What a fun movie. That was my thought at multiple times during this flick… just sitting back and admiring how much fun they were having up there on screen and, by doing so, how much fun I was having. Also appreciated: the amount of genuine heart and pathos the flick generates… it’s not just a bunch of yuks.
Spider-Man: No Way Home launches a few seconds after the previous film ended: with Peter being outed as Spider-Man. He now has to deal with everyone knowing who he is which is ruining everyone’s lives. So he goes to Dr. Strange for help, things don’t go well, and a hole in the multiverse opens through which villains from across twenty years of Spider-Man films flow.
Yes, this is a celebration of twenty years of Sony Spider-Man flicks in an MCU flick where they’ve only had Peter Parker for six years. It’s Sony taking a victory lap for being able to pull this off even after botching Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man flicks. They finally get their big villain movie they were setting up in the Andrew Garfield films. But it’s also Marvel/Disney getting extra credit for letting all this crazy into the MCU. Very clever on everyone’s part and major applause for pulling it off. So many familiar names and faces return for this little reunion. Just the practical film-making and casting was admirable.
Admirable and so very much fun. I could spend another two hours just listening to the self-knowing, winking banter between the characters. Hell, remove all the high-flying action and you’d have a great, heart-felt comedy. I had so much fun with this flick.
It wasn’t just fun though – it was also stirring and emotional. There are moments where characters join forces that, despite the fact this is major corporate synergy, made me swell with pride. The previous Spider-Man films had their ups and downs but they really get a chance at redemptive heroic and villainous returns in this flick.
All the praise in the world though I guess can’t beat one small problem with the flick. Most of the crazy stuff happening is based on some seemingly stupid choices. The story seems irrational even as they put up the defense that it’s what heroes do. Yeah, I guess… but at the same time, the movie could have been over at any given minute.
But regardless of that, this is a pretty great film. It’s up there among the pantheon of MCU movies, amusingly often not due to anything Disney/Marvel themselves did (other than continue to agree to work together with Sony). Easily in the top 5 of the MCU.
Score: 90