Spider-Man: Far From Home

The whole film is a relentless flurry of action and adventure from the get-go, with the man himself sporting no less than four different spider suits (for all the mega fans out there). Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) gets a look-in once again after her very disappointing absence from 99.99% of ‘Endgame’, but she’s wasted on screen, serving little to no purpose. And while this film finally gives us a Peter/MJ love story, it’s all too familiar territory - not because of the characters involved but because we saw Peter pursue a crush in ‘Homecoming’. We also saw him try to balance the student/hero sides of his life then too. This is THIS Peter Parker’s fifth time on the rollercoaster. We’ve seen him and fell in love with him as the sweet, innocent kid who had greatness thrust upon him and his thirst to be a superhero. He had his shot in the ring - several times in fact - and now we need to see him grow, but they’ve just given us much of the same. We need to know where this is going, not just watch a kid play dress-ups time and time again. - Jess Fenton Read Jess' full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-spider-man-far-from-home-in-a-post-iron-man-world-spideys-still-the-same-insecure-kid

Rewatched for the Once Upon a Franchise podcast. Listen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2i1JSrpI0r6or1IpqocOBR?si=4gDf3zm9QGazNsmjrGzM7Q Rating: B- SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME is a film I still like, but damn, does it go down on a rewatch. Jake Gyllenhaal's commitment to Mysterio and those two major illusion set pieces remain genuinely some of the best CGI action Spider-Man has ever gotten on screen, and the fake-news messaging underneath it all still feels sharp and uncomfortably relevant. But this viewing made clear just how much the film leans on momentum and charm to paper over a villain plan that collapses under scrutiny, a structure that hops between cities with almost no logistical grace, and a Tony Stark / Iron Man legacy throughline that, for the first time, actually makes me sympathize with the "Iron Boy Jr." crowd I usually roll my eyes at. Layer on the fact that NO WAY HOME and BRAND NEW DAY now exist and have shown me what this saga is capable of at its absolute best, and this second installment can't help but feel like the transitional, slightly overstuffed middle chapter it always was — fun, well-performed, occasionally brilliant, but the first Spider-Man MCU entry where the seams really show for me.