Review of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) by Yoshi8869 — 20 Dec 2021

I've seen this movie now twice, and I can safely say it's my favorite Spider-Man film. This movie had no business being this good. All it needed to be was a quirky introduction to the multiverse slathered with fan-service. Tom Holland could have just joked around with his buds and the movie would have made billions, and it would have accomplished what it set out to do. But instead, what we got was a slugger to the gut. One of the finest casts I've ever seen in a film with each one bringing their A game would have been enough as well (and we got just that), but NO. The writers decided to ALSO hit us with a death blow to Aunt May, fulfilled character arcs for several characters--in this universe and others--and the perfect conclusion to Tom Holland's Peter Parker trilogy wrapped in gut-wrenching depression with a tinge of bittersweet satisfaction. The MCU Spider-Man saga could have ended here and I'd have been blown away ultimately, but they still intend to do more with this character going forward: this poor, distraught, heroic, broken, courageous boy who sacrificed literally everything to be the hero the world needed in that moment. He carries the burdens of his failures into a world where no one else will have to face the ramifications of them but himself. I am still feeling pain for Peter, and I did not go into this calling myself a Spider-Man fan. This film has made me one, and I love it to my core.

What I liked most were the acting performances, most notably from Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, and Tom Holland (who has his career performance to date in this film). Andrew's Peter got a wonderful completion to his forgotten saga and Tobey's Peter is clearly arced during this film, and he plays the role of the elder Spider-Man excellently. I also loved the execution of Aunt May's death. They made her relevant in a believable way and gave her the end that would propel this Spider-Man into a league of his own. The thematic conclusion for Tom's Peter was the cherry on top of a bombastic, yet darker blockbuster epic.

The elements I was not a fan of, however, were the way in which the Spider-Mans were introduced, some of the villains having questionable motives, and the fact that I'm still nervous about what this does to the MCU as a whole, but probably only because I have no real idea where they go from here with Peter, and I have my concerns about what they might be gearing up to do, but I'll hold my breath until the next one. There were also some sloppy editing moments, especially in the final one-on-one fight with the Green Goblin. But ultimately I can look past a lot of the heavy CGI and excessive action-sequence cuts because there were far more strong suits, such as the CGI fight with Doctor Strange that had little to no cuts at all and was a beautiful sequence.

All in all, this was a spectacular film for what I went in expecting. Not a perfect one, but if you're expecting the Godfather, you're in the wrong theater. This is a fun, colorful, exciting, eventful, emotional flick that should have any moviegoer pleased with the result. Marvel still deeply cares about its work some thirteen years later, and that does put a smile on my cynical face. For me, it gets a 9.2/10.

FULL SCORE:

Production: 22/30.

--Acting: 8/10.

--Direction: 7/10.

--Crew/Effects: 7/10.

Story: 26/30.

--Plot: 9/10.

--Characters: 9/10.

--Theme: 8/10.

Immersion: 24/30.

--Soundtrack: 7/10.

--Visuals: 8/10.

--Style/Vibe: 9/10.

Personal Enjoyment: 9.2/10.

Analytical Score: 81.