Tonight's Movie: Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019) will have Marvel fans right at home in their happy place. This coda to April's AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019), the capstone of the decade-long Infinity saga, is simultaneously moving and ebullient. It's a grand time at the movies for Marvel fans.

I'm going to assume that anyone who particularly cares about spoilers has managed to see AVENGERS: ENDGAME in the last two months. If not, fair warning that I'm not going to tiptoe around that storyline, which plays directly into the plot of SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME. However, I will avoid the biggest spoiler in the new movie.

As the film opens, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is trying to get back to a normal life in New York following the events of ENDGAME. The time lost by half of humanity following Thanos's "snap" five years previously is now called "the Blip"; those who were snapped, including Peter, are the same age they were five years before, while those didn't disappear are now five years older. Peter and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) help with fund-raising to aid those whose lives were displaced due to the Blip.

Peter is also struggling with the loss of his mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and coming to terms with the responsibilities now on his shoulders. Throw in the five years he lost to the Snap/Blip and his lingering crush on MJ (Zendaya) and it's a lot for a 16-year-old to deal with, so when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) starts phoning, it's somewhat understandable that Peter ignores the calls. He just wants to be a normal kid for a change and go with his friends on his summer school field trip to Europe.

When Nick forces Peter to confront the need to save the world -- or at least a chunk of it -- all over again, Peter desperately wonders why someone else can't do it. Thor? Doctor Strange? Nope, he's the only one available.

However, to Peter's relief it suddenly seems that maybe there's someone else who can help, a recently appeared superhero the Italian press dub "Mysterio" (Jack Gyllenhaal). Mysterio seems quite willing to take up the superhero mantle and let Peter return to trying to figure out how to declare his feelings for MJ.

If only it were that simple...

One of the magical things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the spot-on casting, and Tom Holland simply couldn't be more perfect as Peter Parker. He does an excellent job depicting the internal war of the insecure teenager and the gradually maturing adult, capable of doing amazing, heroic things while sometimes wishing to simply be a kid. He struggles with feelings that he must be a disappointment to his idol, "Mr. Stark," but as Tony's close friend Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) reminds Peter, Tony himself was a bit of a mess himself at times; Tony knew Peter well, flaws and all, and had faith that Peter was capable of succeeding despite any shortcomings.

While the film is thoughtful and touching, it's also light on its feet, with humorous scenes ranging from smile-inducing to laugh-out-loud funny. Holland has a great comedic touch -- I particularly enjoyed his bemused expressions as he starts to realize something is happening between Happy and May -- and Jackson has quite a way with zingers ("You've been to space!").

It's wonderful to see much more of Happy in this film than we've seen in recent Marvel movies, and his tentative romance with Peter's aunt provides some delightful comic relief. Happy and Peter share perhaps the best scene in the movie, as Peter begins to build a new suit and Happy mistily watches him, clearly reminded of Tony. There's a strong sense in this scene of the torch being passed to the next generation.

The movie also provides a larger role than usual for Cobie Smulders as Nick Fury's righthand assistant, Maria Hill, and she has a couple of fun moments as well. It's great to see some of the longtime supporting characters in the MCU have time to shine, especially on the heels of the welcome cinematic reappearance of AGENTS OF SHIELD's Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson in CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019).

Jacob Batalon and Angourie Rice return from SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING as Peter's friends Ned and Betty. Martin Starr and J.B. Smoove are amusing as the teacher chaperones trying to keep their charges one step ahead of the monsters suddenly popping up in major European cities.

Special note: As Marvel fans know, there are always tag scenes during the end credits, with ENDGAME being a notable exception. Staying through the credits is an absolute must following this film.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME was directed by Jon Watts and filmed by Matthew J. Lloyd, with music by Michael Giacchino. It runs 129 minutes.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13. It's your usual Marvel movie, with the cartoon-level violence even less of a concern than usual. Except for a couple very mildly racy comedic moments and a touch of bad language, this film strikes me as family friendly for all but the youngest viewers.

A trailer is here.

Previous Marvel reviews: IRON MAN (2008), IRON MAN 2 (2010), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011), THOR (2011), THE AVENGERS (2012), IRON MAN 3 (2013), THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014), AGENT CARTER (2015), ANT-MAN (2015), AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015), CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016), DOCTOR STRANGE (2016), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017), SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017), THOR: RAGNAROK (2017), BLACK PANTHER (2018), AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018), ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018), CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019), and AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019).