It may have taken three movies to reach the climax of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man journey, but No Way Home delivers a heart-pounding film filled with heart, laughs, and a multiverse of action. Tom Holland proves that he can provide an emotional yet funny performance once again.
“With great power, comes great responsibility.”
My Peter tingle tells me that Spider-Man: No Way Home will climb the ranks of many Marvel movie lists. Take that from someone that isn’t really a fan of Spider-Man as a character. It wasn’t until Tom Holland put on the mask that I enjoyed a Spider-Man movie enough to watch it more than once (unless you count Into the Spider-Verse, which is my all-time favorite). The previous live-action films felt like something was missing. Lessons pivotal to Peter Parker’s character development hadn’t come to fruition yet. No Way Home finally delivers what fans were waiting for, and it’s done in a way that honors the last 20 years of the cinematic franchise.
Spider-Man: No Way Home started the moment that Far From Home ends, with the unmasking of Spider-Man as Peter Parker. Faced with the full force of the public eye on him and the people he loves, Peter decides to see if Doctor Strange can help him turn back time or at least help make life a little easier for him and his friends. After the spell goes haywire, members of the Sinister Six start appearing in their world (not a spoiler, it was in the trailer!). In true Marvel fashion, our villains lay it all out so the audience can empathize with them. Power is the true villain here.
MJ and Ned prove how valuable their friendship is with Peter time and time again. They play bigger roles in the No Way Home than they did in other films now that they both know that Peter is Spider-Man. It eases the tension and sneaking around from previous movies and allows the story to unfold in a way that showcases the importance of their friendship. They also happen to be some of the most intelligent kids in school, and that knowledge goes a long way.
Doctor Strange continues to be an arrogant jerk that rushes into things without thinking about them and then places the blame on others instead of taking any form of responsibility for his actions. Benedict Cumberbatch continues to nail the character’s flaws perfectly. He’s a character you sometimes love to hate.
There isn’t much more I can divulge without sharing spoilers, but I will say that the film has a healthy balance of character development from scenes filled with heart. Audiences will be laughing at the true Peter Parker wit that makes the character such a fan favorite. Even the action scenes deliver on a different level than before, and when you throw in so many supervillains with such great powers, you’ve got epic action that will leave your head spinning.
Make sure you stick around for two credit scenes, a mid-credit and after-credit scene. It’s probably one of the best after-credit scenes to date.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is in theaters on December 17. Make sure to see it in IMAX so you don’t miss all the details that sometimes get cut off in standard.
For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider–Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider–Man.
