Leigh Paatsch reviews Spider-Man: No Way Home
The third instalment in Marvel’s Spider-Man reboot sees Tom Holland’s web-slinger join forces with familiar friends and go up against some old enemies. SPOILER ALERT
Movies
Don't miss out on the headlines from Movies. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
So here comes Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third solo Spidey outing for Tom Holland as that wide-eyed, world-saving web-slinger Peter Parker.
Before you make your approach, it is best to take pause for a moment, and then make some decisive preparations.
If you are one of those many Spider-Fans eager to blow off all those post-Covid cobwebs with a big-screen blockbuster worthy of your favourite superhero, heed the following advice.
Summon the best spoiler-proof force field you can find, and stay inside there until you see No Way Home.
Seriously, this is a movie that must seen with both a bare minimum of advance knowledge, and no educated guesses whatsoever about what you think is going to happen.
Keep it that way, and No Way Home will rock your multiverse on multiple fronts.
(And hey, once you have seen the movie, zip them lips and save your verbal fervour exclusively for others you know have seen it too.)
It cannot be emphasised enough: No Way Home is a great Spider-Man movie, and indeed, one of the finer Marvel-made movies of the past decade.
However, its capacity to fascinate, delight, intrigue, thrill and excite is irreversibly halved if someone unloads its full load of contents on you.
The ultra-arresting initial premise of the No Way Home plot was forged back at the dramatic conclusion of 2019’s Far from Home.
As we re-join the action, the whole world is now completely and utterly aware of Spider-Man’s true identity. Which means what little was normal about Peter Parker’s life has been shredded by the instant notoriety and public furore.
Not only has his beloved Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) been forced to flee her own house. Peter’s girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon) have had their futures ruined by their links to the now-maligned Spider-Man crime-fighting operation.
To try and rectify an ever-worsening situation, Peter pays a visit to his older, wiser Avengers compadre Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in search of a one-spell-fits-all solution.
While the good Doctor does have a mystic trick up his sleeves that stands a chance of wiping the world’s memory of an unmasked Spider-Man, it also unlocks a few doorways to alternate dimensions through which will step some familiar, yet highly unwelcome figures.
If you have seen a No Way Home trailer or preview clip, you are undoubtedly already aware of who (and what) will be paying Spider-Man an unplanned and unpleasant visit.
Don’t fret so much about this aspect of the plot – it won’t be generating much of the great stuff in No Way Home which demands that aforementioned vow of silence.
So let’s stop any further delving into the No Way Home synopsis right there. Just be assured that although the movie will be taking you on a wild, wired ride, it will also slow down at times to give you a better, detailed look at the mind-bending thematic territory it is leading you through.
You think you already have a Ph.D in all things Peter Parker and Spider-Man? A few shock twists and some sobering turns in No Way Home will have you questioning your credentials in the best possible way.
Performance-wise, Holland has never been better in the role of Peter Parker. Some of the material covered in the story extracts a wider acting range from him than has been demanded in the past, and he meets the challenge ably.
Technically, No Way Home looks, sounds and feels exactly right in all the departments that truly matter to Marvel fans (particularly those bummed out by the needless noodling of the studio’s last release, the soporifically so-so Eternals.
Spider-Man: No Way Home opens in cinemas nationwide on Thursday, December 16
More Coverage
Originally published as Leigh Paatsch reviews Spider-Man: No Way Home
A-listers with ‘bad attitudes’ called out
Chris Pratt has ripped into celebrities who have been difficult to work with on movie sets as he promoted his new film at Comic-Con.
Actor’s awkward Swift audition: ‘Intimate’
Eddie Redmayne has opened up about his “intimate” screen test with Taylor Swift – and how it all went so wrong.