Simultaneously the epitome of Marvel's hypercapitalist formula and a thrilling iteration of it, "Spider-Man: Far From Home" is, by and large, a highly enjoyable viewing experience.
This entry finds Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and pals venturing to Europe for a school vacation. They end up lilypad-hopping across the continent in tandem with Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), inadvertently nicknamed Mysterio, who's presented as an extra-dimensional crusader attempting to combat some apocalyptic mumbo-jumbo. For good measure, Beck has pulled old friends Nick Fury and Maria Hill along for his ride which - surprise! - turns out to be quite deceitful.
Interestingly, "From From Home" is aware of its own ludicrous blockbuster trappings. Beck is a cartoon megalomaniac, sure; Fury and Hill realize that, and acknowledge so on-screen in an amusing exchange. Other side-characters, like Peter’s hapless teachers (Martin Starr and J.B. Smoove), best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), and spunky love interest MJ (Zendaya) are often treated as crash-test-dummy civilians who are never in any real danger, distancing viewers from emotional reality. Yet they're also behind a lot of the film's gonzo humor, which mostly lands and does so with great hilarity on a handful of occasions ("I'm doing my best, Clarence!"). The film is so relentlessly goofy and willing to poke fun at its own ridiculousness that its less-than-revelatory adherence to certain well-worn (and arguably socio-politically-regressive) tropes is rendered dismissable, for better or worse. Whether it's ethically upstanding or not is the subject of a different discussion, but the film is certainly entertaining.
And it does not entirely forego philosophical inquiry. On one hand, Gyllenhaal plays a relatively one-note character who only shows brief flashes of inspired lunacy along the lines of great and memorable comic book villains. His non-philosophical motivations are dull, but the mechanism for their reveal is a fairly disorienting and cleverly composed scene. So are the extended hallucination sequences, which are in spots freakily unnerving.
Furthermore, some of Beck's buzzword-y declarations of his ideological motivations are genuinely reflective of issues grappled with by society at present — statements with sentiments along the lines of "anyone can manufacture their own truth." The internet has already allowed a degree of real-world blurring between fact and fiction. Such ambiguity could feasibly become physically embodied in the future by technologies along the lines of those employed by the villain(s) of "Far From Home," which begs the question: when "truth" can be so convincingly synthesized, what's to stop the powers that be from wielding its illusory might? This thematic subtext proves self-referential thanks to the film's own status as an effects-driven blockbuster, as well as its perpetual narrative tendency to question who's doing and thinking what, and why.
Then there's the high-school romance aspect, sprinkled with nothing more than a pinch of exploration of the would-be cataclysmic fallout of "Avengers: Endgame." The love story itself is highly formulaic and yet totally compelling, in large part because it's played so convincingly by the well-matched Holland and Zendaya, who share a chemistry dwarfing that of any past onscreen Peter Parker pairing.
And speaking of past iterations of the "Spider-Man" brand, there's a really fruitful, joyous callback to a certain beloved character that's sure to glue smiles to longtime Spidey-viewing faces.
Peter's personal arc, which is tied closely to the tragic fate of Tony Stark in "Avengers: Endgame," is glaringly oversimplified and nullified of much of what might have been meaningful socio-political subtext. If you don't treat that as a problem so much as a neutral quality, then you can appreciate what is done well: namely, the faithfulness to Spider-Man's historical characterization as a clever problem-solver with great instincts who comes out on top despite resource and physical disadvantages compared with some of his more powerful adversaries.
Also present are some totally passable in-universe posthumous tributes paid to Tony Stark, and one helluva post-credits scene cliffhanger.
Mysterio might think that such trifles as pure entertainment are just illusions, but if you're not irrevocably sold on that claim, you'll likely quite enjoy "Spider-Man: Far From Home," a high-flying example of a formula working well that even transcends its own trappings from time to time.
This entry finds Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and pals venturing to Europe for a school vacation. They end up lilypad-hopping across the continent in tandem with Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), inadvertently nicknamed Mysterio, who's presented as an extra-dimensional crusader attempting to combat some apocalyptic mumbo-jumbo. For good measure, Beck has pulled old friends Nick Fury and Maria Hill along for his ride which - surprise! - turns out to be quite deceitful.
Interestingly, "From From Home" is aware of its own ludicrous blockbuster trappings. Beck is a cartoon megalomaniac, sure; Fury and Hill realize that, and acknowledge so on-screen in an amusing exchange. Other side-characters, like Peter’s hapless teachers (Martin Starr and J.B. Smoove), best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), and spunky love interest MJ (Zendaya) are often treated as crash-test-dummy civilians who are never in any real danger, distancing viewers from emotional reality. Yet they're also behind a lot of the film's gonzo humor, which mostly lands and does so with great hilarity on a handful of occasions ("I'm doing my best, Clarence!"). The film is so relentlessly goofy and willing to poke fun at its own ridiculousness that its less-than-revelatory adherence to certain well-worn (and arguably socio-politically-regressive) tropes is rendered dismissable, for better or worse. Whether it's ethically upstanding or not is the subject of a different discussion, but the film is certainly entertaining.
And it does not entirely forego philosophical inquiry. On one hand, Gyllenhaal plays a relatively one-note character who only shows brief flashes of inspired lunacy along the lines of great and memorable comic book villains. His non-philosophical motivations are dull, but the mechanism for their reveal is a fairly disorienting and cleverly composed scene. So are the extended hallucination sequences, which are in spots freakily unnerving.
Furthermore, some of Beck's buzzword-y declarations of his ideological motivations are genuinely reflective of issues grappled with by society at present — statements with sentiments along the lines of "anyone can manufacture their own truth." The internet has already allowed a degree of real-world blurring between fact and fiction. Such ambiguity could feasibly become physically embodied in the future by technologies along the lines of those employed by the villain(s) of "Far From Home," which begs the question: when "truth" can be so convincingly synthesized, what's to stop the powers that be from wielding its illusory might? This thematic subtext proves self-referential thanks to the film's own status as an effects-driven blockbuster, as well as its perpetual narrative tendency to question who's doing and thinking what, and why.
Then there's the high-school romance aspect, sprinkled with nothing more than a pinch of exploration of the would-be cataclysmic fallout of "Avengers: Endgame." The love story itself is highly formulaic and yet totally compelling, in large part because it's played so convincingly by the well-matched Holland and Zendaya, who share a chemistry dwarfing that of any past onscreen Peter Parker pairing.
And speaking of past iterations of the "Spider-Man" brand, there's a really fruitful, joyous callback to a certain beloved character that's sure to glue smiles to longtime Spidey-viewing faces.
Peter's personal arc, which is tied closely to the tragic fate of Tony Stark in "Avengers: Endgame," is glaringly oversimplified and nullified of much of what might have been meaningful socio-political subtext. If you don't treat that as a problem so much as a neutral quality, then you can appreciate what is done well: namely, the faithfulness to Spider-Man's historical characterization as a clever problem-solver with great instincts who comes out on top despite resource and physical disadvantages compared with some of his more powerful adversaries.
Also present are some totally passable in-universe posthumous tributes paid to Tony Stark, and one helluva post-credits scene cliffhanger.
Mysterio might think that such trifles as pure entertainment are just illusions, but if you're not irrevocably sold on that claim, you'll likely quite enjoy "Spider-Man: Far From Home," a high-flying example of a formula working well that even transcends its own trappings from time to time.
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