Spider-Man: No Way Home – Review
We are currently on our third version of the live-action movie Spider-Man. This is also the third Spider-Man movie of this version. This needed to be something special.
And it was.
At the end of the previous movie, it was revealed to the world that Spider-Man was Peter Parker. This turned Peter and his friends’ world upside down. The only thing that would fix it would be for people to forget that Peter was Spider-Man.
Enter Doctor Strange.
But magic usually doesn’t work out quite the way you expect (example: WandaVision). The spell goes wonky and we suddenly get some unexpected visitors to the MCU.
Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus and Sandman from the Toby Maguire Spider-Man movies and the Lizard and Electro from the Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man movies show up.
Doctor Strange can send them back but most of them will be going to their deaths. The Tom Holland Spider-Man hopes for a different option, a way to change their destinies.
This does not go according to plan and there are some tragic consequences. But Spider-Man has some help. They are Spider-Man and Spider-Man. Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprise their roles as Spider-Man/Peter Parker.
This was exactly what everyone had been hoping for. In many ways, No Way Home was one big gift to superhero movie fans, especially fans of (all of) the Spider-Man movies.
There were so many good scenes that I cannot share them all. One of my personal favourites is when Andrew Garfield saves Tom Holland’s MJ. The rescue attempt is almost exactly the same as his failed attempt to save Gwen Stacy, which ended in her death. This time he succeeds and the girl lives.
I also loved the banter between the three Spider-Men. There was much more than just “wouldn’t it be cool if…” to this movie. Their conversations were meaningful and showed thoughtful reflection on each of their experiences from their movies.
This movie really had it all. Intelligent characterization, incredible action scenes, plenty of humour. I will admit that one of my favourite characters was Dr. Octopus. He was great in Spider-Man 2 but this took things to a whole new level.
Then there was the ending. I won’t spoil it but through out the movie, Doctor Strange gets annoyed at Peter’s bad choices. At the end though, Peter shows his maturity by making a sacrifice that shows that he is not just an impulsive teenager.
No Way Home was definitely one of my favourite superhero movies. Not only did it open up doors to all kinds of future possibilities, it was obviously a movie made to delight fans. And delight us it did.
