Spiderman - No Way Home (Spoiler) Review: A Bold New Direction for Tom Holland's webslinger

★★★★☆

As with many of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it can be quite difficult to properly comment on the strengths and weaknesses of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The MCU is a behemoth of a franchise, encompassing blockbusters, Netflix shows, Disney+ series’ and more- and the level of enjoyment you get from one of these films is almost entirely dependent on how well-versed you are in the other 26. Some of these character arcs, relationships, and plotlines have been going on for over a decade now; to put it simply, this is not the film to dip your toes into if you’re new to the MCU. As a matter of fact, you won’t even reach peak enjoyment of this movie if the MCU itself is the extent of your experience in the superhero genre.

In this unabashedly, dazzlingly insane motion picture, you’ll be recognising faces from Sam Raimi’s original Spiderman trilogy and the Amazing Spiderman series. And not just the villains of these movies, as shown off by the trailers. That’s right, both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield return in this film as the titular character. 3 different Spidermen, a whole host of familiar villains, a multiverse and several, weighty consequences born of these ideas. But…is Spiderman: No Way Home a good film? You’re damn right it is! This film is a visceral, endorphin-pumping bundle of joy for anyone with any reverence for the character of Spiderman.

The first thing to note when looking at the positives of this film is the sheer novelty factor of seeing all of these characters interacting with each other in 2021. It is arguably the closest a movie can come to providing you with that same feeling you had as a child; smashing all of your favourite action figures and toys together. Tobey Maguire first debuted as Spiderman (alongside Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, who also appears here) all the way back in 2002- nearly 2 decades ago! Throw in the recurring character of Dr Strange and all the mind-bending visuals and concepts that follow this character around and you get a film that is, like I said, insane. When all of these characters are on screen together, it’s madcap fun in the way that only the MCU can provide.

The real joy of this film isn’t the battle-royale style manner of throwing everyone who’s anyone at the screen, however; it actually comes in the performances. Arguably the most notable of these is the inclusion of Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin. Dafoe is probably one of my favourite actors of all time and is inarguably one of the best actors working today. The Green Goblin in No Way Home is just as evil, scenery-chewing and charismatic as ever before, and Dafoe is simply mesmeric as the character. In what for me was a pleasant surprise, the character isn’t just here because, but to play an important role in the events of the film. The Green Goblin certainly leaves his mark on Holland’s Spiderman and Dafoe steals the show in nearly every scene he appears.

Another welcome surprise for me personally was Garfield’s Spiderman. Cards on the table, I liked him well enough as the character previously but I found the films around him to be, to put it bluntly, crap. I was always more of a Maguire fan and a Raimi fan too, and Maguire’s performance as the character was solid and as likeable as it used to be - but this film has me wanting The Amazing Spiderman 3. Which is not something I’d ever think I’d say out loud. Garfield’s Peter Parker in No Way Home is wiser, layered, and utterly charming, carrying the admirable everyman quality that you want to see in your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman - as well as pulling off some of the most emotionally affecting moments in the entire film.

This is, however, still Tom Holland’s film. You would think that the MCU’s Spiderman might’ve gotten lost in the shuffle of all these returning faces, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Holland delivers his most mature performance as the character yet, as does Zendaya as MJ, with their relationship working wonders as the emotional backbone of the movie. The conclusion of the film almost works as a soft reboot of the character, taking him far away from the glitz of the Avengers and all his Stark technology. By the end of this film, Peter Parker is as alone as we’ve ever seen him before, with a crappy little New York apartment, barely enough money for rent, and a handmade, back-to-basics suit. And it’s fantastic; you could almost see the 3 films in the MCU as his true origin story and it works on every level. I can’t say enough good things about the conclusion of this film, and it should leave you very excited for the next phase in the character’s journey.

There are a few weaknesses of No Way Home that are worth bringing up, however; the main one being the pacing. The multiverse aspect was hardly a secret by the time the film hit cinemas, and while the story starts off engagingly enough (following directly on from the conclusion of Far From Home), you soon find yourself waiting for the plot to kick itself into gear. And once the villains do eventually emerge, the film grinds to a halt with a flimsy half-hour section involving Peter attempting to “rehabilitate” these enemies, as opposed to sending them back to their universes to die. It’s thematically coherent and works on paper with Tom Holland’s younger, more naïve Spiderman, but it’s something of a slog to get through in my opinion, and might make rewatches (of which there’ll be plenty) a challenge.

Some of the returning faces aren’t quite as welcome as others, either. Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock is predictably great, and Jamie Foxx’s Electro is a massive improvement over the last time we saw him in TASM2. But Rhys Ifans’ Lizard and Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman are…less than stellar, seemingly present in voice performance alone as a formality rather than having any particular role to play in the story.

And as with all MCU films, there are holes to be picked in the general plot; my favourite one being that the entirety of the film’s events could’ve been sidestepped hilariously easily, if only Peter had asked Dr Strange to make the world forget Mysterio and everything he said. Roll credits.

Having said all that, the great Martin Scorsese once described the MCU as “not being real cinema”; the films being more akin to a rollercoaster than a work of art. That might well be the case, but the ambitions of a film like Spiderman: No Way Home are to tell a wild, funny and at times emotionally arresting tale- and if you’re a fan of the MCU, of the superhero genre, and of pure and simple FUN, you’ll definitely enjoy the ride.