I was already concerned about Spider-Man: No Way Home when I walked into the theater (one could say I was expecting to be disappointed.) I kind of hate the idea of delving too deep into a multiverse, because I think it muddles things too much, and defies the internal logic of most stories. Sure enough that was something I felt while watching this film. This movie cannot hold up to even the tiniest bit of analysis, because it creates plot holes that you can drive a freight train through. It's kind of sad because there were some moments in the movie that I genuinely loved, but all I can think about days later are the myriad of questions that I'm left with because this movie created so many situations that make no sense.
My other big problem with Spider-Man: No Way Home is not really a fault of the movie, but more of the society we live in today. Living in an internet-focused culture, we are bombarded by ads and news stories that relate to the things that interest us. SInce I've shown my love for all things MCU in the past, of course I see plenty of things crossing my radar about the upcoming films. I was able to avoid watching any trailers for this movie, which I thought would help, but by merely catching headlines of casting rumors I could foresee every surprise they built into it. Of course any logical mind could put two and two together once the guest appearances start, so I suppose this isn't a movie that is going to blow away audiences with its surprises.
As I said, though, my disappointment is quite frustrating because I also found many aspects of No Way Home so satisfying. They wrapped up some story elements nicely, and this might have contained some of the best acting in any Marvel movie. In particular, I found Zendaya so surprisingly strong, I was almost able to ignore her lack of character motivation in some key moments. She wasn't the only person in the film that behaved stupidly, in fact the central premise of the film is built on a horrible idea from Aunt May that seems altruistic, but lacks any 4th-dimensional thinking which I would expect from a genius like Peter Parker. But smart people being dumb is the catalyst of the entire story, as even Dr. Strange doesn't seem to think anything through, past Peter's initial request.
No Way Home is easily the most meta Spider-Man movie ever made, which is kind of shocking to say in a post "Into the Spider-verse" world. It's catering to the most die-hard fans in the world, but it's more of a nod to the fans of the Spider-Man movies. I was always a huge fan of the multitude of Spider-Man comic books when I was a collector, but I've typically struggled with his portrayal in films. So, giving all these nods to things that came before Tom Holland took over the role on the big screen, falls a bit flat for me. One of the things I loved about this iteration of the character is that it avoided the cliches and saved us so much of the traditional Spider-Man origin story, but this movie back-pedaled and became a copy of a copy of a copy.
This return to cliche also sucked some of the emotion out of key moments as any fan of the character should know the same old tropes by now. I almost got emotional at the end because of the great acting performances, but the big emotional moment earlier in the film did nothing for me as all I could think was "really, we're going there?" There are some good laughs in the film, although I wonder how well it will hold up on rewatch. And I will rewatch this film, as I do with all MCU movies, but I think at this point Spider-Man: No Way Home sits as my least favorite in the franchise. In fact, I'm at a point right now where I'm questioning if I will keep being a diehard fan of everything the MCU churns out. This film wasn't what I'd call a complete failure, but I'm concerned the MCU is getting closer to one of those. Perhaps EndGame should have been exactly what the title implies.
My other big problem with Spider-Man: No Way Home is not really a fault of the movie, but more of the society we live in today. Living in an internet-focused culture, we are bombarded by ads and news stories that relate to the things that interest us. SInce I've shown my love for all things MCU in the past, of course I see plenty of things crossing my radar about the upcoming films. I was able to avoid watching any trailers for this movie, which I thought would help, but by merely catching headlines of casting rumors I could foresee every surprise they built into it. Of course any logical mind could put two and two together once the guest appearances start, so I suppose this isn't a movie that is going to blow away audiences with its surprises.
As I said, though, my disappointment is quite frustrating because I also found many aspects of No Way Home so satisfying. They wrapped up some story elements nicely, and this might have contained some of the best acting in any Marvel movie. In particular, I found Zendaya so surprisingly strong, I was almost able to ignore her lack of character motivation in some key moments. She wasn't the only person in the film that behaved stupidly, in fact the central premise of the film is built on a horrible idea from Aunt May that seems altruistic, but lacks any 4th-dimensional thinking which I would expect from a genius like Peter Parker. But smart people being dumb is the catalyst of the entire story, as even Dr. Strange doesn't seem to think anything through, past Peter's initial request.
No Way Home is easily the most meta Spider-Man movie ever made, which is kind of shocking to say in a post "Into the Spider-verse" world. It's catering to the most die-hard fans in the world, but it's more of a nod to the fans of the Spider-Man movies. I was always a huge fan of the multitude of Spider-Man comic books when I was a collector, but I've typically struggled with his portrayal in films. So, giving all these nods to things that came before Tom Holland took over the role on the big screen, falls a bit flat for me. One of the things I loved about this iteration of the character is that it avoided the cliches and saved us so much of the traditional Spider-Man origin story, but this movie back-pedaled and became a copy of a copy of a copy.
This return to cliche also sucked some of the emotion out of key moments as any fan of the character should know the same old tropes by now. I almost got emotional at the end because of the great acting performances, but the big emotional moment earlier in the film did nothing for me as all I could think was "really, we're going there?" There are some good laughs in the film, although I wonder how well it will hold up on rewatch. And I will rewatch this film, as I do with all MCU movies, but I think at this point Spider-Man: No Way Home sits as my least favorite in the franchise. In fact, I'm at a point right now where I'm questioning if I will keep being a diehard fan of everything the MCU churns out. This film wasn't what I'd call a complete failure, but I'm concerned the MCU is getting closer to one of those. Perhaps EndGame should have been exactly what the title implies.