At long last, Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters this weekend with multiversal threats from previous entries. As advertised, for some mysterious reason, villains from other dimensions such as Doc Ock and Green Goblin appear in the world of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and things get rather messy.
There is a lot happening within the confines of this epic third film for Tom Holland and crew. And similar to Avengers: Endgame, it feels like Sony and Marvel are doing a victory lap after a very complicated partnership.
But is the victory lap for the third film earned? Here is our Spider-Man: No Way Home review.
Spider-Man: No Way Home review
For Spoiler purposes, this review will try not to reveal anything beyond what is shown in the marketing.
The latest installment sees Tom Holland’s Peter Parker dealing with the aftermath of Mysterio revealing his identity to the public. The entire world knows his identity and the news is invading his home and public life from all directions. Not to mention, J. K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson is back to take down that menace known as Spider-Man.
Peter himself deals with it rather well despite the public hostility and the legal ramifications of his lifestyle, until it becomes an issue for those around him. MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) get tangled in the controversy just by being friends with Peter, thus putting their futures at stake.
And as seen in the marketing, Peter goes to Dr. Strange and begs him to make the world forget he was Spider-Man. Hilarious enough, because Peter is such an ADD personality, he keeps thinking of people he wants to remember him as Dr. Strange attempts a spell. And Strange’s aggravation is one of a parent trying to do work as their child keeps asking questions about the color purple.
In doing so, instead of the world forgetting Peter Parker as Spider-Man, Strange summons anyone who has ever known Peter Parker from other universes. Then, all villains from previous movies before Tom Holland’s Spiderman start randomly appearing everywhere.
And on that note, that is all we can say directly about Spider-Man: No Way Home without dropping huge spoilers.
It is not a spoiler to say this movie has surprises. Spider-Man: No Way Home will benefit from the audience respecting one another. And the film will be enhanced by seeing it with a group of Spider-Man lovers.
Those who cherish the moments that bring the cinema experience to life– such as Captain America summoning Thor’s Hammer– will go bonkers. This was a movie designed to be seen with others and the die-hard MCU addicts will not be disappointed.
That said, please do so safely.
The third entry also contains some of the best emotional performances of any of the Tom Holland films. Holland himself shows a lot of maturity in his role that can easily be compared to Tobey Maguire’s growth between Spider-Man 1 and 2.
While this movie brought back all the villains such as Electro, Doc Ock, and Green Goblin, it is Willem Dafoe who is just spectacular as he has ever been. His role as Norman Osborn is so impactful here. Dafoe loves playing this character and it clearly shows.
Many have pointed out that the film is crowded with too many characters. This is true but Spider-Man: No Way Home is proof that too many villains are only an issue if two things are present: 1) The screenplay is awful and 2) if a proper foundation for several villains has not been established.
Spider-Man: No Way Home benefits from having the old Spidey films to build from in the same way The Avengers was able to make a satisfying hero ensemble from a remarkable string of movies.
The lesson here: If Sony wants Spider-Man to fight Sinister Six, it needs to be built patiently with several movies.
One can argue, Spider-Man: No Way Home is heavy on fan service. One can also argue that was extremely clear from the marketing.
Should you watch Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters?
The keyword here is expectations. Readers who are aware of anything about this movie, just be aware it is exactly as advertised. This is a film aimed to make Spidey fans go insane. If fan service is something one finds bothersome, well, this is not the movie to watch.
At the same time, throw away any and all expectations and/or theories before entering the theater and just prepare to have a blast.
This is a well-earned victory lap for both Sony and Marvel and is the best of the Tom Holland Spider-Man trilogy.
For more Marvel coverage, check out our reviews of other MCU properties such as Black Widow and Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters everywhere starting tonight.