SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Earlier this year, Marvel releases the final film in the Avengers franchise, Endgame. It was an emotional finale as viewers and fans of the franchise said goodbye to one of the most beloved superheroes, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), also known as Tony Stark. The sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming has recently been released and, because of Endgame, expectations were high for Far From Home. Fortunately, it doesn’t disappoint and succeeds as a follow-up to Endgame. However, because Far From Home includes references to the events of Endgame, it doesn’t work as a stand-alone feature so those going in without having seen it will be confused.

The story sees Peter Parker (Tom Holland) being recruited by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to face elemental threats from another dimension while he is on a school trip to Europe. After defeating one of the Elementals, Parker informs Fury that he just wants to live life as a normal teenager and enjoy his trip to Europe. He is more interested in becoming closer to MJ (Zendaya) than saving the world. 

While I liked Homecoming, I think that Far From Home is an improvement and is funnier and less predictable than its predecessor. Despite the events of Endgame and with the world mourning the loss of Iron Man, Far From Home has kept its lighthearted tone and is an overall fun and satisfying sequel.

Holland returns as Parker and delivers a strong performance. Despite insistence from Fury that he should help S.H.I.E.L.D defeat the Elementals, Parker just wants to live a normal life as a teenager and enjoy his school field trip. He shares chemistry with Zendaya, who improves on her portrayal of MJ after having a small appearance in Homecoming. Batalan is just as funny as Ned, who also finds romance with classmate, Betty (Angourie Rice). 

Gyllenhaal proves to be a welcome addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and leaves a lasting impression with his portrayal of Mysterio. While Mysterio is shown helping S.H.I.E.L.D defeat the Elementals in the beginning, it is soon revealed that he is the main villain. While I knew that Mysterio was the main villain, as it wasn't possible for it to be anyone else, I was surprised by his backstory, which explains that he was a former holographic-illusions specialist at Stark Industries who was fired for his unstable nature. Thisl leads to him and a team of disgruntled ex-Stark employees and using advanced projector drones to simulate the Elemental attacks. Gyllenhaal is known for his serious and dramatic performances so it was refreshing to see him take on a role as a villain in a superhero film.

While this year has been filled with superhero films, including Captain Marvel, Shazam!, Endgame and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Far From Home proves that audiences aren't suffering from superhero fatigue. While the story can be predictable at times, it's still fun to watch Spider Man in action and saving the world.

With most of the films in the MCU, Far From Home features two extra scenes that take place during the middle of the credits and after. Both are worth watching, especially the first one which features an unexpected cameo from J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, a reporter he portrayed in the original Spider-Man trilogy alongside Tobey Maguire as Spider Man. At this point, audiences believe that Spider Man has successfully defeated Mysterio but it's in this scene that we see that he made a video revealing Spider Man's true identity, much to Parker's shock. The post-credit confirms a fan theory regarding Fury. In Captain Marvel, Fury admits that if bread is cut diagonally, he can’t eat it, however, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he is seen eating toast that was cut diagonally which lead to fans wondering if he was actually a Skrull in disguise. The Skrulls are a species of aliens that first made their appearance in Captain Marvel and could disguise as humans. The post credits scene confirms this fan theory by revealing Fury’s true identity, which is Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). This lead to many fans wondering how long Talos has been disguised as Fury and I think that, after the events of Avengers: Assemble in 2012, when he knew the team was assembled, Fury took his skills to space and left Talos in his place. This post-credit scene both amused and impressed me as I didn't believe in the fan theory, however, I was proved wrong.

Creating a sequel that meets fans' expectations and matches the quality of its predecessors was always going to be a challenge, however, with Far From Home, director Jon Watts, who previously directed Homecoming, succeeds. It features everything fans could want from a sequel, including character development, thrilling action sequences, an interesting villain and a strong leading performance from Tom Holland as the titular web-slinging superhero.

8/10