Spider-Man: Far From Home review

By Luke Jones.

SPOILER ALERT: I also talk a little bit about Stranger Things Season 3, so if you’re not up to date with the goings on of Hawkins, Indiana then maybe hold off reading for now.

It’s the end of an era, or at least the end of a chapter. While Avengers: Endgame was the Collector’s Edition issue featuring seemingly every Marvel character it actually falls to Spider-Man: Far From Home to round out Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And it’s fantastic; a fun, knockabout rollercoaster with a great cast, that even has something to say about the state of the world.

I loved Tom Holland. I loved his chemistry with Zendaya as MJ, and how their relationship meant this was the first Marvel film to make me tear up. I loved how the action was well-directed and clear to follow despite all of the bangs and pops. There have been enough Marvel movies by now to know whether you buy into this universe, but for those who are on board this is A-grade Marvelling.

And that’s kind of incredible to me. This is the 23rd film in a series where the quality hasn’t just remained high, it’s arguably better than ever. To compare this with another well-known franchise, we’re up to Skyfall in James Bond terms but the MCU doesn’t have anything as comparatively awful as Die Another Day or A View to a Kill to its name. Yes, Thor: The Dark World is an aggressively average film, but I’d take two hours with Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston bickering over Pierce Brosnan surfing an ice wave any day of the week.

Sometimes it’s good to check your personal biases though, and on the way home I found myself comparing it with the most recent season of Stranger Things. Reviews have been favourable, but I took against it because it felt repetitive, there were too many characters and the increase in comedy undermined almost all of the tension. On the surface these are criticisms that could be levelled at Far From Home (it is the sixth Spider-Man film in 3 years after all) but it sticks the landing because it tells its story well, the supporting cast is fun to spend time with and it has great gags that generate proper laughs. 

This is the lesson that so many other shared universes have failed to learn. Marvel succeeds because they get the basics right and work from there; solid stories featuring well-written lead characters played by excellent casts. It's the Pixar formula, and it’s what makes their occasional wobbles stand out all the more; I expect there’s better to come, but I wasn’t sold on Captain Marvel because I never thought Brie Larson had a complete handle on her character.

So yeah, barely six months after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse blew me away I’m again spoilt with another great Spidey film. Role on Phase 4.