Spider-Man: No Way Home review

Does this third installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU for short)-based series of Spider-Man films finish the divisive trilogy on a high note, or is it no better than the likes of Spider-Man 3 or The Amazing Spider-Man 2 before it? Time to find out as we take a look at:

Happy (late) New Year's everyone! This may be an unpopular opinion, but I've managed to find quite the enjoyment in the Marvel Studios-produced Spider-Man solo films; 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming was one of my top favorite films of 2017 and while I thought 2019's Far From Home was something of a downgrade, I nonetheless was able to find multiple things to like about it. As such, I was excited for No Way Home, a feeling that was exacerbated who-knows-how much when previews confirmed online rumors that villains from the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb-directed Spider-Man film series would be returning to the big screen for this movie; this, combined with rumors/leaks that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield (the two actors who previously played the webslinger on the big screen) could be making their triumphant returns made this arguably my most anticipated film since Avengers: Endgame! Having finally seen it, I can say No Way Home is a heck of a ride that's definitely worth seeing on the big screen! Let's go into depth as to why this is!

Spider-Man: No Way Home takes place practically immediately following the events of 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, as the sociopathic illusionist Mysterio has posthumously not only framed Spider-Man for the former's terrorist activities from the previous movie, but also revealed the wall-crawler's secret identity as Peter Parker to the entire world. With his life, as well as those of his loved ones, turned completely on its head, Peter turns to fellow hero Dr. Stephen Strange for a means of undoing the damage Mysterio has done. However, thanks to some imprudent input from Peter, the spell Strange was preparing to wipe knowledge of Peter's secret identity from everyone's minds ends up going wrong, resulting in several villains from the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb Spider-Man movies ending up in the MCU. Can Spider-Man round up these invasive foes with help from close friends Ned and MJ, or will getting things back to normal not be as straightforward as initially thought?

Despite the sheer number of characters involved in this multiverse extravaganza, this movie, like numerous previous Marvel Studios productions, thankfully manages to avoid becoming bogged down by its proverbial baggage, giving most of its characters enough time to avoid coming off as living 'filler' while progressing the main narrative and subplots in a way that feels rather organic. In addition, the majority of the cast members do solid-to-excellent jobs portraying their characters, whether they be Alfred Molina playing Doc Ock for the first time since the beloved Spider-Man 2, Jamie Foxx as Electro (who is handled considerably better here than in his debut movie, 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2) Zendaya as Michelle Jones, aka MJ, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, or Benedict Cumberbatch (aka Smaug in The Hobbit movies) as Dr. Strange. However, there are some actors who stand out more than others, namely Willem Dafoe, aka Gill in Pixar’s Finding Nemo and Vulko in the DCEU film Aquaman, who makes his triumphant return as the iconic Spider-Man foe known as the Green Goblin (real name: Norman Osborn).

Suffice to say, Dafoe jumps back into the role as if almost two decades never even passed since he first played the character (back in 2002’s Spider-Man)! One of, if not the most, impressive facet about this role reprisal is that Dafoe only agreed to play the Goblin once again if he’d be allowed to do the character’s stunts and action sequences himself, all while being 66 years old (by the time the film was released)! This passion and dedication is most certainly to be appreciated, and it shows in the finished film, as Dafoe is just as, if not more, chilling (yet engaging) than he was in Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy. This is in part thanks to the fact that Dafoe's face is unobscured by any mask/helmet for a majority of his screentime. Although I personally wish Green Goblin’s helmet was shown/used onscreen longer than what we got (for instance, it could’ve been incorporated into the more comic-accurate look he gains later in the film, such as what's depicted in these artworks), No Way Home shows viewers that you don't need the leering, inhuman visage provided by the helmet to invoke chills or general unease in viewers, as Dafoe being unmasked allows him to completely cut loose on an array of unsettling facial expressions that effortlessly illustrate the kind of sadistic and ‘ax-crazy’ maniac the Goblin is. As someone who considers this villain to be one of my top favorite cinematic Spider-Man antagonists (in terms of the webhead’s previous movies), it was a real treat having Willem Dafoe back as the character, and while he once again did well as Norman Osborn, Dafoe stole the show as the Green Goblin, and has rightfully earned his place up there with the likes of Loki, Killmonger, and Thanos as one of the MCU’s best villains to date!

