Spider-Man: Far From Home

“Spider-Man: Far From Home,” released a little over two weeks over, is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to give everyone a look at what goes on after “Infinity War/Endgame” where half the population faded away from existence for five years. It goes down from the large action moments we’ve lately seen and focuses more on Peter Parker living up to the expectations that is given to him, both as a high school student and as the superhero Spider-Man. While the film starts off a little slow, “Far From Home” gives some of the most surprising moments the MCU has seen as it delivers the grand power and delight.

After helping to save not only the world but the entire universe from Thanos, Peter Parker, reprised by Tom Holland, could use a break from the entire superhero business and takes a much needed vacation to Europe with his classmates as part of a summer program. Unfortunately, world ending dangers don’t stop happening and before he gets a moment to rest, Peter is given a mission by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Marie Hill (Cobie Smulders) to fight a new enemy, the Elementals. The two superiors have also enlisted technological genius Quentin Beck aka Mysterio, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal’s brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, to help fight these new dangers. Matt Rodriguez said in his review, “As Spider-Man becomes to go-to superhero following the death of Iron Man, Peter wonders if he’ll ever live up to the expectations of Tony, and looks to Beck for guidance.” So much for the relaxing vacation Peter was asking for, right?

Rodriguez mentioned, “Right off the bat, Spider-Man: Far From Home addresses the fallout from Thanos’ snap, referred to as ‘The Blip’ in the MCU.” Aunt May, reprised by Marisa Tomei, has set up a foundation to help those hurt by the Blip re-adjust to life again as they’ve been disintegrated for five years while everyone else has gotten older and moved on. It’s a nice little story that sets the mood of a post “Endgame” world. From there we see Peter Parker trying to just be himself. This is pretty much the average high school life like hanging around with best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and working out a plan to tell MJ (Zendaya) he has a crush on her while in Europe. Rodriguez notes, “The first act is all pretty low-key stuff, but it works as it reveals the mindset of Peter.” Despite being to outer space, disappearing because of Thanos, and saving the world, he’s still just a teenager and has lost his mentor Tony Stark.

For fans that follow the comics or have any familiarity with Spider-Man characters, it can be a little slow with the way the film is set up. Rodriguez admitted, “It’s easy to see what direction Far From Home is going with its story, at least in the first half, so I will admit there is a lot of just waiting for the story to get there. I’m actually very curious to see how people who absolutely no knowledge of the comics react to the film. In this case, I believe the less you know about everything the better off you are.”

However, once “Far From Home” takes off in the second act, it doesn’t slow down at all. Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic as Quentin Beck and Mysterio, giving some of the most memorable scenes in all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rodriguez said, “It’s difficult to talk about them without going into spoilers, but I will just say that prepare to have your mind blown and turned upside down.”

Rodriguez continued, “The more I think about Spider-Man: Far From Home the more I dig the film.” Yes, the first half is a little slow and boring, but without it the second half wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying. Also, there are a lot of great touches, like how much Peter goes through after Tony, that really position the film after the huge hit of “Endgame.” Rodriguez ended his review by saying, “Even still, the film has some pretty big consequences to close out Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I couldn’t be more excited to see where Marvel Studios goes next with Phase 4.”

Spoiler alert: in the mid-credits scene, reporter J. Jonah James of The Daily Bugle, reprised by JK Simmons, blames Spider-Man for the Elementals’ attacks, broadcasting videos of the incident recorded by Beck, who blames Spider-Man and reveals his secret identity. In the post-credits scene, the Skrulls Talos and Soran are revealed to be disguising themselves as Fury and Hill the whole time, as commanded by the real Fury, who commands a Skrull spaceship.

I think this is better than “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” with a great cast, writing, drama, comedy, action, horror, twists and characters. If you haven’t seen this yet, see it. I would be really happy if they continue with Tom Holland as Spider-Man, just so we can see other villains that haven’t been shown in movie format, which are a number of them. See this in the theaters if you haven’t because it is a must. Hands down, this is one of the best summer movies that came out this year, and another one of my favorite comic book adaptations.

Thank you for joining in on tonight’s review, stay tuned next Friday for the finale of “Jack Ryan Month.”