Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

[Travesty]

Well, yeah, there were some jokes that fell totally flat. Hell, I think the first act wasn't great, and most of the jokes were bad in it, but the 2nd and 3rd act more than make up for it. I don't think the movie is perfect, but I liked it quite a bit. I enjoy the MCU, so if you're on of those people that hates it, this wont sway you. This is still very much an MCU movie.

And as much as I don't like the "Iron/Stark Spidey" of the MCU, by the end of this movie, you see that we'll start to see a more traditional take on Spiderman, which I'm definitely looking forward to.

[The Dark Knight]

Holland's fast talking, excitable routine is grating and I don't connect with him in the same way. When the other two appear, even though their scenes aren't all that numerous, they show him up effortlessly. But he's the actor who will hold the record for film appearances. Whatever happens next, the guts of his Peter are hollow.

His Peter hasn't struggled financially - he's lived in a rich world. That's highlighted again when Peter and May move to a skyscraper apartment which is given to them on a platter. He hasn't been a middle class kid from Queens. We had Hollandman adoring Tony Stark, with nothing concrete said about Uncle Ben. Now May will be his Uncle Ben influence. Obviously you can have more than one inspiration, but it feels messy and writing on the run to me. May's death also was fumbled, I felt. It didn't hit the emotional highs it should have. It was more awkward than anything.

I also think the movie is too long. They could've cut half an hour or so to move things along, because I was thinking "get on with it already" quite a lot. The movie has some nice scenes but I don't think they are allowed to simmer. They just happen and then the MCU tone continues onward. I say thank goodness Tobey and Andrew made their films when they did. There's a deeper sense of authenticity with them.

[The Joker]

SPOILER REVIEW


Alright. First off, I'll say that I enjoyed this for the most part, but knew exactly what it was going to be walking in. It's a Disney MCU movie, and as a consequence, as the great Martin Scorsese would say, it's a "theme park ride" than an actual movie. Has been the case for quite a long time now, and that's what NWH delivered. It's not "Gone with the Wind", it's just a ride. Nothing more, nothing less.

Kinda similar to "No Time to Die", NWH is a film that honestly doesn't stand on its own two feet outside of being a Franchise Film. Sure, I appreciate the Cinematic Event nature of it, but NWH is NOT my favorite Spider-Man film.

With Disney, and their hardened core of supporters that rave about every single MCU flick that comes down the pike (Eternals proves there are exceptions I guess .. hooray?), I would have been surprised if this wasn't being touted from the onset as the "Bestest EVAR!", but it is what it is. Tune that crap out, and just go in with what you already should painfully be aware of as a formulaic MCU movie with heavy nostalgia from NON-MCU movies. With that, I think it's enjoyable, but that's not exactly high praise either. All that said, it's hard to deny that the movie is special in a unique way. That can't really fade even after the hype dies down and people become more critical.

With the film itself, NWH definitely has a lot of FFH DNA that I REALLY could have done without. I tried to give Homecoming a shot, didn't care for it. Only watched it once. FFH came out a few years ago, had absolutely no interest in seeing it in the theaters, and only eventually saw it (even reluctantly) after a bud got it on blu ray. Watched it one time, and once was more than enough. So yeah, all the FFH stuff wasn't doing anything for me, but timeline wise, NWH is taking place directly after that movie, and it's ramifications on Stark Industries trusty ward.

Now, parallel my thoughts with Disney's version of Spider-Man to Raimi's version, and it's night and day. The Raimi trilogy for me were the Spider-Man movies that worked well, even the worst of it, mostly stemming from Spider-Man 3 is somewhat held in high esteem these days and not just through internet memes, and/or nostalgic enjoyment. As as I mention in my Ghostbusters Afterlife review, you can really tell when the filmmaker and people involved actually give a damn about the material, and not just doing it for ill intentions, or warping the character and supporting players to better fit a pre established notion/universe. Or worst yet, forcing them to fit their own ideological purposes.

In retrospect, I think the ASM movies with Garfield was a mixed bag, but I believe the first ASM movie was made with at least some focus and heart. Which was a far cry from the unfocused mess of ASM2 (bouncing back and forth between the ASM1 approach, and Raimi's take), but that first Andrew Garfield movie, especially in my own personal comparison with the two movies that came after it (Homecoming and Far From Home), it's alright. I've grown to be much more accepting of it.

Holland's movies I just don't have much reverence for, and as a repercussion of that, I wasn't really invested in his scenes when watching NWH. It just didn't do anything for me, cause I had already mentally checked out on Holland a long time ago. I understood Disney's version of Spider-Man wasn't "my" Spider-Man, so I just let it be. There's plenty of people of like this take, and that's great. Nothing wrong with that. I just decided to bow out a long time ago.