Of course, this is still a Spider-Man movie, and Tom Holland is once again on point as the title character, with his passion for playing the iconic hero arguably on full display throughout No Way Home. While Holland still nails Spider-Man's energetic aura with little effort and seems almost equally at home bringing Peter Parker (who, to put it simply, is put through the wringer over the course of the film) to life, in this movie, he's given more opportunities, at least compared to his previous solo outings, to showcase his emotional range as an actor 

WARNING: SPOILERS! with two key scenes being the death of Aunt May and the final confrontation with the Green Goblin. In the first scene, Holland conveys Peter's alarm and emotional devastation to an impressive degree, to the point that viewers can readily 'buy' how distraught the young hero is by the end of the scene. When it comes to the climactic showdown, on the other hand, Holland manages to leave little doubt as to just how incensed Peter/Spider-Man is at the Goblin for the latter's role in the untimely demise of Aunt May, especially when the webslinger gains the advantage in the one-on-one throwdown and attempts to use the Goblin's own glider to put a permanent end to the depraved lunatic. As Peter’s older Raimi-verse counterpart attempts to stop the former from delivering the killing blow to the Goblin, Holland manages to depict his character’s vengeful fury (in terms of facial expressions) in a way that feels very palpable. END SPOILERS 

In general, Tom Holland did an impressive job as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and I consider myself incredibly excited to see where he goes next as the wallcrawling superhero! 

Finally, it’s time to discuss one of the worst-kept secrets in recent Hollywood history: The return of Tobey Maguire (pictured in the first photo) and Andrew Garfield (in the second photo), both of Tom Holland’s successors as Spider-Man, on the big screen as their respective versions of the webslinger!

It’s safe to say that the two of them and their time onscreen comprise among the best parts of the entire movie, in part due to the nostalgia of seeing them as their incarnations of Spider-Man once again, as well as (and perhaps more significantly) them and their younger MCU counterpart all sharing the same screen! Like with the aforementioned Willem Dafoe, Maguire and Garfield slip back into their roles with little-to-no discernible effort and one could argue it's clear they aren't 'here' (for lack of a better term) just for the paycheck, which Tom Holland himself corroborated in an interview following No Way Home's release, in which he described Maguire as "Really excited to be back. You could tell it really meant a lot to him. Him putting the suit on again. Us getting back together. It was awesome.” Regarding Garfield, Holland added, “I think this film was his way of making peace with Spider-Man. It was such a privilege to work with him. I know that it meant a lot to him.” If that wasn't enough, according to one of the screenwriters behind No Way Home, Chris McKenna, Garfield and Maguire, "Had great ideas that really elevated everything we were going for and added layers and an arc and we really actually started honing into the idea that these two guys were really helping Tom’s Peter on his journey to becoming who he ends up becoming. There’s a crucial, moral moment that they help him get through in the climax of the movie. So much of that was brought by Tobey and Andrew’s ideas and shaping of what they thought their characters could bring to this story.” It's difficult not to feel appreciative of just how passionate Maguire and Garfield clearly are about their roles, which makes their returns all the more enthralling! While both previous Spider-Man actors are great individually, it's how they bounce off each other and Tom Holland where they really shine! The onscreen relationship between the 3 Spider-Men is fun to watch in multiple ways, whilst also being meaningful as well as endearing/wholesome (e.g., when Garfield's Peter positively compares his Raimi and MCU variants to having brothers). The fact that the filmmakers were able to acknowledge the 'multiple Spider-Men pointing at each other' meme not once, but twice during the Spider-Men's time onscreen together and in a way that didn't feel forced is just icing on the cake! I'd argue the dynamic of the Spider-Men is comparable to that of seeing the Avengers interacting with one another for the first time back in the original Avengers film from 2012 in terms of how surreal, yet engaging, it is!

Michael Giacchino, who produced the scores for the previous 2 MCU Spider-Man movies, returns as composer for No Way Home, and while he did a satisfactory job, the score for this movie felt like something of wasted potential; Giacchino's theme for the MCU Spider-Man is still good and suits this incarnation of the webslinger (special notice going to the new renditions the theme gets this time around), but there are multiple instances where Giacchino could've made more use of musical themes originating from the previous pre-MCU Spider-Man films (given the presence of characters from the earlier continuities); granted, there are instances of pre-existing themes being used, such as a soft reprise of a portion of Doc Ock's Spider-Man 2 leitmotif following his arrival, a few notes of Electro's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 theme seconds before he attacks the webslinger, or a very poignant version of the "Responsibility" theme from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy (originated by Danny Elfman) that's heard at one point during the climax (to avoid going too far into spoiler 'territory'), but otherwise, it's hard to name any particularly memorable pieces of music from this movie. Several 'moments of awesome' in No Way Home could've been amplified if musical pieces such as Sandman's Spider-Man 3 leitmotif or the more bombastic parts of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's respective Spider-Man themes were incorporated into the appropriate scenes; then again, I haven't taken the time to listen to the majority of the soundtrack by itself, so maybe my mind will eventually be changed in the near future!

