Spider-Man: No Way Home Review

I have spent the past fifty-six minutes since I got out of the theater debating on how much I want to tell you about the film Spider-Man: No Way Home, starring Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya. The trailers alone make it clear that you will at the very least see familiar faces like Doc-Oc played by Alfred Molina and Green Goblin played by Willem Dafoe, so I have no problem talking about them.

The question remains; to spoil or not to spoil?

I’m going to put up the SPOILER WARNING now just in case anyone gets all mad because I mention things you can clearly see in the movie trailers.

Speaking of, here’s the trailer just so there’s a nice space between this first little section and the last so that you can decide if you want to continue reading.

What I can tell you without spoiling anything (because I still haven’t decided what I want to do) is that you may want to refresh yourself by watching all the Spider-Man movies. If you paid attention to the trailers, you’re gonna need to watch that really awful third movie from the Tobey Maguire one because Sandman is obviously in it.

Overall, the movie was a fantastic balance of humor, actions, adventure, drama, sci-fi, and romance. From Peter, MJ, and Ned giggling at the names of, and poking fun of the villain’s creation stories from other Spider-Man films, to Peter Parker navigating his own conscience on what is right and what is wrong, to going head-to-head with Dr. Strange himself, the movie is a joyride from start to finish. Not once did I itch to grab hold of my phone and check the time like I have so many other disappointing MCU movies.

(Case in point, Spider-Man: Far From Home was probably the least entertaining of the Home trilogy.)

Sony’s 8th Spider-Man film was well worth the wait as we comic book geeks and nerds put up with delay after delay. It was one of those things where we wondered if it would happen at all or if it would need to be changed drastically just to keep up with all the mandates that have sought to ruin our lives be stealing our freedoms and our ability to just be entertained.

But that’s a different rant.

Those of you have read my articles know that I managed to write a lengthy article about the first trailer for this movie alone, but I struggle to write a review. Why? Because even if you know there may be spoilers, I just don’t want to take away from your experience. So let’s focus on what we can without giving too much away.

First off, that acting is superb. Even Willem Dafoe, known for his overacting and terrifying smile gave the performance of a lifetime to the superhero film. Dafoe, who with his terrifying, crazy smile could have easily been cast as Cletus Kassidy in place of Woody Harrelson, or as Joker in place of Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, or Jaquin Pheonix, gives Norman Osborn the creepiness required to become the Green Goblin.

Alfred Molina shines as he reprises his role as the sad, confused, and grieving Doc Ock or Dr. Otto Octavius. We see the signs of him fighting the nanotechnology from the second Spider-Man film he originally starred in. He brings a touching bit of humanity and strength to the villain that was both humorous and exciting to watch as he is (okay, here’s one spoiler) the first villain that Peter Parker must face in No Way Home.

Naturally the recurring roles of Peter Parker, Ned, MJ and of course Dr. Strange are all played to perfection by their actors. To so say that any one of them stole the show wouldn’t really be fair because they all made their scenes without pulling focus.

The movie’s storyline, which most people struggle with after a few days, was well written. I am sure some “fanboy” out there will pick it apart and find a million plot-holes but remember this; when you are dealing with a movie outside of reality, especially a superhero movie, not everything can be accounted for.

Just enjoy the film, I know I did!

Grade: A