‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is a Spectacular Film

Let’s get the spoiler warning out of the way, if you haven’t seen “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” go see the film and come back. This review is full of spoilers. 

          “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is the biggest box office hit in years. The movie far exceeds expectations for the pandemic era of film releases, making over $1 billion in a matter of weeks.

          Not only is the movie a financial success, but film critics and fans alike are raving about it, and there’s a good reason why. 

        “No Way Home” is a Spider-Man fan’s dream. This movie takes everything we love about Tom Holland’s portrayal of the web-slinger and turns it up to 10. The main plot of the film revolves around Peter Parker and the way he handles being the most famous person alive. 

        The movie picks up immediately following the events of “Far From Home.” The secret is out, Peter Parker is Spider-Man and the whole world knows it. The first of the major surprises comes during Peter’s problems with the law. Matt Murdoch makes his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Peter Parker legal counsel. Charlie Cox played Daredevil in the Netflix series for three seasons and he’s back full-time as The Man Without Fear. 

       The surprises don’t stop there. The multiverse breaks open in this film and brings back some of the all-time great Spider-Man villains from the past. Alfred Molina (Doc Ock), Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin), Thomas Haden-Church (The Sandman), Rhys Ifans (The Lizard) and Jamie Foxx (Electro) all return as their characters from the past. The villains are in the wrong universe and it’s up to the Spider Squad to get them back where they belong. 

       The plan is working, Peter is curing the villains of their super-ailments. Eventually, the Goblin turns and, after a gnarly fight, he kills the only family Peter has left. Aunt May is killed in what might be the saddest moment in the history of the MCU. 

          This moment leads to what might be the coolest cameos of all time. After Ned begins using Dr Strange’s magic sling-ring, he realizes he can summon portals. He opens a portal to Spider-Man who walks through. Andrew Garfield came back for another outing as the Amazing Spider-Man. Ned tries another portal and out walks the Spider-Man that defined a generation. Tobey Maguire is back after 14 years. 

         The three Spider-Man united in a heartfelt moment about power and responsibility, reminding each other what it means to be Spider-Man. 

        After an epic three Spider battle with Electro, Sandman and the Lizard, Green Goblin returns and causes Peter to make a choice. The movie ends with the entire world forgetting that Peter Parker ever existed. 

          This film is a master class in storytelling. Bringing back characters from previous films, previous generations of Spider-Man allowed for everyone to connect to the story in a meaningful way. Seeing Andrew and Tobey again, seeing the three Spider-Men together on the big screen was something we only dreamt we’d see one day. You could feel the energy, the excitement, the enjoyment radiating off Tobey and Andrew. You could tell it meant just as much to them as it meant to us. 

        Having these villains back was also special, but Willem Dafoe was on another level in this picture. His portrayal of the duality between good-hearted Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin made for some of the most compelling villainous storytelling of all time. He should absolutely get an Oscar nomination for this movie. 

         I can’t say enough about how much I love this movie without running out of pages and print. I will eventually add a full, in-depth review that emphasizes my full feelings on this film on our website (usueasterneagle.com). If you haven’t seen this, I urge you, I beg you to go see this movie. See it multiple times. I promise, this movie will resonate with you in some impactful way. There’s no way I can give “No Way Home” anything less than a 10, so it gets 10/10 webs for me.