by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor
Have you packed your super suit? Poor Peter Parker just wants a chance to chill with his best friends during his summer vacation. But when you’re an Avenger, nothing is that easy and there is no place in Europe far enough to escape the attention of super spy Nick Fury. Spider-Man: Far From Home has arrived, and with it comes the final installment in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Extremely Minor Spoiler Warning. If you’ve seen the trailers/commericals, you’re good.
It is the summer after The Avengers managed to reverse “The Snap”, which came at great personal cost. Peter Parker is still recovering from the trauma of that event and is still attempting to find a new balance in this new world. All he wants is a summer vacation free from superhero duties and maybe get the chance to tell a pretty girl how he feels. When Aunt May insists he needs to pack his spider suit, it seems inevitable things will go awry (and do they ever). Shortly after the trip begins, Nick Fury appears and Spidey becomes involved in a cross-European quest to hunt the Elementals wreaking havoc on various cities. The older Avengers are all unavailable (cue the hilarious scene shown in the trailers), and the only one who can help Spidey is Mysterio, a soldier from an alternate Earth. Nothing is going to be simple, and it is definitely not going to be a relaxing vacation.
In a crazy twist, almost all of the teens we remember from Homecoming also went missing during The Snap. Just kidding, this incredible coincidence is also incredibly transparent, but given the chemistry of the cast, it is hard to blame the filmmakers for not wanting to find a new group of friends. Zendaya returns as MJ, and once again does an incredible job at appealingly awkward teenage girl who is too smart for her own good. Jacob Batalan is back as Ned and is mostly entertaining when he isn’t part of cringe inducing couple scenes with Angourie Rice as Betty Brant. Their “relationship” is one of the few misses in the film, and both actors deserved better. Remy Hill and Tony Revolori round out the cast as romantic rival Brad and social media obsessed Flash Thompson, but neither have much to do.
It is also fun to see an adult cast have so much fun playing support to the teenagers. Jake Gyllenhaal is perfectly cast as Mysterio, providing the stellar follow up necessary to rival Michael Keaton involvement as The Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Martin Starr and JB Smoove entertain as hilariously beleaguered teachers/chaperones. Marisa Tomei as Aunt May and Jon Favreau as Happy are mostly focused on their own summer romance (and it’s kind of nice to see Favreau play a character who is actually dating someone his own age for once). Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill play true to type, and Hill actually gets to do something more than stand at a console this time. Tom Holland once again steals the film with an epic performance as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Holland masterfully channels his inner Parker as our hero is faced with the challenge of living up to the legacy of his fallen hero and the trials of being a teenager.
Aside from the well balanced story, the other key component that made Far From Home work so well as how they utilized Mysterio. Without spoiling the backstory, the special effects and general cinematic choices worked perfectly within the context of this universe. Bits and pieces of the Doctor Strange CGI concepts bled into this piece, which really helped to sell one of Spider-Man’s greatest characters.
Overall
Like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, there is a lot more going on that we could talk about, but it would spoil the impact of seeing it on the big screen. The trailers did a good job not giving away much at all, and fans will be impressed with the completion of this specific story in the Spider-Man Universe. Beyond the main story told in Spider-Man: Far From Home, this final installment in Phase 3 sets up come crazy things to come for our hero and the larger universe, so be sure to stay until the end of the credits.
ComicsOnline gives Spider-Man: Far From Home 4.5 out of 5 ways to perfectly wrap up MCU PHASE 3!
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