There's no such thing as a vacation for superheroes. Case in point, Spider-Man: Far From Home! After going to space, being wiped from existence, and literally saving the world, ol' web head wanted to take a break. Unfortunately trouble followed him to Europe. How does the 23rd film in the MCU hold up? How many tickets did it earn from the Brothers Brotastic? Tune in to find out.
Spider-Man: Far From Home continues where Avengers: Endgame left off; Tony Stark is dead, and the world has been saved. People are trying to adjust to the reintegration of those dusted in the "Snap" from Infinity War now that they have all "Blipped" back into existence 5 years later having not aged with the rest of the world. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is trying to find his place in all this now that his mentor is dead, often feeling alone. He finds out that Stark left him with all the assets that Iron Man left behind, which in the wrong hands could really do some damage. Overwhelmed, he seeks to take a break for a school trip and finally work up the courage to ask MJ (Zendaya) out. Trouble, however, is always brewing. A Mysterious hero comes out of nowhere when "Elemental" creatures seem to appear from the same place; creatures made of water, earth, and fire. This new hero teams up with Spider-Man claiming he's from a different dimension trying to keep these creatures from destroying this one. Unbeknownst to the audience and Spider-Man, the multidimensional story is but a ruse to con Peter Parker into handing over his gift from Tony Stark. The mysterious new hero Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a disgruntled ex employee of Tony Stark's, and seeks to get revenge, along a few dozen other ex-employees who feel the same. Using technology that Tony stark dismissed as not useful, they were going to fool the world. Needless to say, the plot is eventually foiled by Spider-Man, but not before Beck, named Mysterio by news organizations, reveals Spider-Man's true identity as Peter Parker to the entire world.
One of the aspects of Spider-Man that make him a beloved hero is his constant fight with himself; meaning his struggle to live both as Peter Parker and Spider-Man separately. He longs for the simple joys of having friends and romantic relationships, but feels an immense duty to help others since he is gifted in a way to do so, but he can't do both at the same time no mater how hard he tries. This film did an amazing, no pun intended, job of showing that struggle with his own duality. He's in Europe, about to sit next to the girl he likes, and she's showing interest in him as well, when all of a sudden, disaster strikes and Spider-Man must save the day. the weight of this fight was felt coming off of the screen.
Mysterio is a known Spider-Man villain, and yet with the marketing and the way the film opened, it seemed like Mysterio was actually one of the good guys. Marvel has changed some of their characters to better suit the films, so it is possible. But just like Mysterio deceives everyone, Marvel deceived us. While the reveal that Mysterio was in fact a bad guy wasn't exactly jaw dropping, it was a bit of a surprise.
A big surprise however, was the reveal that J.K. Simmons reprised his role as J. Jonah Jameson, head of the Daily Bugle; a publication that hates Spider-Man and does everything it can to tear down the web slinger.
An even bigger surprise was the reveal that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) were in fact shape shifting Skrulls this whole time! The real Fury was in space. How long has this been going on? Skrulls showed up in the 90's, well before Iron Man 1.
This movie earned 2 tickets all around. It was fun to see, and both of us brothers would gladly watch it again.
Until next time, we'll see you at the movies.
And don't forget to check your ticket stubs.
