I will not pretend that everyone interested in seeing the film has seen it just yet and I will do my very best to speak about my reaction without ruining any surprises.
What I can announce initially is that from its opening moments, Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: No Way Home" immediately takes flight. It had me firmly from the moment Spider-Man and MJ soared through the New York skyline with Talking Heads' propulsive "I Zimbra" pushing them along valiantly and the experience built upwards from that point, never letting up for a moment. As we have come to expect from a Marvel film, Watts has delivered a ravishing looking production, crisply written, directed and performed by the entire cast top to bottom.
Shifting to the cinematic universe populated by the characters and situations of DC Comics for a moment, earlier this year, I undertook the experience of watching "Zack Snyder's Justice League," the four hour Director's Cut of the original 2017 theatrical version as completed by Director Joss Whedon, and direct sequel to Snyder's "Man Of Steel" (2013) and "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice" (2016). It too was a resplendent production but as with Snyder's earlier entries, it was also a bombastic, bludgeoning one. An experience that was humorless, joyless and so pretentiously in love with its own magnanimous scope. Certainly, it was clear that Snyder definitely created exactly what he wanted to make and I cannot fault him at all for following his artistic vision. That being said, and despite some good sequences and performances, it again showcased everything wrong with comic book movies and definitely confirmed Martin Scorsese's commentary that movies of this sort aren't even movies but theme park rides.
Unlike that film, where every solution to a problem involves endless pummeling, carnage and destruction with a complete lack of consequence, I praise the Marvel films for their commitment to always strive to find the underlying humanity of their stories and characters. I understand that Zack Snyder is purposefully attempting to realize a certain Wagnerian spirit to the proceedings, treating these characters as modern version of the Greek and Norse myths. But a little of that goes a long way yet Snyder never seems to know when enough is enough and by the end, I simply do not care a whit about what happens to anyone.
For all of the impossible otherworldly content, consequences and humanity sit at the heart and soul of every single Marvel film, so much so that we connect not to the superhero incarnation but to their overall humanity. That is why we think of Tony Stark rather than Iron Man or Steve Rogers rather than Captain America and so on. Additionally, I have thoroughly enjoyed how events these characters experience only continue to reverberate from film to film. Nothing is forgotten or waved away, ad i doing so, the characters only continue to develop over time ensuring nothing remains emotionally static.
As far as I am concerned, Marvel has unveiled one tremendously successful year of new content that has expanded the post Thanos world of the MCU with purpose and the very humanity that has endeared audiences to these movies so passionately. With Matt Shakman's "WandaVision," Kari Skogland's "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," Kate Herron's "Loki" and Rhys Thomas and Bert & Bertie's "Hawkeye" for television and Destin Daniel Cretton's "Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings" for movie theaters, we are given the socio political, economic and even cosmic consequences of a universe readjusting to life and living post Thanos. We are also given the first shock waves of the splintering Multiverse and the fabric of time itself. But what pulsates most vibrantly is the human conflict as our characters struggle with grief and mourning, family conflicts, racial politics, deep regret and whether one is worthy of redemption regardless of how deeply one wishes for it, and finally, what is it that makes a hero and it is ever possible to live up to those qualities.
With Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: No Way Home," nearly all of those qualities are explored and examined with urgency and honesty. Yes, Watts continues to utilize his screwball comedy styled light touch but he has also raised the conceptual stakes for all of the characters as well as his own bar cinematically. It would certainly have been easy enough to give Spider-Man a new solo adventure that crackled and popped and be done with it. But, wisely Watts understands that in order for us to care, for us to want to take another ride that was worthwhile, simply being entertaining would not be enough. Watts accomplishes this feat due to the plot which does indeed include the Multiverse to a more explicit degree than seen before, yet that plot point is then utilized to plunge even deeper into the humanity of Peter Parker, his family, friends and even his enemies.
With his triumvirate of Peter, Ned and MJ, which always felt to echo John Hughes' trio of Ferris Bueller, Cameron Frye and Sloan Peterson, Watts has now deepened their bond with great emotion, this time echoing something much closer to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger on the hunt for Horcruxes as their circumstances have grown that much more dire, making their friendship and reliance upon each other more crucial. Aunt May is allowed to display previously unseen and deeper layers to convey a stirring moral fiber to great poignancy. And while I will neither confirm or deny the appearances of a collective of characters rumored to arrive within the film, I will say that everything that could have been simply been delivered as empty fan service, again has been superbly conceived, written and performed, ensuring that every character possesses a full purpose.
As previously stated, Jon Watts has more than performed his due diligence with realizing a new Spider-Man film that not only extends the narrative of our titular hero and the MCU overall but it is so much greater and exceedingly more profound and moving that it had any right to being. The larger themes of guilt, redemption, fate, destiny, purpose, consequences and what it means to be a hero or a villain, and are those titles more malleable than given credit for are all played out in an intimate fashion with an epic backdrop. Watts has even allowed his film the even grander opportunity to re-contextualize the Sam Raimi trilogy as well as the two unfairly maligned films from Director Marc Webb--"The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012) and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014). And still, with all of those conceptual spinning plates in the air, not even one of them falls to the ground for Watts' strict focus to the humanity of the story and characters made for a film that was surprisingly stirring and truthfully, I would even challenge Martin Scorsese himself to see if he could keep his eyes dry throughout.
A melancholic heart exists at the core of the entirety of Marvel Comics as our heroes and villains all shoulder considerable psychological baggage and damage and Peter Parker is of no exception, especially so as he still is a teenager. Without delving into spoilers, a line from David Bowie's seminal, iconic song "Changes" echoed in my brain often as I watched "Spider-Man: No Way Home," and it is as follows:
"So I turned myself to face me."
The level of self-analysis seen within "Spider-Man: No Way Home" exists to an unprecedented degree for a Spider-Man movie and in doing so, it is one that I found to be supremely soulful. I can think of perhaps four sequences in the film when Watts dials the pyrotechnics way down and allows the words, characters and emotions rise honestly, patiently, carefully and richly...and for me, tears absolutely flowed.
I have never seen Peter Parker as thoroughly as depicted here and Tom Holland reveals such grace, depth and vulnerability as he has never had to burrow as deeply in this role previously and he is equal to every moment given to him. By undergoing multi-levels of self exploration, so to speak, Peter Parker is ultimately led to achingly painful depths, losses and emerging more alone in the world than ever...which in turn makes for a riskier, most unpredictable future for the character and upcoming films.
We are really entering exciting times in the MCU based upon what has been released and revealed this year. Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is the fulfillment of promises made and challenges met as it represents Marvel at their absolute finest. For it is not about the costumes, the special effects and the excited set pieces as well crafted as they are. At their best is when Marvel focuses upon the people inside the costumes and capes, underneath the masks, the ones who wield the shields, hammers and powers as they all wrestle with the responsibilities given, mistakes made, defeats endured and how to rise again.
Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: No Way Home" rises exceedingly high.
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