Having said all of that, the Raimi films are pretty consistent with character and continuity, where the MCU take just clearly isn't. Take "Michelle Jones" for instance (who apparently does have the last name "Watson" but doesn't want to go by it for some unstated reason), she does relatively ok in NWH, emulating the kind of "Mary Jane" that's a little bit more faithful in spirit to the comics' "MJ". In NWH, Michelle plays, essentially, an unwavering pillar of strength for Peter. Which, needless to say, is a VERY far cry from the constant snark and condescending person she was in Homecoming and to some lesser extent with FFH (from what I can remember). It's pretty much like all those traits have completely disappeared from this "MJ" in NWH. Despite there not being a time jump whatsoever from FFH and NWH. Inconsistent? You bet, but again, it's MCU. Go figure.

Contrast her with the appearances of Garfield and Maguire, and they're more decent. The movie continues to move at a break neck pace when introducing first Garfield, and then Maguire's Peter Parker/Spider-Man into the MCU Universe, and as a consequence doesn't honestly carry the weight one would naturally expect, but it's pretty much in keeping with the stylistic approach the movie as a whole chose to take. So, yeah. In how Tobey and Garfield are introduced in this doesn't really feel out of place. However, once Tobey and Garfield return, the movie decidedly becomes less about Holland, and more about the novelty spectacle of having all three Spiders-men in one movie. Which was the big selling point of NWH, and to which each getting their big "moments". Holland dealing with the death of AILF May/putting the plan into motion of getting to save all the villains, Maguire coming across as the experienced/wiser Spider-Man out of the three and stopping Osborn from getting impaled by the Goblin Glider (again), with Garfield taking solace in that he does save the girl this time. BTW, Mary Jane Watson from the Raimiverse, and Gwen Stacy from the Webbverse do actually get mentioned in this, so that was nice.

With the villains, I was pretty much OK with how they were represented. Course, Alfred Molina returning as Doc Ock, and William Dafoe reprising the Green Goblin were the undisputed highlights, and had the most characterizations out of the bunch. Both really are definitive in their roles, and I think that will last for some time to come. The fight sequence between Doc Ock and Peter Tingle was a highlight for me, and although I didn't particularly care for Ock getting nerfed by the nanobots towards the end of that sequence, I did like how absolutely vexed and authoritative he came across towards everyone before he got cured. Even snapping, and being dismissive of Osborn a few times. With Dafoe's return as Gobby, I would say he came across a much more of a threat than either Keaton's Vulture, or Gyllenhaal's Mysterio ever could have hoped to be (I was legit curious how much he was putting on between Norman's personality and that of the Goblin persona). Evidently, Norman is indeed aware of his son Harry's ultimate fate, that was a interesting character moment for him. Which was kinda reflective, in my mind, of when Marvel decided to bring Norman back in the comics during the mid-late 1990's (following Harry's death). I also thought it was kinda amusing that Norman was the one helping Stark's #1 guy with the antidotes where I would think Doc Ock or even the Lizard were more likely better candidates for such a task, and thus better suited, than the industrialist minded Norman Osborn. Course, as pissy as pre-cured Doc Ock was, and ominous the Lizard was conveyed as, I guess Norman came across as the lesser of those two evils...

Anyways, DAMN it was good to see those two back!

With Thomas Haden Church returning as the Sandman, and Rhys Ifans reprisal of the Lizard, I was actually surprised they had as many scenes as they did. I assumed that their roles were going to be absolutely minimal, with very little dialogue, but both do get their moments. With the Lizard, I think probably his best piece of dialogue was when he made the omnious offer to Electro about upgrading him. For anyone who's seen ASM, you know exactly what he's implying there. Sandman, has the better arc between the two, and is very much the character that departed from the end of Spider-Man 3 when he's initially re-introduced in NWH. I didn't really care for the fact that Sandman remains as a sand like being even during scenes where he's obviously relaxed, but that's not surprising considering how he was coming across during all the advertisements and hype surrounding the film. Church himself does actually appear near the end, which was nice. It was good to actually see him without the CGI sand form for a few moments.

As far as other villains go, Venom from the Raimiverse, and Rhino from the Webbverse actually get shout outs, so that was pretty cool. Would have loved hearing about a Bruce Campbell/Mysterio and John Malkovich/Vulture from the Raimiverse since we unfortunately never got to see that, but oh well.

Electro's presence really doesn't make any sense, but whatever. The rule in NWH, is that the villains got transported to the MCU because they know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man regardless in which universe. That's how I understood it. However, this plot point is contradicted by Electro when he decides to remark that he thought Spider-Man would be Caucasian. Indicating he had no idea that Andrew was Spider-Man in their universe.

