Tags
Doctor Octopus, Doctor Strange, Electro, Green Goblin, Marvel, MCU, Multiverse, Sandman, Spider-Man, Spider-Man No Way Home, Spider-Man No Way Home Review, Spiderman No Way Home Review, The Lizard, Tom Holland
Spider-Man No Way Home
Review by Paul Bowler
The Multiverse explodes into the MCU in Spider-Man No Way Home as the webslingers world collides with the narrative of the Avengers movies and the plots of the five previous Spider-Man movies that starred Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Spider-Man No Way Home also contains more Easter eggs, secrets and cameos than any superhero film we’ve seen to date. Tom Holland’s third solo outing as Spider-Man also manages to side-step the curse of the over cluttered threquel to be an action packed, emotional roller coaster ride that more than lives up to the hype.
After a brief recap of Spider-Man being unmasked at the end of the previous film, Spider-Man No Way Home sees Holland’s young superhero struggling to protect Aunt May (Maria Tomie), his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), best pal Ned (Jacob Batalon) and Tony Stark’s former chauffeur Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) from the media swarm that has descended on his life thanks to J. Jonah Jamerson (JK Simmons) broadcasts claiming that Spider-Man murdered Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).
To protect those he loves Peter seeks out Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) at his Sanctum Sanctorum to ask him to cast a spell that could make the world forget his secret identity. But when the magic goes awry the multiverse is breached, summoning every villain who knew his identity in the other dimensions and Spider-Man movies – Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe, Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Fox), Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Sandman (Thomas Haden) – to converge on NCY in the MCU reality.
Director Jon Watts, who has been behind the camera since Holland began his solo adventures in Spider-Man Homecoming after his scene-stealing debut in Captain America Civil War, keeps the huge scope and scale of Spider-Man No Way Home on track along with returning screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Highlights include a spellbinding chase between Spider-Man and Doctor Strange across the dimensions that echoes Christopher Nolan’s Inception, Spider-Man battles the rogues gallery of his deadliest foes, and there’s a thrilling showdown at the Statue of Liberty. But it is the films underlying themes of second chances what really drives the narrative of the movie the most as Peter Parker is put through the emotional wringer, the same is true for the multitude of returning villains as well, and even the core ethos of great power and responsibility that is the cornerstone of Spider-Man’s legacy gets powerfully reworked in the most unexpected way.
Tom Holland gives his best performance by far as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, the supporting cast are brilliant as well, and script is chock full of fun moments and clever call-backs to enjoy too. Oh and be sure to stay for those credits as well! To say any more about Spider-Man No Way Home would totally ruin the thrills and surprises it holds. I’d been really looking forward to seeing this film and I throughly enjoyed it. Suffice to say, if you’ve been a fan of the MCU and the many different eras of the Spider-Man films you are going to be totally blown away by the fan-pleasing moments this action-packed movie delivers!
About The Author
Hi, I’m Paul Bowler, blogger and reviewer of films, TV shows, and comic books. I’m a Sci-Fi geek, a big fan of Doctor Who, Star Trek, movies, Sci-Fi, Horror, Comic Books, and all things PS4.You can follow me on Twitter @paul_bowler,or at my website, Sci-Fi Jubilee, and on YouTube and Facebook
Sci-Fi Jubilee 
I definitely had a blast with this one and it was my favorite film in the trilogy. It’s fitting too as my favorite film of each trilogy was the last installment for each.
Favorite Spiderman film of all time for me is Spiderman 3, then The Amazing Spiderman 2, and then in third is No Way Home. I guess I just really like climaxes and seeing how it all ends.
I don’t want to spoil anyone even in the comments here in case they scroll down too far but the second after credits scene has me excited. There’s a lot you can do with this team up.
The only thing I was disappointed by was the first after credits scene. I get how it’s setting up certain other events but I really wish “He” was going to stick around. I was really looking forward to the meetup but I guess now it’s just not going to happen.
Back to the movie though, hearing the classic themes from previous movies was great. The action was really intense and my favorite fight scene was the 2 on 1 in the building when we first get some Goblin and Lizard action. I haven’t seen Spiderman pull off combos like that in live action before so it was really a lot of fun. My theater was super loud so everyone ended up missing a lot of dialogue but the crowd excitement was worth it
I had a great time with Spider-Man No Way Home as well. It was everything I hoped for and more! My favourite movies have been Spider-Man 2, The Amazing Spider-Man and now No Way Home. The action and epic scale of this film totally blew me away, and I enjoyed the credits scenes as well. A great addition to the MCU and a fine move to close out the year. 🙂
It’s wonderful that the film beat the curse of the inferior third film of a trilogy thanks to the fact that the showrunners are by now a well oiled machine who understand the world of Spider-Man. It’s also a lot of fun and a fitting conclusion to the trilogy with many memorable performances.
I really liked how this film shook up the format and did so much with its premise. It was great way to bring all the strands of the Spider-Man films together. Trilogies are often made or broken by the third instalment.and I think No Way Home proved the icing on the cake for Tom Holland’s and the MCU’s Spider-Man. We can only imagine where things might go from here.
This also happens to be the first trilogy in the MCU where all three movies are directed by the same person.
I haven’t seen this movie yet, but my attempt to avoid spoilers for two specific characters returning have failed. That spoiler only makes me want to watch it more though. I’ll make sure to do so at some point on my week off.
Exactly, I think that continuity has been a key factor in the success of these recent Spider-Man films. Yeah, know what you mean, avoiding spiders is next to impossible with this film, but I hope you manage to get to see it soon without too much being given away – that’s why I did this review as spoiler free as I could. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the film, I had a blast watching it, it was brilliant! 🙂
Saw it yesterday. Loved it! The surprises were great! I think I’ll have to watch it all one more time! Plus now I’m really excited to see the promised multiverse action in the upcoming Doctor Strange movie!
I really enjoyed Spider-Man No Way Home as well. Such an exciting and fun packed story. I think I’d like to see it again as well as there was so much place into that movie. Can’t wait to see the new Doctor Strange movie as well and explore the multiverse even more!
I’m glad to read such as positive review on the new Spider-Man film. More Dr. Strange is always good as I felt his movie was one of the best single hero MCU films made. You referenced Inception (one of my favorite films) so if the content in the new Spider-Man movie reminded you of that movie, then that definitely means the movie is must-see. I’m probably going to have to wait until its home release though before I get my chance. Thanks for the review.
Spider-Man No Way Home was an epic movie in every way, and some scene certainly channel that Inception vibe ( I love that move as well). Dr Strange is a great addition to the MCU and I’m really looking forward to his next film. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this Spider-Man film. It been a huge hit so I don’t think you’ll have to wait long for it on home release.
Whoa! All those villains in one film? Sounds fab!
Yeah, it was awesome to see all those classic villains in this Spider-Man film. It was a really fun and exciting movie! 🙂
I still haven’t made time to see this in the theatre, although every review has been positive. I might need to wait until it is released on DVD or it is on Disney+.
I really enjoyed Spider-Man No Way Home. It was such a fun and exciting movie, sure you’d enjoy. As its been such a big hit I don’t think you’ll have to wait long for it to be released on Disney + ect and on DVD / Blu Ray.