Spider-Man: No Way Home

 

FINALLY. Spider-man No Way Home was one of the greatest movies I watched this year. It was the fan event of the year for sure. I think this is more than just a movie, it is the movie to really bring people back to the movies, back to normalcy. I saw this movie twice and I wish I had the chance to see it one last time before Ontario closed the theaters again, but what can you do. The hype for this movie reminded me of the good old Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame days. It was so exciting and easily one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. What I really love about the Spiderman movies is that it brings people who may not have seen any other Marvel movie to the theater. People who may have no idea what has happened leading up to this point, but will still go and enjoy the movie.




Big Spoiler alert on this post. If you haven’t seen it you need to watch it without it being spoiled for you. I know that is the hardest thing ever for movies like this but trust me. If you live in Ontario where theaters are closed I truly feel the pain. I like to think Marvel fans are pretty respectful when it comes to these movies. I usually race to see Marvel movies on opening day and this time around I couldn’t watch it for two weeks. I could not go on any social media. I have never cared so much if or if not a movie would be spoiled for me in my life. So once again, don't continue if you have not seen the movie. 




This movie is a lot. It was honestly a bit overwhelming there was so much going on at once. They used everything they could have in this movie. I have never seen a movie with so much fan service… and honestly, I am not mad about it. They knew their audience and they delivered what the audience wanted. I loved it and they really made a movie that's made for fans. 




I love how they brought back the villains from the past Spiderman films and honestly made them better than before. I was worried at first when they were going to have all these villains just because it reminded me of the original Spiderman 3. Which is an epic disaster, that will forever be a cautionary tale for how to end a trilogy. Knowing Doc-Oc, Green Goblin and Electro were coming back you kind of knew that Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire were coming back but to see it unfold on screen was unreal. I am still not a big fan of Tobey Maguire's Spiderman films or Tobey’s portrayal of Spiderman in general but the villains from those films are really great in comparison to the villains from Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spiderman. I like how Tobey’s Spiderman is like the old man of the group, I found him having back issues and Garfield’s Spiderman having to help him out a really funny scene in the movie.




I think this really was the redemption film for Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman. I would love to see him come back again and play the character. He is so much fun and I think it saves his whole arch. One of my favourite scenes in the whole film is when he is first introduced in this movie and MJ starts throwing bread at him and gets him to crawl on the ceiling. They had a lot of freedom to improvise and try things out which is just really fun for a movie of this size. Things like the “I love you guys” scene and when they're all doing the pointing meme. It just looks like it would have been a really fun movie to film.




I really liked the addition of Doctor Strange to the Spiderman movie universe. I like how in each of Tom Holland’s Spiderman movies he has someone to kind of watch over him and be a mentor to him. In Spiderman Homecoming it was Tony Stark, in Spiderman Far From Home it was Fury (and could count Mysterio for a little bit there), then in this one, it was Doctor Strange. What was different this time was how Peter takes control of his mess and forced Doctor Strange out. I really like their dynamic and it reminded me a lot of Peter and Tony’s relationship.




Some of the scenes in this movie broke me they were so sad. When you have gotten so familiar with these characters you feel a connection to them and you don’t want anything bad to happen to them. Bring tissues. As fun as this movie is it can also be so sad. 

For the past couple of years since the last Spiderman movie really, I have felt more disconnected from these movies that I once loved so much. Even though I have loved a lot of the stuff they have produced recently, shows like WandaVision and Loki and then movies like Black Widow and Shang Chi. I think for the movies that have come out recently it still didn’t bring me back to the good old Marvel days just because it wasn’t that full theatre experience like in Avengers: Endgame and Spiderman Far From Home had but obviously, this was pre-pandemic. So for me, this really was THE movie to bring me back to the movies and back to Marvel. I also hated Eternals which worried me about the future of Marvel but this movie was like redemption to me.




I could probably go on to write like a thirteen paged essay about this film and really break everything down as my friends and family would know but I think that is all most people can handle of me talking about a movie. I love this movie, I think it is great for people who haven't seen every Marvel movie or even every Spiderman movie, and can still understand the story and enjoy it. I find a lot of Marvel movies require a lot of background knowledge but when they have made 26 movies (27 if you include the Incredible Hulk) plus their tv shows and the Sony Spiderman movies, its just too much for people to get into Marvel at this point in the game. That’s why I think a movie like Spiderman is a little more universal, you can watch it and enjoy it and you don’t need to watch everything out there. Should you watch everything Marvel has ever made. Yes. Yes, you should, it is an amazing franchise but that’s a case for another day. I hope those who saw the movie enjoyed it as much as I did and the rest of the world. If you have made it this far and haven’t seen it. Go see it.