If you've comes to see this movie just for the action sequences, you're in luck, because Spider-Man: No Way Home manages to deliver in this regard! From Spidey and Doc Ock's first showdown on a bridge, to the webhead's encounter with Electro and Sandman, to a faceoff with Dr. Strange outside of the Sanctum Sanctorum and spilling into the Mirror Dimension, this film has quite the variety of set pieces. However, the real highlights have to be the condo throwdown with Green Goblin (which comes off as more gritty in contrast to the showdowns with the main villains of the previous two MCU Spider-Man flicks) and the climax at the Statue of Liberty, which serves as something of dream fulfillment for longtime Spider-Man fans thanks to the presence of all 3 Spider-Men, along with, of course, villains from the previous 2 cinematic iterations of the wallcrawler! While the sequences succeed at being entertaining, and both Green Goblin confrontations have the most noteworthy choreography (to the point that some on social media have favorably compared some of Tom Holland's Peter's moves to those seen in the 2018 Marvel's Spider-Man PS4 video game), I personally wish the filmmakers took a page from Captain America: The Winter Soldier's book and included one additional face-off with the Green Goblin earlier in the movie, when the latter had his full Raimi-trilogy getup on (as pictured above). That way, we could have at least 1 fight between him and Spider-Man with both parties masked up (in contrast to the battles we got); besides, I kind of feel we could've gotten more in the way of screentime of the Goblin using his iconic glider in battle, so an early match between him and Spidey could've 'scratched' this 'itch'. Then again, this is more of a personal preference on my part, so 'your mileage may vary' (as the saying goes) regarding this critique. On another note, while the Doc Ock bridge fight wasn't bad by any means, I nonetheless feel as though there was some room for improvement regarding how part of the battle was shot (specifically, after Spider-Man deploys his Iron Spider armor's 4 pincers) as the portion involving Spider-Man's pincers being used against Doc Ock's signature mechanical arms could've been shot better to allow viewers to more clearly make out the fight choreography unfolding for that part of the skirmish. In addition, the Lizard (hailing from the Marc Webb-directed Amazing Spider-Man movies) could've had a sequence to shine, since otherwise, all he has in terms of action screentime is the climax at the Statue of Liberty, where he has to share the limelight with the rest of the major characters, thus reducing the amount of time he has to leave his 'mark'. Finally, as much of a delight as the finale may be, I can't help but feel somewhat irked by the number of times the Spider-Men's masks are removed/left off (to the point that it feels almost gratuitous), especially when it comes to Tom Holland's Peter's final 1-on-1 with the Green Goblin (which I'd also argue could've been a tad bit longer, e.g., the length of the first half of the final duel from the original 2002 Spider-Man). This may be yet another nitpick, but I feel as though it'd have been sufficient if the amount of time the Spider-Men spent masked up was equal to (or slightly greater than) the time spent unmasked during the climax. Gripes/nitpicks aside, Spider-Man: No Way Home succeeds in continuing the Marvel Studios tradition of delivering enjoyable action for viewers of all walks of life!

When it comes to visual effects, there's not too much to say about No Way Home that deviates from Marvel's usual standards of impressive (albeit not perfect) VFX work that enables fantastical elements from the comics to be brought to life on the silver screen, with the standout visuals being Spider-Man's signature web-swinging as well as how the Mirror Dimension that first appeared in 2016's Doctor Strange is once again realized in all its trippy and psychedelic glory for Strange's chase/fight with Spidey! However, the unsung highlight in terms of visuals for this movie is definitely the de-aging effects utilized on Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Alfred Molina's Doc Ock to make them appear virtually identical to how they previously looked in Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 (respectively). It's pretty difficult to tell that any digital effects have been applied to Molina and Dafoe's faces unless one takes an extremely close look, which is testament as to how Marvel Studios have mastered the art of this type of visual trickery (which was previously used in films such as the Ant-Man duology and Captain Marvel). Suffice to say, kudos to the VFX wizards at Marvel Studios and Sony for creating such seamless illusions of Dafoe and Molina's likenesses from the Raimi films, among several other digital creations for this film!

In general, I'd say Spider-Man: No Way Home is not just one of the top movies of 2021, but is also a heck of a triumph for Marvel Studios; not only did they manage to win over numerous viewers who may not have been the biggest MCU Spider-Man fans beforehand, but the filmmakers managed to do so through a well-paced and enthralling narrative that actually does the almost universally-despised "One More Day" comic storyline better than the source material, a likable and compelling array of characters brought to life by a seriously talented cast, well-written and engaging character interactions, commendable visual effects, and action that's arguably the definition of crowd-pleasing. I definitely recommend checking this movie out ASAP, but suggest familiarizing oneself with all 3 cinematic incarnations of Spider-Man beforehand (in some capacity); the film arguably serves as something of a celebration of the webslinger's nearly 2 decades of big-screen exploits, so the more familiar one is with the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland flicks, the more rewarding the experience will be when watching No Way Home!