With his identity as Spiderman revealed to the world, Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) life becomes increasingly complicated as seemingly for every Spidey-supporter there are at least two detractors calling for his demise.  He soon realizes that this stigma is infecting those he holds dear – MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon).  In an attempt to give them some normalcy back into their lives, Peter begs Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that would help to world forget Spiderman’s true identity, but when something goes wrong and portals to the multiverse are opened, villains long thought conquered return and seek their vengeance on Spiderman. 

In their third outing of the third iteration of the character on screen, Holland and director Jon Watts launch No Way Home mid-swing of which closed out Far From Home (2019) co-produced by Sony and Disney.  Parker and MJ zip and glide through the rooftops of NYC all the while the teen’s face plasters the digital billboards proclaiming him public enemy #1 from the sensationalist newsmonger J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons).  Thankfully the film does not spend too much time trying to examine the effects these anger-inducing celebrity figureheads can have on society as Marvel has very questionable judgment on how it chooses to blend its universe into the real world which they choose to set their sprawling narrative.  No Way Home has enough mishandling of the real world already in the installation of Captain America’s shield over the top of The Statue of Liberty’s torch, and while it is nowhere near as offensive as Disney writing off the atomic bombings of Japan as comic book backstory in Eternals, it just further proves that nothing in this world is sacred safe for its spandex-clad heroes and the Mouse House’s coffers. 

Despite how smoothly Spidey swings through the sky, the opening of this film is incredibly rough.  The first ten or so minutes especially as we bounce between interrogation scenes, a clunky introduction to a lawyer that is clearly only there to serve outside forces as Murdoch (Charlie Cox) does not make any reappearance or even a mention outside of his brief 30-second cameo.  It is a major problem with these extended universe stories – not just Marvel – that the producers feel the need to set up the next three things instead of just focusing on the film at hand and making that as good as it can be. 

In defense of No Way Home, the only other real major setup that it does is establishing the multiverse, however, this heavily involves Dr. Strange as it is his interrupted spell that causes the cracks between universes.  Cumberbatch is incredibly bland in his role as Stephen Strange made worse by the pandering quips that make up almost the entirety of his spoken lines.  He appears bored as he stands in front of green screens, waving his hands in some thoughtful circles and never losing the constipated look on his face.  As far as introducing the lore of the film goes, he offers very little explanation stating that even he does not know much about it.  It is honestly refreshing to hear as it spares the film from getting too bogged down by all the impossibilities, but if writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers were not able to – or rather allowed to – explain in any real detail, it would have been better to write our Dr. Strange completely from this installment and allow Holland to own his title film for once and not be stuck in the shadow of Ironman or now Strange. 

Before the action truly begins, the film sets the stage for the more human elements of the story like the trio trying to sync up their college plans.  It is really charming to see the three come together and the filmmaking here is all very familiar to that of any teen drama.  It takes its time after the unrest of those opening moments to reset and the stakes in these sequences feel like they have never been higher.  In fact, their college plans are arguably the biggest stakes in No Way Home as it keeps with the tradition of Spiderman movies to bite off just a little more than it can chew and it becomes just a little too big to really stay invested. 

With the multiverse opened, villains from the past continue their hunting down of Spiderman.  First on the scene are the iconic Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) followed by Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) reprising their roles from the previous iterations.  Later we see that Electro (Jaime Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) also join the reunion as Spiderman frantically works to transport them to Strange’s lab.  Dafoe absolutely steals the show with his dual performance as Osborn and Green Goblin, and his gravitas in the role brings the feeling of watching prestige filmmaking in an otherwise absurd b-movie plot.  After a quick talk about morality with an underutilized and underdeveloped Aunt May (Marissa Tomei), Peter decides to jailbreak these supervillains and transport them to their apartment where he will harness the power of Deus ex 3D Printer to help cure them so that they are not evil anymore.  The second act, at least up until its explosive conclusion, is an absolute mess to follow both plot-wise and logically, and while the actors all do their best, the screenwriting team here is clearly treading water.  

Thankfully, the third act of the film is where everything comes together and while it is long, it is rewarding.  The marketing and this era of fan culture really destroyed everything special about the film’s big reveal in reuniting not just the supervillains, but also Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield into the world of the film as well.  Even before the boom of Marvel Studios, Spiderman was one of the most recognizable and broadly accessible characters within the genre so people would have come out to see this film regardless.  The rabid fan base, unfortunately, ruined what could have been one of the biggest reveals months in advance with their dissection of every frame and harassing of the actors involved to spill details about their involvement in the film.  While we were cheated out of a truly organic experience, seeing the three Peter Parkers interact is some of the most tender and sweet filmmaking of the year.   

In the same way that the first act is at its strongest when it treats its characters as people first, the third act is also at its strongest when it views Peter Parker as a person.  The script hits on themes of loneliness, guilt, and with Maguire and Garfield, regret.  McKenna and Sommers made the choice to keep the actors their actual age so they can speak to Holland with the weight of experience on their shoulders.  What elevates this from just a fan service gimmick is that even without fluency in the MCU or the Spiderman saga, all of the emotional beats hit home. There is a sense of reverence for the character in all of his iterations on behalf of the writing team, and certainly the three actors at the heart of the film, and that this is not just a cash grab on behalf of Spiderman’s handlers.  The script carefully drops breadcrumbs for those unfamiliar with the plotlines of the past so that when the Parker Trio has moments of redemption, everyone understands the importance of the action because the narrative of No Way Home actually took the time to set up the dominos.  The reconciling with one’s past that occupies much of the third act is unfortunately plagued by tonal shifts to insert more one-liners and meme-able moments, but anymore that is just a necessary evil when it comes to modern installments of Disney’s acquired IP. 

The other unfortunate trend that still rings true here is that the visuals during the final fight are murky, dark, and almost impossible to accurately track.  Much of this film takes place at night, and when the eleven main characters of the film are all fighting for screentime in the confines of the Statue of Liberty scaffolding, the balance on the page and the lighting style just is not there to support the story.  Five villains, three Spiderman, two regular humans, and Doctor Strange constantly vie for the camera’s attention, but thankfully as the fight draws to a close, the focus narrows and it ends on an exceptionally brutal and visceral note that is unexpected from a Disney production, but that is what makes it one of the biggest surprises of the year, too, even if it leaves the audience with a feeling of uncomfortable catharsis. 

No Way Home ends with an equally impactful epilogue.  For as rough as the opening ten minutes were, the final ten minutes are some of the best of the film.  It allows for some really beautiful moments between Holland and Zendaya who get to showcase their chemistry together on screen.  It keeps the stakes close to the heart and the emotions behind it shine through.   

With his trilogy complete, Holland’s future as the web-slinger is up in the air with contracts nearing a close but both studios are hungry for more.  No Way Home serves as a great conclusion to his tenure if it proves impossible to arrive at an agreement for the character from the powers that be.  It was a refreshing take on our modern fascination with bringing back characters from our legacy franchises, and it truly was something special to see on screen.  The film has Feige’s fingerprints all over it, especially in the bloated first half of the film, but ultimately, No Way Home is not so interested in saving the world. Rather, it is the story of a lonely boy afraid of losing the few people he has in the world.