Good evening, everyone. It’s time to talk about the last movie in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This movie is smaller in scale compared to what happened in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”. We definitely needed a break from the universe being at stake. We got that with “Spider-Man: Far From Home”. Directed by Jon Watts, this movie takes Peter Parker on a European adventure with his classmates as he tries to get over the death of his mentor Tony Stark. This vacation is ruined when he has to do his super hero duties as Spider-Man in a number of crazy shenanigans. With this introduction out of the way, let’s get started.
After the Sony and Columbia Pictures logos, we see Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) investigate the aftermath of an intense sandstorm in Mexico. During their trek, they see Quinten Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) cause more chaos. After that, we see the Marvel Studios logo while we hear Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You”. After the logo, we see a reminder that Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff are no longer with us. This is via a newscast from Peter Parker’s school. The newscasters say that it’s been 8 months since the Avengers brought everyone back from Thanos’ snap. We see footage of students fading into dust and then being brought back thanks to the Avengers 5 years later. After the newscast is over, we see Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) have a conversation with each other in a classroom. Peter tells him his plan to get together with Michelle Jones (Zendaya). Their talk is interrupted when she goes up to them. The room is decorated with a lot of Iron Man drawings (one of many reminders in this movie that Tony Stark is no longer with us). After school, we see Peter with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) at a homeless shelter for a charity event. This charity event is for the people that were dislocated due to the “Blip” (not that great of a name). After they get backstage, they see Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) come by with a big check. Happy tells Peter that Nick Fury has been trying to contact him. Peter then struggles answering questions from the press and other people about being the next Tony Stark and other topics. He gets out of the building and swings up next to an Iron Man mural. He gets back home and packs his things for his trip (after he gets his passport among other things). He intends not to bring his Spider-Man suit for the trip. Peter’s plan to sit next to MJ didn’t go as planned on the flight. Once Peter and his classmates arrive in Venice and he is going through customs, he sees that Aunt May gave him his Spider-Man suit anyway. Meanwhile, Ned hooks up with another classmate named Betty during this trip. We then see a montage of the class sightseeing around Venice, Italy. During this, Peter buys a special necklace for MJ. The good times are interrupted when a giant man made out of water (Hydro-Man) attacks the city and the civilians. Peter doesn’t have his suit, but he uses his web-shooters to help keep the casualty list small. He is not enough to stop Hydro-Man, but this “Mysterio” guy comes by to help stop the monster and save everyone. Later on in the evening, Peter and Ned are back at the hotel when, suddenly, Nick Fury shoots a tranquilizer dart at Ned to put him to sleep. After a conversation with the two of them, Fury leads Parker to meet Beck in person. Beck explains that these things are Elementals, who appeared from another dimension during the Blip. It is then explained that Beck lost his family in his alternate universe and is trying to eliminate the last monster: Molten Man. Molten Man is going to make an appearance in Prague, which is where Peter and his classmates (plus the two teachers: Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell) go next on the trip. On the way to Prague, Peter tries on some special glasses that Tony Stark gifted to him before he sacrificed himself in “Avengers: Endgame”. Peter inadvertently tells the AI named EDITH (which stands for “Even dead, I’m the Hero”) to send a drone to the bus to strike Brad Davis, who is also trying to hook up with MJ. Peter jumps up out of the bus and destroys the drone with his webbing. After that, the bus stops at a rest stop in Austria and Peter gets a new suit that is more stealth-like.
In Prague, Peter gets reprimanded by Fury for nearly putting his classmates in danger. Parker then gets consoled by Beck and gets ready for the mission at the Carnival of Lights. Peter then utilizes EDITH to keep his classmates away from any danger and sending them to an opera. Peter and MJ share some compliments before Fury tells Peter in his ear to get to his position. Peter leaves for the mission while the rest of them watch the opera. MJ, Ned, and Betty go to the carnival anyway. The Molten Man appears at the carnival and wreaks havoc. Ned and Betty are stuck on a Ferris wheel while MJ is on the ground level away from the monster. Peter (in his “Night Monkey” suit) and Beck both team up with their abilities to stop the monster while saving the classmates and everyone else in the process. Peter and Beck then talk with each other at a bar, even though Peter is not old enough to drink. During their conversation, Peter inadvertently gives the EDITH glasses to Beck and trusts him with the glasses. Beck reveals that it was an illusion and that he and his crew used to work for Tony Stark. One of his crewmen is William, who got yelled at by Obadiah Stane in the first Iron Man movie. After they all toast to their old boss, we see Peter back at the hotel. Peter and MJ then go outside to walk around the city for a bit. During this, Peter reveals that he is Spider-Man to her, even though she said that she figured it out. MJ found a projector during the Molten Man fight. The projector plays a video of Mysterio fighting a monster called Cyclone. Peter realizes that he made a big mistake in giving the glasses to Beck. Once they get back to the hotel, Peter changes into his Night Monkey suit and tells MJ and Ned that he has to go to meet Fury in Berlin. Peter tries to tell him and Maria Hill that it’s all fake, but Peter gets surrounded by Beck and his illusions. During this incredible visual sequence, Beck tells Peter that he should have stayed out of the way and that his friends are now in danger. Also, Beck reminds Peter that Tony Stark is no longer with us while we see a zombie version of Iron Man get out of his grave. The sequence is over when Peter gets saved by Fury, who turns out to be Beck in another illusion. Peter is led backwards and gets hit by a moving train. Peter survives that and sleep in it before waking up in the Netherlands. He gets out of a holding cell and borrows someone’s phone to call Happy Hogan. Meanwhile, Beck utilizes EDITH to bring the class to London with the plan to kill them on the London Bridge (plus become the “next Iron Man”). Once he lands the jet on a