Should I remind you that I despise romantic comedies? As I thought that this Far from Home is kind of a teenage romantic comedy, I got a little interest while decided to watch this movie. I’m not totally wrong after all, Far from Home is yet another teenage romantic comedy, with additions of superhero background and a kind of messy villain.
Set exactly after that devastating Avengers: Endgame, Far from Home takes a far lighter views on the effects of Thanos’ finger snapping. Since that Oscar-winning animation Spider-Man into Spider-Verse (2018) we know exactly that MCU wants to set Spider-man into a delightful background. This is not a wrong approach, after all, but after that huge final battle of Endgame, maybe a lighter movie to tone the tension down is not quite a match.
I don’t think that Far from Home is a bad movie. Not at all. Far from Home is a fresh and fun finale for the MCU phase 3. Tom Holland is a far funnier Peter Parker than any of that awkward Tobey Maguire and a more awkward Andrew Garfield. Yet, his love for this new MJ (Zendaya) is lovely and it’s a better picture for teenage romance. His effort to make a move to MJ is delightful, and Zendaya’s MJ is not a crybaby like Kirsten Dunst’s MJ or too dominating like Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy. Zendaya’s MJ is a cute and smart teenage girl who is lovable and fearless to make the first move. Not to mention their chemistry is blossoming and nostalgic like our high-school era. This might be the strongest strength of Holland’s era of Spider-man.
However, the main problem is Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio as the main villain. Mysterio is supposed to be a mix between Iron-Man’s high-tech ability and Thor’s weather tendencies. But Gyllenhaal made his villainy character too obvious to read, and he might be a far too much enjoying this dress-up game. I’m not saying Gyllenhaal is not charming as Mysterio, but he is too obvious to read that made the twist is not surprising at all. At first, I expected the twist would be as surprising as the sweet revelation of Michael Keaton’s Vulture in Spiderman: Homecoming (2017) and yet it didn’t even match the surprise. Or maybe the trick won’t work anymore.
The comedy still works. We can laugh freely at Peter’s awkward motions towards MJ at Venice and Paris, and to the short romance between Ned (Jacob Batalon) and Betty (Angourie Rice), and of course to the potential romance between Tony Stark’s right hand Happy (Jon Favreau) to Peter’s Aunt May (Marissa Tomei). We can also smile at the intention of Peter’s tingle, rather than the boring spidey things introduced in Maguire and Garfield’s era.
At last, Holland has a boyish charm that none of Maguire and Garfield have at their previous incarnations of Peter Parker. His journey on MCU is still long, and at least we can expect multiple chances to see his character grows into the direction that we know nothing about.
Directed by: Jon Watts | Produced by: Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal | Written by: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers | Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Favreau, Cobie Smudlers, Marissa Tomei | Music by: Michael Giacchino | Cinematography: Matthew J. Lloyd | Edited by: Dan Lebental, Leigh Folsom-Boyd | Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, Pascal Pictures | Distributed by: Sony Pictures Releasing | Official Website
8.2/10
The Lady in Pink 