Tonight's Movie: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

December has been a busy time, but last week I was able to slip in an afternoon screening of the latest Marvel film, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021).

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME is a sequel to SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017) and SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019), and of course it also builds on other films in which Spider-Man has appeared, including AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019).

I'm somewhat limited in what I can say about the film at this juncture without being spoilery, which is perhaps more of an issue with this film than many Marvel films. I'll start off by mentioning that I'm very glad I'd seen the animated film SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018) and learned about the "multiverse" concept, which I think pretty much everyone knows at this point is a key aspect of this film.

A brief plot description: Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has had his identity as Spider-Man revealed to the world, which has negative repercussions for Peter, his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon).

Peter visits Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), wondering if the Sorceror Supreme could erase everyone in the world knowing, except for MJ, Ned, and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), and...let's just say things don't go exactly as Peter and Doctor Strange originally planned.

It's a very good movie, which is, as the headline for Justin Chang's review in the Los Angeles Times aptly puts it, "a joyous valentine to Spider-Man movies and their fans." Fans will appreciate a number of happy surprises.

The script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers is mostly good, but there are a couple weak aspects. A key plot device involves Spider-Man perhaps acting his age but not with the wisdom he has ostensibly acquired through his experiences. I would have liked the script to have arrived in the same place via a different route. I'm being deliberately vague but suspect those who have seen the film will be able to guess what I'm describing.

There's also a heavy sequence midway through which I almost felt was too much, especially given what Peter has already been through in his young life.  

Finally, I felt the movie's resolution leaned too heavily on a recognizable plot device from the Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN films. Some might say, "What do you expect, it's a superhero film?" but I would have liked a little more creativity regarding the film's wrap-up.

The cast is excellent, and I especially liked the writing and performance for Zendaya's MJ in this go-round; her character is less edgy and more charming.

Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange seems to have gone backwards somewhat, reverting to the more egotistical personality of DOCTOR STRANGE (2016), which is a bit of a surprise after the wisdom he showed in helping to resolve the fate of the world in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018) and AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019).  Perhaps that experience caused him to become overconfident once more?

That personality flaw, along with the multiverse concept, seems to be setting up the next film in the cycle, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022). The final credits tag scene of SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME has a preview which is identical to the MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS teaser trailer. That film will be released on May 6, 2022.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME was directed by Jon Watts and filmed by Mauro Fiore. It runs a well-paced 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Parental Advisory: Like all Marvel films, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME is rated PG-13 for non-graphic violence. And like all Marvel films, it depicts positive concepts such as friendship, loyalty, courage, and teamwork.

The November 2021 trailer for this film may be watched on YouTube.

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), AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019), SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019), BLACK WIDOW (2021), and SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021).

I wasn't able to make time to see ETERNALS (2021) before it disappeared from local theaters, so I'll probably be seeing it when it makes its debut on Disney+ in mid-January. That will make ETERNALS the first Marvel film since GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014) which I haven't seen first in a theater.

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