flowerbed, Happy is told by Peter to prove himself to be real. Happy then says that he remembers when Peter watched an adult film at the hotel in Berlin. That clue is enough to prove that Peter is actually seeing Happy and his jet. On the jet, Happy tries to stitch up Peter. Peter is told to relax, which is impossible due to Peter being stressed out about messing up big time. Peter and Happy then have a moment where they reminisce about Tony Stark and how much they miss him. After that, Peter makes a new suit thanks to the technology on the jet. Once they arrive in London, Peter dives off the plane to the fight. He knows that it’s all fake and a whole bunch of drones are creating the monsters. The classmates and teachers get out of the bridge just before the bus is destroyed by the chaos. Happy leads MJ, Ned, Betty, and Flash to a safe indoor space, but the drones are after them anyway. Peter uses all of his webbing before the final showdown, but he uses his Spider Sense (I don’t like “Peter Tingle” at all) to get past the drones (even in an illusion) and take down Quinten Beck. After catching another illusion that almost killed him, Peter takes the glasses back and orders the drones to destroy each other. Beck dies from his wounds and Peter’s friends are safe and sound. MJ and Peter (who is limping after the whole fight is done) meet on the bridge and hug each other. Peter’s gift to MJ gets broken, but she thanks him for it and they kiss each other on the lips. Everyone gets back home safe and go their separate ways. Ned and Betty break up with each other, but they might still be friends. Aunt May is relieved that Peter is back alive after the whole trip. Peter then finds out that Happy is dating Aunt May before swinging in his new Spider-Man suit to see MJ. Peter then takes MJ for a swing around the city that contains some craziness and some screaming from MJ. After the visual credits sequence, Peter and MJ land safely near Madison Square Garden. Breaking news plays on a big screen. NY1 reporter Pat Kiernan (that’s actually him) says that J. Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) of the Daily Bugle released a video of Beck talking about Peter Parker’s true identity as Spider-Man. Peter shouts out “WTF” before the credits roll (obviously cutting out the F part). After the credits, we see that Fury and Maria Hill are actually skrulls. Specifically, it’s Talos and his wife (who we last saw in “Captain Marvel”). The real Nick Fury is out in Space with other skrulls. After that, the movie is over and we wait for when we get to see Spider-Man next. A nice tribute to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is the last thing we see before the movie ends.
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” is an enjoyable movie. It had some great action scenes, great visual sequences, some funny moments, and some good emotional moments as well. It was definitely interesting that this movie takes place in several parts of Europe. A vacation was definitely needed for Peter to get away from the stress of being Spider-Man. Obviously, things didn’t go as planned and he had to save the day once again. The sequences with the different monsters (which are actual Spider-Man villains, including Hydro-Man and Molten Man) were well done and entertaining to watch. My favorite visual sequence is when Peter is in Berlin and he is trapped in Mysterio’s many illusions. Tom Holland once again played Peter Parker/Spider-Man very well. Jake Gyllenhaal was great as Quinten Beck/Mysterio. I enjoyed some of the stuff with the classmates and teachers. Mr. Dell, who was played by JB Smoove, was entertaining to watch during this movie. Like in “Homecoming”, I didn’t like Flash Thompson at all. In fact, he was more annoying due to him having the need to live-stream everything, even during the climax in London. I didn’t like Brad either (no fault to Remy Hii, who played him in this movie). I liked MJ a bit better in this movie, as she had some good comedic moments and some touching moments with Peter (Zendaya and Tom Holland are a great couple in real life). Nick Fury and Maria Hill were great to see as well. Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders have always played those characters well. I say the same for Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan and Marisa Tomei as Aunt May. Seeing JK Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson was awesome as he played that character in the Sam Ramie Spider-Man trilogy (which I will cover, plus the two "Amazing Spider-Man" movies before "No Way Home").
I still get a bit emotional when the movie shows reminders that Tony Stark is no longer with us in the MCU. From start to finish, there are many nods to Iron Man/Tony Stark from drawings on the wall in school to murals around the world. His presence is felt as Peter Parker is still feeling depressed about his mentor being gone and the pressure of living up to him. To be fair, nobody will be the next Tony Stark. There will only be one Tony Stark in the MCU. Robert Downey Jr. will always be Tony Stark in our hearts. What Peter Parker needs to focus on is to be the best Spider-Man that he can be. I also liked that they got William Riva from the first Iron Man movie (played once again by Peter Billingsley) as Beck’s assistant. Overall, I liked how this movie paid respect to the “Godfather” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Obviously, the worst thing that Peter Parker did in this movie was when he gave the EDITH glasses to Beck after they took out the (fake) Molten Man at the Carnival in Prague. I understand that he didn’t know that he was a fake at the time and he just wanted to go on vacation. He made the wrong decision when he realized that the piece that MJ grabbed was part of the illusion. Peter should’ve kept the glasses, inspected the room carefully, and then tell Fury and Maria Hill about the whole thing.
Overall, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is enjoyable for me. There were plenty of fun action moments, great visuals, and some funny moments. Looking back, it is my least favorite of the Tom Holland Spider-Man “Home” trilogy. Also, this movie should have waited another couple of months before it released. “Avengers: Endgame” was the ultimate conclusion to the Infinity Saga. This movie takes place 8 months after the events of that movie. Even releasing “Far From Home” in September would have been a bit better than releasing it in July for us to have a little break from Marvel stuff. Speaking of a break from Marvel stuff, that’s what I am going to take for the time being. The next thing that I will cover for my series of MCU posts is the first Disney+ MCU show: Wandavision. For now, it’s time for Green Bay Packers football. Stay tuned for my season preview post soon. Have a good night, everyone.
(Here are a couple of videos on this movie. The first is from How It Should Have Ended, and the second is a LEGO recap from Edbound. All credit goes to them.)
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