Spider-Man: Far From Home

“I think Nick Fury just hijacked our summer vacation.”

Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4

Spider-Man: Far From Home is the latest Marvel film. It was directed by Jon Watts, once again. This time, Spider-Man is far from home because his class goes on a field trip to London. Mysterio, Nick Fury, Ned!
There will not be any spoilers. So, the trade off is a vague review. However, it is public knowledge at this point that Tony Stark is dead. Peter is tired of being a hero and just wants to be a normal kid. However, the public expects him to be the next Iron Man.

The best aspect of these Marvel films is that there is always a meta narrative to most of them. There is always a continuation of "the larger story" in the Marvel universe, but allows the hero to grow individually, apart from the other heroes. And that's what this film does.

Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio is fantastic. Details about him won't be said. However, he and others had a clever purpose in the film. Most of all, its just great seeing a brilliant actor, like Gyllenhaal, in a Marvel film. However, it felt like characters, similar to Gyllenhaal in the past, were far more fleshed out in a more efficient way.

The first act of the film is very slow. Nothing really happens until half-way through the film. During the first half, lots of John Hughes- High School drama segments are included. A big issue, that is worth noting in this film, is its use of comedy to bypass oddities in storytelling. I am very critical of this aspect because comedy is often used to distract the audience from issues with a film. There were many times, one scene in particular involving a train, where something outrageous happens and we're in a different location. Then that whole segment is solved by telling a joke. It is then never mentioned again. It felt like when Black Panther "died" then came back to life three minutes later in 'Black Panther.' This film feels a lot like treading water. The subplot of choosing between the girl and the hero life feels so banal with Spider-Man and 'Spider-Man 2' executed it far more superior with better style.

However, this is a cute film that revolves around relationships and does a fine enough job at being its own thing and executing old ideas with new direction.

Rating: See It

-Nolan