Another thing I felt was "off" was that apparently everyone but Harry Osborn knew Norman was the Green Goblin and killed himself with his own glider? Interesting. Again, NWH is entertaining, but it's in spite of the script. As far as the fates of the villains, I assume that the Raimiverse/Webbverse remains intact with Tobey and Garfield returning to their respective places in the multiverse as is, with the reformed villains going off into alternate but very similar timelines ... otherwise it would get incredibly messy, extremely fast.

With the "Brand New Day" inspired plot element of EVERYONE forgetting who Spider-Man is, really felt a little weird considering what I just watched in NWH leading up to that point. Peter Tingle was an absolute emotional wreck when AILF May got killed; needed his close friends and 2 other Spider-Men from alternate universes for support. Even still, he's shown to be on the verge in committing cold blooded murder during his fight with Gobby, but suddenly he decides that he will go with the vigilante thing all alone from now on. Suuureee. Ok. Yeah, from even semi realistic perspective, I see THAT ending well. You bet.

Also, if Peter Tingle talked to "Ned" and Michelle, even if they reject what he's telling them, at least the germ of the idea gets planted in their head and they may come to terms with it later. But no, the somber ending is clearly what they wanted, and that's what we got. 

Speaking of messy, the mid end credit sequence with Tom Hardy's Venom felt just as weird as it was when he got transported into MCU-Disneyland at the end of Venom 2. I think I remember Hardy's Venom mentioning something about the symbiotes having a hivemind in Venom 2. The implication being that Venom is aware of things across the multiverse. Which is a very fast and loose explanation of how he "knows" Stark's ward when he saw him on tv at the end of Venom 2. Presumably because Hardy's Venom has the same knowledge the Raimiverse Venom had.

Ultimately, NWH felt like a spectacle of a soft reboot, with a less than stellar script. Complete with at the conclusion, we have Holland sans Stark nanotech suit to a more traditional homemade suit that's more comics-accurate, but boy-oh-boy was this ever a convoluted way of getting there. The MCU "humor" is ever present, and doesn't really land. Even at the screening I attended, the chuckles and laughs were far and few in between. With most attempts of joking falling absolutely flat. It would be nice if Feige and Alonso would finally scale that crap back, but they must find it to be a crutch of some sort? Who knows.

Overall, I'd give NWH as a piece of entertainment a 8 out of 10. The story is decidedly flawed, but it's a extravaganza of visuals. I'll give a ranking of all Spider-Man movies later, but yeah, my preconceived notion about this being the better out of the MCU "Spider-Man" hot-takes was absolutely correct thankfully.

I don't think the NWH movie we got was the best possible version of this story and I'd still edit the script if I could, because there are some obvious GLARING plot holes, but at the same time, I'd say it's actually okay to give a film like this a little leniency, imo. I tend to overthink things a lot, but this isn't your typical film. Innovation and pioneering will earn you the occasional hall-pass. In this specific case, it's more like: turn off your brain, turn on your heart, and just enjoy it for what it is; a spectacle of a ride.

[The Dark Knight]

I won't repeat what I've already said. I'll now focus on what I liked.

As someone who initially resisted Andrew Garfield because the Raimi series was cut short, let's just say he should still be playing Spider-Man. He's really good here. His rescue of Tom's MJ is possibly the film's best moment, and really caps things off for his run, even if it's a small moment. He carries emotional baggage, which gives his incarnation depth.

Some leaks suggested the world would still know Tom's identity by the end. So I'm glad it was forgotten. That's how it should be, while also getting to explore what such a catastrophic occurrence would be like for the man and his family at the start of the film.

Tobey is pretty much exactly how I'd expect him to be at this point of his crime fighting career. He's visibly older and wise. Walking around in normal clothes but with his suit underneath, pointing out how securely he protects his identity. He's always been a shy, good but quirky guy, so that translates really well as someone older. I'm glad he worked things out with MJ because that gives stability in his life.

Tobey stopping Tom from killing Goblin was in character. He doesn't want his counterpart to blacken his soul, especially for someone who will be sent back to his timeline death anyway. The speeches Tobey and Andrew give Tom are standout moments too. That's the heart and soul of the character right there. It was good they recreated the three Spider-Men pointing meme too.

Goblin and Ock are very good in this. Dafoe and Molina step back in like no time has passed at all. Dafoe's voice and facial expressions scream demented villain, and he still hands out beatings. Ock referring to the power of the sun in the palm of its hand during his first scene was excellent. Strong continuity, with the viewer knowing it's very much seconds from his death in SM2. Having him as a force for good made sense too - it's consistent with the Raimi film. His comment to Peter about him being all grown up was also nice.

