I can strongly confirm most of the world was excited at the possibility of 3 generations of Peter Parkers teaming up to fight their greatest foes. I can certainly say I was. Although I walked into the theatre with a feeling equivalent to having “FANBOY” tattooed onto my forehead, I have to say I walked out not sure how to feel.
The runtime is roughly two and a half hours, a lot longer than I’ve come to expect from a Marvel movie, and each minute felt pretty packed. From the very off we’re bombarded with information you’d have needed to see the last 10 years of content to understand. Although I know many appreciate these callbacks to past entries, I must say it can get a little overwhelming for someone who isn’t so up to date with the latest 4 millisecond cameo in a McDonald’s commercial. There are however cameos galore in this with many of the biggest foes of the films of years gone by making appearances. A sneaky little Matt Murdock scene is greatly appreciated.
Moving on from that, let’s crack into the main crux of this review: once the hype is gone, does this movie still hold up? Can I still watch the movie and enjoy it 5 years later at home or has it lost its charm when not in a theatrical setting? Let me start with what’s good: For the most part, the movie has pretty nice cinematography but it loses a bit of its beauty when you realise it’s purely CGI.
The acting performances are pretty stellar all round and there are no complaints to be made there either. I didn’t see the twist coming, and the sound design is truly a marvel (...get it?). I am also excited about the possibility of a more down-to-earth spider man appearing in upcoming films after an ending suggesting a new dawn and a return to the “friendly neighbourhood” roots. Now for what doesn’t work: Once you take away the glamour and awe of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield making comebacks, the movie loses a lot of the initial appeal. I’m pretty sure people won’t be shocked at the two showing up 5 years down the line watching from the comfort of their homes. Next, in what would’ve been sombre and realistic film overall,
Marvel continues on with its agenda of stuffing a joke into every other scene. Like I’m sorry Ned but a guy just blew up a building and killed a woman can you please calm it with the knock knock jokes. Callback characters like sandman and the lizard felt highly forced just to appeal to fans of all 3 spider men and a smaller cast of villains might have done the film some good.
All in all, the fanboy within me cannot say that the movie is bad, and that's mostly because it isn’t. No Way Home probably won’t have the same effect on audiences 5 years from now as compared to today, other than true devotees of the Marvel content machine.
The author is a student at The Somaiya School and is one of the winners of FPJ's Pen To Paper Contest this year.
