Spider-Man: Far From Home Movie Review: Entertaining, but not memorable

Spider-Man: Far From Home fails to strike a balance and as a result, feels altogether too confused to make a lasting impression on the new age fans of this Marvel boot up.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

U/A: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director: Jon Watts
Cast: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei
Rating: 

Hoping to rejuvenate the 60-year-old franchise with a zestful, gamey-action, teen-insecurity-ridden overture, Director Jon Watt's younger version of the arachnid empowered superhero has Peter Parker reiterating his youthful foibles, unable to come to terms with his superpowers and the age-old responsibilities that go with it.

The 23-year-old Tom Holland returns to play the teen Peter Parker and the illusion sticks like glue. In fact, most of this entreaty is rather illusionary and like Quentin Trent aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) opines, "People want to believe in illusion." Much of the narrative here is rather disjointed what with Peter changing into as many as four Spidey suits, dragging his feet all through a European vacation without making any great efforts to make his feelings for Zendaya's MJ known and literally throwing away the Iron Man mantle thrust on him by a dying Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Despite going to outer space and helping reverse the 'Blip' (as seen in Avengers: End Game) he prefers to be the friendly neighbourhood Spiderman – not a world-saving Iron Man replicate. In fact, the entire scenario here tries to confuse - with Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) playing quirky disciplinarian, trying to tame the teen rebel into following in Iron Man's shoes. The problem with that overwhelming expectation is that Spiderman has an identity all his own and there's really no need for him to step onto the Iron Man plate when he can still do his thing and save the world in the bargain. And rightfully, achy-breaky Peter keeps chafing at all comparisons to the legend.

The movie opens with a tribute to Tony and the three other Avengers who lost their lives trying to save Earth, while Whitney Houston's 'I will Always Love You' serenades the in-memoriam. The next thing we know is Peter Parker ghosting a call from Nick Fury and accepting a gift from Pepper Potts, one that Stark's willed him. The gift, a pair of innocuous-looking sunglasses, has all the powers required to control Stark Industries' remarkable arsenal of satellites and hi-tech gadgets. While our young Spiderman loves to play around with the gadget he is not up to handling its immense possibilities when threated by a series of destructive forces all through his European sojourn. There are also a few other romances brewing on the sidelines - between Peter's aunt and guardian May (Marisa Tomei), and Happy (Jon Favreau), Starks bestie and another that involves plus-sized Ned (Jacob Batalon) and cute blonde Betty (Angourie Rice).

Watch the trailer here:

The writing is light and humorous but the overall scripting appears to be a little muddled as it tries to mesh teen indecisiveness with saving-the-world acuity. The bits about a bunch of teenagers finding their feet during a summer tour through Europe, is mildly entertaining but the reluctant clash between Spiderman and Mysterio doesn't have the pull required to keep you impressed. Far From Home, the second instalment in the most recent live-action Spider-Man reboot, appears a little too gamey, superficial and lacking in substance. Jon Watts finds it hard to keep the adrenaline gushing through a series of belaboured, obviously contrived action set-pieces that appear farcical. Holland's earnest sincerity comes across strongly and the solo, friendly Spidey jaunts are in fact far more entertaining than the face-offs here. And that's really because Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio doesn't have the makings of a really strong villain. Whether its playing up Spidey's youthful inadequacies or playing down Mysterio's villainy, this film fails to strike a balance and as a result, feels altogether too confused to make a lasting impression on the new age fans of this Marvel boot up. But that's not to say that this mish-mash of romance, comedy and action, a calibrated normalising effort in the post-Thanos Marvel universe, isn't entertaining!

Also read: Breaks my heart that Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't remember her role in Spider-man: Homecoming, jokes Tom

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