Spider-Man: Far From Home

        It always seems that an insect or an arachnid would end the individual phase in The Infinity Saga. No one would ever believe that a Spider-Man film would follow up what happened during Endgame. I think it speaks about the brand and how they’ve been consistent with delivering a good product. Inconsistent at times, but when it hits, it hits. So this is really considered an epilogue to the whole saga, and it was a journey to witness all of it. 

1. European Vacation

        As I mentioned earlier, this film is like an epilogue where it closes the book of the entire saga. We even have a memoriam montage of the heroes that passed after the events of Endgame. Keeping with the lightheartedness of the Spidey films in the MCU, they mentioned the snap but call it “the blip”. And as much as it was devastating to see, the way it’s shown is mostly to comedic effect. And that’s what kicks off the film, since the core members of the Avengers are gone and there’s a void. 

        We see that Peter and his class are going to take the end of semester vacation to Europe. Peter has feelings for MJ and is meticulously planning on telling her during the trip. Thinking that he’ll be on vacation he decides to not be Spider-Man on the trip, albeit trouble arrives when his class is in Italy. Amid the weird stuff that’s happening, Peter feels that he must be the next Iron Man due to the responsibilities and legacy that Stark has placed on him.

        And we see him grapple with that when he sees a massive mural of Tony where it starts to weigh in on him. What I like is that it keeps the vibe going from what we saw in Homecoming. The whole film is a high school movie at its core, and we see just how Peter is trying to juggle being normal and having to help Nick Fury for the seemingly new threat that has appeared. I’ll talk about the main threat in a second, but I feel like with the recent Spider-Man films in the MCU, there’s a hero that must show up to help Peter.

        The last one was Iron Man, and this time it’s Nick Fury and the remnants of SHIELD. While Stark was used to discipline and level with Peter, Fury is more of a ball buster since he chastises Parker for not having his priority straight. To me it kind of reinforces that the wall crawler is an underdog among the heroes that have popped up in the cinematic universe. And it reminds us once more that he’s just a kid that hasn’t figured anything out and is still finding a way to be a hero. 

        So with that European Vacation, I like how it practically compounds Peter’s issue as he’s trying to tell MJ his feelings towards her. Like we see where they go and it’s never half-baked in the least bit. And well the occasional hijinks that Parker causes due to his involvement with Fury’s operation. Just the chemistry between Tom Holland and Zendaya is great since they’re both awkward and just dancing around the fact that they have feelings towards each other and ultimately his identity. 

        I really like the inclusion of Happy Hogan appearing in the sequel. Aside from the fact that Jon Favreau directed the first entry in the MCU and has sporadically appeared in films here and there. I feel that his presence is more of like a passing of the torch kind when the film plays out. He was a bodyguard to Stark and helps Parker when he’s in a jam. Just seeing him give the pep talk to Peter and giving him the tools to create a new suit is great since we want Peter to be his own hero and walk his own path. That montage of him building his new suit is great, especially with the addition of Back in Black. A callback to the first Iron Man. 

        Lastly, I was surprised how many people consider this film a weak entry in the MCU version of Spider-Man. Now, no one could’ve thought just how great the recent entry was since it had one trick to make it the best one of the bunch. Back when I talked about Homecoming, most of these films can be interpreted as a longform origin story for Peter to be a hero. The first one was him dealing with danger of what’s above him, and this one the responsibility of balancing his wants and identity. All of them are great, but this one is sandwiched between two great entries in what’s considered the best comic book films in general. 

2. Quentin Beck

        When I saw the trailer, I was hesitant with how they were going to portray Mysterio. In the comics, his main gimmick is that he can create elaborate illusions to fool Spider-Man and to get an upper hand. I can assume that the public didn’t know anything about him and bought that he was a seemingly good guy as the new threats popped out around the globe. With that, just the dramatic irony that was used is great since he fooled everyone. 

        What makes him so well aside from Jake Gyllenhaal doing a good job with what he’s got, is that has that charm factor where he fools Fury and especially Peter. We see just what Beck is facing as he explains a really elaborate story of how the Elementals are appearing and that he must stop them. Prompting Parker to volunteer to help Beck and to gain sympathy points when Fury rips the teen a new one. I think that’s real malevolent than anything involving powers. 

        That dramatic irony works when we see Peter and Beck talk and ultimately let his guard down to be slightly manipulated. Like Beck’s whole MO is that he wants to be the next hero after what happened with the Avengers. So much so that he’s psychotic to one up Tony Stark to be the new public figure. To me, it’s reflective of the time since there was a massive distrust of just the news and what we see. One detail that I like and again, I didn't catch this on my first viewing but I never knew that Beck had eyes on Peter during the trip. Just they arrive in Italy, Beck and his partners are in the background spying on them.

        Am I saying that the movie is reflective of the public climate? No, but using it to show that Mysterio wanted the publicity to look good. We even have shots of the students watching the tv and seeing the footage of Mysterio “fighting” the Elementals. I love how we slowly see that the whole thing is an elaborate ruse when Peter fights one of the creatures in Prague. I missed it when he unintentionally landed on a drone as the fight is happening on my initial viewing. 

        With how the illusions set up, I think it’s best when Beck is just messing with Peter. I love the whole moment when they’re in Berlin and Beck mocks and hurts Peter with the illusions. It’s a mind bender since Parker hasn’t figured out what’s fake and real, and I love how creative it is and to really hammer home that Peter isn’t good enough to be the next hero like Iron Man and Captain America. One detail that I like is that he fools us as well when that whole moment ends. 

3. The Brief Divorce

        Just after the film came out and broke multiple records and being the first Spider-Man film to gross a billion dollars, no one could’ve imagined just how much bad publicity that Sony would receive after pulling this stunt. During Disney’s convention called D23, news reports surfaced that the two companies couldn’t negotiate a deal to continue sharing the character, thus prompting the recent film to seemingly be the last appearance of the wall crawler. 

        I remember the entertainment media just asking everyone for the 2 cents and just seeing it play out as Disney was the sympathetic ones and Sony being the bad faith negotiator. All of it blew up on Sony’s end since they reneged on the thing and just how it made them look bad after delivering a good movie. Long story short, it all got immediately resolved and a third entry was announced, and it even topped this one in box office returns. 

        So, I bring this up as a historical context of the film’s release and just how it’s a lingering issue just after Marvel has most of their ensemble of characters under their corporate media control. Sony hasn’t released a Spider-Man film in live-action but only in animation where it’s been met with universal praise and winning awards. Their attempts with using the villains and characters of Spider-Man have been met with near derision by most of everyone. 

4. Overall

        Spider-Man: Far From Home is a great movie that hasn’t gotten the recognition of being a good movie. It’s a nice epilogue to the Saga and sets up what’s coming for the next phase.