Spider-Man: Far From Home

The latest installment of the Spider-Man story opens in a world without Tony Stark. All of the people who had been “blipped” by Thanos’ snap returned as if no time had passed. Our hero, Peter Parker, wants nothing more than to be a teenager on a European summer trip with his Science Club. Read MJ. But, that’s just not the way these things work, now is it?

Nick Fury is looking to get his bearing and right the state of The Avengers as best he can while facing the effects of “The Blip” himself. He has Peter’s number and isn’t afraid to use it. There is a new threat on the horizon, and assets are hard to come by. Fury calls on Parker to step up and fill some of the shoes left empty from the fallout of Endgame.

Parker isn’t the only asset Fury has to put in play against the formidable Elementals. Quentin Beck, a dimensional traveler from an alternative Earth, has come to work with Fury and company to prevent another Earth from being destroyed. The two superheroes make a good team, showing Fury and the world a glimpse of hope for a new set of Avengers. If only the movie ended there. Parker has a hard road to the end credits. His crisis of faith leads him into a lot of bad decisions with damaging consequences. He has to rely on all of his allies to pull everything back together.

I hesitated on watching Spiderman Homecoming. It was released on digital rental by the time I finally sat down with the newest iteration of the Peter Parker storyline. After the first attempt to re-imagine the friendly, neighborhood hero, I felt like it was going to be more of the disappointing sameness. I don’t think I saw more than the first Andrew Garfield films. About a third of the way in, I knew I had made a mistake. Homecoming was different. When Far From Home was announced, there was absolutely no doubt I wanted to go see the second installment.

Sophomore movies are often missing the energy and flow of the first installment, but Far From Home does just that. Tom Holland does an excellent job at merging the superhero and Peter Parker into an awkwardly seamless performance. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to come to the defense of superhero performances. The actors are essentially playing two different characters. One character typically dominates the other, creating a seemingly weak performance. Holland manages to strike a balance between the awkward kid and the superhero charmingly and hilariously.

Samuel L. Jackson’s performance seemed out of character. He was angrier and harsher than in previous films. I chalked it up to everything that had happened to Nick Fury. He had missed five years in the blink of an eye. The justifications didn’t stop my nose from scrunching each time I saw Fury interact with Parker. That assumption was wrong. Stay for the second ending credit scene. It brings everything together.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck was disarming, to say the least. He steps onto the silver screen as a surrogate Tony Stark for our hero and, potentially, for a world still grappling with Endgame. As the movie goes on, the charm wears off, and I’m not sure it was replaced with anything other than cold detachment. Which, to a point, does work for the story and the character, I would just have expected a more heated unraveling.

Far From Home is a refreshing chaser to the bittersweet taste of Avengers: Endgame. Hard to answer questions like how do you reconcile grief and how do you choose between responsibility and desire are woven in between action-packed visual spectacles and lighthearted comedy. None of the elements hitting harder than the other. It made me want to know when are we getting the next one. I didn’t like the answer to that question, but I did learn there is a plan for another. What’s a little wait time anyway?