Spider-Man: No Way Home

A solid popcorn flick and a decent Spiderman movie about Peter's transformation from a teenage boy to a man, but it fails completely in two aspects. Paradoxically, in those on which it should build and stand: the use of old friends and in the fan service. At a time when the spider-universe has offered such gems as Into the Spiderverse (this is how you work with the possibilities of "many worlds"), Life Story (this is what real fan-service looks like), and the Insomniac reimagination (this is how you work with serious themes in Spidey's rendition), to come up with something that brilliantly scatters all the available LEGO bricks on the floor, but doesn't assemble them into anything other than exactly what you'd expect, is a bummer. There is plenty of time and space, but there is not even a hint of an attempt at anything more than "XY takes off his mask, his musical motif plays, his catchphrase comes on, the audience freaks out"; no idea, no playfulness, nothing beyond a few seconds of nostalgia. That's not fan service worthy of as many aces up your sleeve as there are. And there are plenty! They could (and should) have got out so much out of it. Well, they did, but it didn’t work. And as a result, it’s nothing but a solid pop-corn flick and a decent Spiderman movie. (16/12/2021)

The best Spider-Man and a solid Marvel movie, but still does not reach the level of Endgame. I'm sorry I didn't see it in the cinema and it's strange to write about a movie after so long when almost everyone has seen it (not my style), so just briefly. The opening with the reveal of Spiderman's Identity is quite overwhelming and powerful, the emotions work and I could easily see the whole movie in a similar vein, but once Dr. Strange intervenes, nothing will ever be the same thanks to the Multiverse. The return of the old villains from the nostalgia side is a pleasure (on the other hand quite a shame, as I like the new villains), and so is the the return of the older Spider-Men (after 5 months of spoilers I guess no one will complain). It has great pace, a nice atmosphere, the humour works in places and the action is solid, although there is not much of it, but it doesn't really matter. All the fatality, atmosphere and visual play, along with the emotions and the excellent Holland and the diabolical Defoe work, and even though I was expecting a stronger impact at the core, it's still a solid film and comic book adaptation that will offend few. I won't resist watching it again. Story 4/5, Action 4/5, Humor 3/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 5/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 5/5. 8.5/10. (16/03/2022)

Hectic, whiny, Spider Man soap opera. Or when you don't know what to do with the story, make a hodgepodge with time planes and multiverses, everything goes better afterwards because it can basically be about anything – and you have unlimited space for action set-pieces. I don't understand the enthusiastic reactions because it's a grueling 150 minutes. A fine return of friends and some tried and true bad guys, but in real time there's absolutely nothing going on. (27/03/2022)

Loser Parker heads for happiness and for the good of everybody else. A grand finale with all the trimmings. Bringing magic into Spider-Man means lots of impressive scenes with villains we know and love, but the high point is jumping around in the mirror dimension. Arrivals from older series pump nostalgia into your veins, making fans’ dreams come true, and they all seem much better than in their original appearances. Demonic Dafoe’s acting is on a higher level even than first time round and his Goblin as Parker’s trainer is the biggest trump card. No Way Home is full-on to bursting (it really features almost everybody you can think of) and sometimes it seems a shame that the movie isn’t any longer, despite the fact that in some places it drags on rather slowly. This lure to watch the sequel to Dr. Strange, who screwed up badly last time, heightens expectations to the limits of our universe and maybe even beyond. (17/12/2021)

Objectively, I should probably say that No Way Home is the weakest of the new Spider-Man movies, but subjectively, there are so many great moments that I rate it as I do without even blinking. Spider-fans will be in seventh heaven at times, Jon Watts and Tom Holland have simply done it and concluded the trilogy with the promise of great things to come. Of the non-spoilers, I have to single out Michael Giacchino's music and literally every scene in which Spidey meets Doctor Strange. (16/12/2021)