Spoilers ahead for "Avengers: Endgame."
This is the weirdest "Spider-man" film. On the most basic level, it's a teen comedy about Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his classmates going on a class trip to Europe together, and Peter having to juggle saving the world with keeping his identity secret and his plans to woo MJ (Zendaya). On another, it's about everybody dealing with the aftermath of the last "Avengers" movie, and filling the power vacuum left behind by the death of Tony Stark. And on another, it's about living in the era of Fake News and omnipresent social media, where illusions are constantly in danger of supplanting reality. There's also a lot of setting up for future Marvel movies, and a heavy reliance on elements from previous films.
It's too bad that the joint custody of the Spidey movie rights between Marvel and Sony went kaput, because it feels like Spider-man is being positioned as a central player in whatever the next phase of the MCU is going to be. Tom Holland continues to be effortlessly charming and fun as Peter Parker, and he's got a great supporting team around him. The parts of the movie involving Peter's friends and teachers are just as enjoyable as the parts involving him being a superhero. Ned (Jacob Batalon), Betty (Angourie Rice) and Flash (Tony Revolori) are back, along with a new rival for MJ's affections, Brad (Remy Hii). A lot of good comedy comes from the hapless Mr. Dell (J.B. Smoove), who is leading the class trip - or so he thinks. Happy (Jon Favreau) and Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) are also around to provide Peter some support.
A character who may not have Peter's best interests at heart is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who recruits him during the trip to battle Elementals, supernatural monsters that have crossed over from another universe. A man named Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) has crossed over with them, using advance technology to become the new superhero Mysterio. He befriends Peter and offers a sympathetic ear. And here's the part where I show off my nerdy bona fides and point out that Jake Gyllenhaal was in serious contention to play Spider-man a decade ago, and makes for a delightful new addition to the Marvel universe now.
As with the previous "Spider-man" feature, "Far From Home," this is a lighter, more kid-friendly outing. The characters bounce around the map to different European cities including Venice and Berlin. Peter gets to tackle a few classic spy tropes as he tries to keep his superheroing activities under wraps during the trip. There are a few dark moments, but they're brief and confined to dream sequences. There's a silliness to a lot of the action sequences, and even when the villains are at their most menacing, someone finds out a way to work in a joke or gag that diffuses the tension considerably. The pace is quick and there's always something interesting onscreen to look at.
However, "Far From Home" left me a lot colder than "Homecoming," probably because it is so frenetic, and juggling so many different things. I've gotten used to Marvel films feeling like episodic installments of a series, and "Far From Home" is good about actually progressing Peter's character development and marking the passage of time. However, it doesn't really deal with many big issues in any depth. Half the population disappearing for five years is acknowledged, but kept in the background. Much of the other fallout from "Endgame" is kicked further down the road. It doesn't look like we're really going to get into any of the thematic stuff Mysterio raised until next time.
I feel bad about complaining, because "Far From Home" is a perfectly good summer action flick that does exactly what it sets out to do. It puts Spider-man and Peter Parker in some new situations and environments, introduces some interesting new characters, and sells its spectacle while imparting a few good messages to boot. I'll be looking forward to the next "Spider-man," but hoping that film can just be a "Spider-man" film instead of the hodgepodge of Spidey one-shot and "Avengers" epilogue this often feels like. Usually MCU films focus on their heroes and save the wider universe tidbits for the credits sequences. "Far From Home" reverses this, and can't quite pull it off.
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