The reveal of Church when he's cured of the sand is a long awaited and satisfying reveal. I was glad to see him appear in the flesh, because I wasn't sure if he would or not. Lizard didn't do much me, nor Electro. But all in all, the villains were pretty good. Funny how Tom hasn't fought a villain that's truly his though. He's had Tony Stark influenced villains and others from other timelines.

Some nice references to the past were spotted by me. Goblin saying he's something of a scientist, Tobey referencing his bad back and commenting on his organic webbing. And I think Tobey being stabbed by Goblin is inverting what happened at the end of SM1, which wasn't a bad touch.

I have issues but things considered, I think I'm giving it a 7.

[Slash Man]

Overall, I left the theater very satisfied. Might not have reached the heights of the original Raimi films, but it's easily a highlight of the genre after the swan song of Endgame and the further uncertainty brought on by the pandemic. At the end of the day, it felt like another love letter to the fans from Marvel and Sony. For the fans that debated between the three different reboots, I can say this had something for everyone. There were a few consistency issues though, which is to be expected when wrangling together three different franchises.

Just to get this out of the way, the Spider-Men were all handled perfectly. Writing and acting met in perfect harmony and the result was feeling like we've never stepped out of their respective universes. I've actually started to rethink my critical approach to Garfield's Spider-Man after seeing them all together; it's clear that they all have distinctively different personalities without being written in an exaggerated fashion. And this allows them to all have chemistry together onscreen (three carbon copies wouldn't be very interesting at all).

The same goes for the villains, but due to the sheer number of them, there's no way to possibly give them all the proper attention onscreen. As a result, they just kind of float in and out of scenes as needed. I'd like to address them each and also mention their MCU redesigns as well, since conscious design changes were made to each character for better or for worse.

The Lizard - Honestly pretty unnecessary to the plot altogether. Character design basically remained unchanged.

Doc Ock - Minor design changes that weren't fully explained, but overall still great looking. Acting was on par with the fantastic Spider-Man 2 performance. He does get sidelined a lot because he's probably the most "good" of the villains. Was unfortunate to see him treated more as a joke after being easily disarmed with Stark's nanotech. This came off the heels of a great fight scene, too. The trailer was a bit deceptive in inferring that he would become more of a threat after integrating with the nanotech versus completely neutralized.

Electro - He looks and acts completely different. And both are way better than his original appearance IMO. I don't mind revisions like this, Jamie Foxx seemed much more natural in the role, and we got something much closer to the classic Electro outfit.

Sandman - He's an interesting character in that he's not evil and just trying to make sense of everything. Very much a natural progression from his Spider-Man 3 ending. Though I didn't care for his new design in that he's incapable of changing back to human form; that seemed like a step backwards. But this design choice seems to be born out of convenience or laziness since Thomas Haden Church did not seem to appear in the movie besides his voice. I was excited to see him in the flesh after being "cured", but Twitter pointed out that this was recycled footage from 2007. Which explains why his expression doesn't match up with what's going on.

Green Goblin - Dafoe is the real scene stealer. Him and Molina were both perfect castings that were killed off in their first outings because the filmmakers prioritized story over franchises (I believe Church would have made the ranks as well, but the cooler reception of Spider-Man 3 ruined that for him). Anyways, this movie offered a means to give them the sequel they deserved, and they made the right choice for their main baddie. I don't think the writing was all there because I didn't feel there was a clear enough motive for his villainy... but seeing the Goblin return may have been the most rewarding experience behind the three Spider-Men.

But onto the costume; for the people that complained about the 2002 suit looking too much like a Power Ranger, I think the sequel proved it could be worse. We were hyped up with images of the original suit recreated, only to have Norman destroy the mask after barely a minute. This is the bad kind of bait and switch since the redesigned maskless, steampunk suit didn't really do it for me. Oh well, a bad costume never ruined a fantastic performance (Cap in the Avengers comes to mind).


Now while listening to the fans is most often a good thing, I feel like they took a very direct approach by the end of the film by forcefully rebooting the continuity to have Peter be broke, anonymous, and admittedly rocking the best looking homemade suit we've seen. It's the perfect premise for future installments, but we also didn't get there organically. Oh well, the door is still very much open for a franchise that has proved it has a lot of life left in it.

[The Joker]

https://deadline.com/2021/12/spider-man-no-way-home-monday-box-office-1234900099/

There goes the "muh pandemic" argument that was so often parroted following box office underperformance. Funnily enough.