And here we are again folks, sitting here with yet another Spider-Man movie. The web slinging superhero has been nothing but a money tag for the big Hollywood studios over the years, as audiences have seen eight different solo films since 2002 with no room for stopping in the near future. In 2019's version of the superhero, we return to his inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Spidey is tasked with bringing the MCU back to normal standards after the catastrophic events of both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. I've always loved the Spider-Man films, especially 2017's Homecoming, which served as the perfect introduction to Tom Holland's portrayal of the character, but for many reasons, Far From Home just didn't do it for me. Homecoming and 2018's delightful Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse proved that with the right balance of film and fun, Spider-Man movies can truly be out of this world (and literally in some cases). So, experiencing the latest in Marvel Studios' story serves as such a disappointment, not because the film is bad in any way, it just isn't good enough anymore. The film picks up right where Endgame left off, where the first five minutes of the movie's exposition relay to the audience how the world has reacted to the "snap", or, what the people of 2023 call it, the "blip". After the information is given, the story then jumps to Parker and friends' summer school vacation trip to Europe, where the trip is quickly derailed after Nick Fury tasks Peter into fighting the "Elementals", gigantic monsters made of Earthly materials, within the European borders. Teamed up with newcomer "Mysterio", played by the iconic Jake Gyllenhaal, it's up to Peter to save everyone he loves, and the world too. The biggest problem with Far From Home is that it doesn't follow any of the steps that made 2017's Homecoming so spectacular. Instead of giving us the classic high school kid 80's style comedy induced with a little bit of superhero stakes action, Far From Home serves as a placeholder of sorts, like a snack reserved to hold someone off until dinner. Because of that, the film has to hold all of the weight put on to it by Endgame, something that it isn't quite able to pull off. On top of that, the third act is absolutely atrocious, with a final fight that becomes a literal bore to watch mere minutes after it begins. Without getting into spoilers, the twist the film chose to go with is completely expected, and doesn't actually surprise anyone or anything when it finally makes its way into the story. On top of that, the acting almost feels a little too forced, with way too much awkwardness and inept character chemistry weaved into the plot at every possible moment, when no one asked for that in any sort of way. But regardless of all of that, Far From Home still does a spectacular job in the first half of the film, where the action is constantly flowing and the jokes are hitting at every possible instance. When the second half hits, though, things begin to derail at exponential rates, quickly sinking into a common-place formula filled Marvel movie by time the end credits grace the screen. To sum it up, it all comes down to this: Far From Home is fine, nothing more, nothing less. In attempts to make it memorable over all the other Spider-Man movies, it ruins itself, offering nothing new to the character, and nothing new to the genre itself. For that, it's disappointing on its own.
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