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PG -13 – Action,  Adventure, Sci-Fi

2 h 9min

Opens Tuesday, July 2nd 

Greetings, true believers! What we have before us is yet another fantastical superhero adventure with everyone’s favorite web-head.

Following the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” the meddlesome arachnid, Spider-Man (Tom Holland, reprising his role), must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever. Those curious if Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures would have a bit of a hangover after the critically acclaimed (and box office behemoth) “Avengers: Endgame” need not worry. While “Far From Home” is a continuation of that greater Marvel universe arc, this new Spider-film doesn’t try to match the scope or intensity of that one, nor does it need to try.

Like 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” this film works best during the character driven moments in between the loud super-villainous plots and FX heavy action sequences. Holland is the best cast Peter Parker/Spider-Man ever put to live action film, and Zendaya is wonderful as love-interest Mary Jane. Their chemistry is palpable and really drives the story.

In fact the entire cast of High School students (most carried over from the last film) are all really solid. The chemistry between them is good and helps the film keeps a good natured and comedically appropriate tone throughout. This is Spider-Man, for heaven’s sake. It should pop with comedy and smart-ass remarks from the wall-crawler!

The film is also helped by extended screen time from Samuel L. Jackson and Jon Favreau, as Nick Fury and Happy Hogan, respectfully. We don’t always get to see a lot of these two in many of the other Marvel movies (though Jackson had a sizable role in this years “Captain Marvel”), so their presence here is a great benefit to the picture.

A superhero is only as good as their super-villain, and never in a million years did I think I’d see a comic-accurate, big budget version of “Mysterio” on the big screen. Like many, I always assumed the fish bowl wearing villain was a bit ridiculous, but Marvel has a way of making magic happen with the unexpected on the big screen. In fact, the best sequence in the film revolves around Mysterio truly showing his skills as a master of illusion. Oscar-caliber visual effects at work here.

If I have a nit-pick though it’s the casting underneath the villain’s glass helmet. Jake Gyllenhaal is a very gifted actor but not the most inspired choice here. In the scenes when the focus is on Quentin Beck (Mysterio’s real name) I found the film to be plodding along a bit. Once the visual sensation of Mysterio was set loose though, the film returned to the entertaining crowd-pleaser it was meant to be.

Holland and Zendaya are an interesting enough pair to lead this franchise in the right direction for a couple more films. We’ll see what Mysterio-like tricks Marvel has up their sleeve next. It may not reach the highs of the wonderful animated feature “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse” from last year, but “Far From Home” is a damn good Spider-man film. For now, Peter Parker is in the right hands.

As Stan Lee would say, “Excelsior!”

Nuff said.

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The post Buttered and Salty: Spider-Man: Far From Home – Review appeared first on The Good Men Project.

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Joshua B. Porter, Khareem Sudlow