Spider-Man: Far From Home, stumbles a little, but nobody will mind

The MCU film that I compared Spider-Man: Far From Home when I left the theater was Iron Man 3-and not for good reasons. Elements of the film have the same bait and switch trick that the later had and I wasn’t a fan. However, since that film we’ve had almost two dozen entries into the MCU, a mythos has been created, fandoms built and a series of movie juggernauts launched. We’ve also had three really entertaining Spider-Man films in three years and that’s a great thing.

By now the history of Spider-Man and his MCU lineage is established. The snap occurred, was undone, albeit with some casualties and life has pressed on. What Spider-Man: Far From Home gets 100% down correctly (in an entertaining fashion) is how the snap impacted everyone involved. Some of Peter Parker’s contemporaries return as young adults who were nerdy, but now are the prettiest ones at school.  Tributes to Iron Man are all over town and the rumor mill is a buzz as to who will helm The Avengers.

Factor all of this on top of the fact that Peter Parker’s class is taking a trip to Europe. He’s trying to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, has a crush on a girl, wants to hang out with his best friend and isn’t sure about his status in the superhero world that’s suddenly gotten weird.

A weird superhero film that focuses on the human elements of superhero lives calls for a heel that’s not typical; and here enters Mysterio, AKA, Quentin Beck. The snap comes into play to an extent as alternate Earths and their terrestrial based heroes are referenced. It tore a hole through dimensions which caused other people’s bad guys to come over to ours. Don’t think about things too hard in the film or you’ll see plot holes, but that’s part of the fun about the film.

It gleefully pokes fun at aspects of the snap while referencing other heroes that might seem more mature or well suited for this adventure. The film also lets the secret identity spider out of the bottle on more than one instance. Holy Michael Keaton Batman, suddenly MJ is Kim Bassinger as Vicki Vale.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is almost as much of a teen romance, as it is a superhero movie. There are some nice comedic elements and two great credit sequences that fans of the MCU need to see. One of them clears up a couple plot holes and the other one sees the MCU looking down the rabbit hole.

There are periods in the film where it gets a bit too big for its britches. One sequence with Mysterio is a bit long, the road trip element could’ve used a haircut here and there also. 15 minutes shorter and the film would’ve been a guilt-free summer popcorn flick. It’s longer than ideal run time doesn’t spoil the film, it just feels padded at times.

Having said that, it’s a fun film that ages 9 and up will clamor to see and will be the talk of the playground. It also cements Spider-Man as the youngest superhero that is OK for younger fans. Granted Spider-Man is high school, but some of the content might not be fine for most elementary viewers. The length of the film, combined with some language and mild adult situations will be too much or bore those kids 8 or younger.

Our 9 year-old loved the film and immediately asked when the next one would come out. As a fan of most films in the MCU, we liked it too, although not as much as Captain Marvel or some of the recent entries. It’s just barely above average, and that’s OK for a nice summer romp.