‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Review: Listen to Bud, No Spoilers Here

Thanos isn’t the biggest villain in Marvel-wood: Your friendly, sometimes grumpy neighborhood movie critic. It’s also the weakest, and that’s okay. His powers are insignificant.

With armies of true believers and dominating both movie theaters and click-baiting media, Marvel long ago made its product line-up to critics’ proof. His films are opened, crushed and refreshed (again). Now, he has a movie that has review proof at the same time as “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Your critic can throw off the adjectives – live! funny! stale!—but I can’t say much about what it is.

The idea is that saying too much will ruin the fun here, as spoiler police insist. Of course it wouldn’t. The trailer and preview has already spilled over, and Marvel’s movies are so persistently appealing to their fans that there’s rarely room for real surprises. So, spoiler alert: Spider-Man wins. And once again, the best of the franchise’s live-action lead roles, Tom Holland, is available to play Peter Parker, the eternal youth who doubles as Spider-Man. With her compact size and bright, easy-going smile, Holland still looks and sounds more like a child than an adult, and exudes the same sweet, serious kindness that helped make Peter and Spider-Man a permanent twin.

Peter’s childlike good nature has always been his most prolific weapon, even more so than his super-skill at knitting and swaying by a thread. He’s always been a nice, lovable kid with the prettiest, cutest girls (Kirsten Dunst, Emma Stone). But Holland is the most convincing among the other wet-eyed tomboys (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield) playing Spidey. Her love interest is MJ, played by Zendaya, who is now paired with someone else. Teen saviors of this year “DuneThe cast as MJ and her extended role in the series continue to bear fruit, and Zendaya’s charisma and ability to sell emotions (and silly dialogues) give the new film a soft, steady glow that centers it like a heartbeat as the story begins. in different directions.

Returning director Jon Watts proved a good fit for the material, in part because he realized that Peter was a young man who retained his inquisitive holy virgin nature. (Part brand extension, part celebrity roast, screenplay by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.) Peter and MJ rub and lock their lips together, but their relationship is more intimate than sexual, no doubt as a concession to the younger members of the film’s target. demographic. (In one scene, Watts splits the screen to show Peter and MJ on their phones in separate bedrooms; Doris Day and Rock Hudsonromance during the day.)

As for the story, there’s one, but what this “Spider-Man” movie really has is a clever setup that’s jamming the Marvel universe’s spread with the help of one of its MVPs. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). It opens with an intense explosion and the revelation of Peter’s secret identity that changes his life and initiates a series of reunions, fight scenes and emotionally charged moments. Spider-Man went a long way throughout the movie for the simple reason that, like nearly every Marvel production, it was too long and took over the welcome of two and a half hours. But before that, the movie is beautifully captured and unfolds.

He does this in large part because of his expanding roster of artists, including Marisa Tomei (as Peter’s Aunt May) and Jacob Batalon (Peter’s best friend, Ned), who fill the gaps between fights with emotion and distinctive personality. As with any successful series, casting has often been as important or more important in Spider-Man films as the general elements. Even in its coldest and PG-13 worst moments, great actors like Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina, two of a series of veteran series making a comeback, can warm industrial material simply by their presence. They soften the hard edges, sell jokes, break hearts, and add to the film’s tonal consistency.

It would be nice to see what Watts could do if he wasn’t constrained by Marvel’s rigid template that gives studio films clearly defined genre identities but also means they’re more alike. (For complicated commercial reasons, the Spider-Man spin-off starring Maguire wasn’t part of the Marvel movie world until he became the Dutch first star.) Among other things, it would be new to see a more complex Peter. After all, the world is a complete mess, and it would be great if Peter’s great strength and keen sense of responsibility could be used for other bigger fights, such as against climate change. Greta Thunberg cannot do this alone.

Spider-Man: No Homecoming
It is rated PG-13 for comic book violence. Working time: 2 hours 30 minutes. In movie theaters.