WOW. Okay, let’s talk about Spider-Man as a character/franchise first before talking about Far From Home specifically. Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero of all time, and so I hold a lot of stock in movies that are made about him. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about some of the Spider-Man movies over the years, but if I’m being honest, I’ve enjoyed pretty much all of them. While I’m not really a big fan of the TV movies from the 70s, I really enjoyed all of the ones from the 21st century on some level. Even some of the more hated ones, like Spider-Man 3 or the two Amazing Spider-Man movies, I enjoyed on some level. However, the two absolute best Spider-Man movies, in my opinion, were Spider-Man 2 (this one is actually my favorite superhero movie of all time) and Into the Spider-Verse. These captured the essence of the character so well, and few movies have replicated the success of it as well. Believe it or not, I actually consider Far From Home to be up there with the best of the best Spider-Man movies.

One of the only barriers to entry I can see is that Far From Home is hard to jump into without some background knowledge. This is the 23rd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while I don’t think you need to see all 22 movies before this to understand it, you should at least see Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Endgame, which also requires some background movies to fully appreciate. Basically, while Far From Home does still work as a singular movie, I can understand if some people who haven’t seen the aforementioned movies might be a little lost in this one.

Basically, though, Peter Parker is now living in a post-Thanos world (which you won’t understand what this means if you haven’t seen Endgame), where some of his high school classmates are now five years older, and a few of the Avengers are now dead. In particular, Peter struggles with the death of Tony Stark, who has become somewhat of a father figure to him. However, Peter decides to try and put his troubles aside for now, as his class is going on a trip to Europe. Peter wants to take this opportunity to actually have a vacation where he doesn’t have to worry about being Spider-Man, and also try to make a move on MJ, the girl that he really likes. This plan winds up going out the window when some elemental giants start attacking people in Europe, and Peter is forced into action. Under the command of Nick Fury and a new mysterious figure named Quentin Beck (a.k.a. Mysterio), Peter is forced into action, when all he wants to do is enjoy his vacation.

I think the concept alone is brilliant. Usually in a lot of superhero movies, we see being a superhero taking precedent over a character’s personal lives, often to the detriment of their loved ones. And sure, while this does happen in Far From Home, Peter is actually doing everything in his power to NOT be Spider-Man. This felt refreshing, and it lends itself to both hilarious and heartbreaking moments.

Speaking of this, the heart of the movie really lies in Peter’s internal struggle. There are two aspects that play into this. One is his struggle to cope with Tony Stark’s death. We see this in many ways…struggling with the loss itself, feeling the pressure to step into the shoes of Tony Stark, and trying to find a new father figure in Quentin Beck. These aspects are handled really well, and all of the struggle that Peter feels is earned. Then, the other aspect is the romance with MJ. When I was in high school, I was in Peter’s shoes, where I’d have this grand plan to tell a girl that I like her, but have it fail miserably. There are multiple moments where all I wanted was to see Peter succeed in pursuing MJ, only to have him taken away to be Spider-Man. This is a heartbreaking conflict, and one that I feel many can relate to.

I can’t possibly end this review without talking about Mysterio. If you’re not aware of who the Mysterio character is from Spider-Man’s lore, some of this might be a spoiler for you, so be warned. Spider-Man fans know Mysterio to be one of the hero’s most famous villains, so it might have seemed a little confusing to see him portrayed as a hero in the trailers. However, if you’ve ever seen a superhero movie or read a comic, I’m sure you know what to expect here.

For a long time now, there have been three Spider-Man villains that I think would make for great villains in a live-action movie. One of those villains has always been Mysterio (the other two, by the way, are Chameleon and Kraven the Hunter), and that’s because I always felt like the illusions that he creates would make for a really visually interesting movie. This is fully realized in Far From Home, and so the movie winds up having some incredible action scenes, especially in the second half of the movie. Mysterio’s abilities are fully capitalized on, and while his storyline is definitely altered from his comic-book counterpart, I feel like they really did the character justice. Also, Jake Gyllenhaal plays the character really well.

Spider-Man: Far From Home was just one of those superhero movies where I felt like I had no complaints about it whatsoever. I was enjoying myself so much throughout the whole movie, and so I felt like the movie was really nailing it at every turn. I don’t necessarily think that the movie has that magical element about it that makes it feel special in the same way that Spider-Man 2 and Into the Spider-Verse did, but it’s still such an entertaining and well-crafted movie. I loved this movie so much more than I was expecting. I think it’s quite possibly in my top 5 favorite MCU movies at this point, to be honest. This is a movie that delivers everything that Spider-Man fans could ever want from a Spider-Man movie. It’s one of the best in the genre, and definitely shouldn’t be overlooked.

5/5