Spider-Man: No Way Home

• Directed by Jon Watts
• December 13, 2021 (Fox Village Theater) / December 17, 2021 (US)
• Based on Spider-Man created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

When Peter asks Dr. Strange to use magic to make his identity as Spider-Man a secret again, the spell breaks the multiverse because Peter keeps adding conditions.

I can’t say I have ever been the biggest fan of the MCU Spider-Man movies. The again the longer the MCU goes on, the less I am enthralled by what they present. The infamous Marvel Formula causes each successive film to be as familiar as the last making the whole exercise feeling more and more tedious.

Obviously Spider-Man: No Way Home is built around nostalgia. That’s fine. That’s also the reason it works better than other MCU films have lately. It is a mild trip down superhero memory lane with Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield sharing some screen time with Tom Holland with all as Peter Parker. That none look alike in comparison to Strange (Bindlespink Cinnabon who has a big part here) in Multiverse of Madness might be bothersome.

I applaud the appearance of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox). It is something that would certainly happen in the comics though largely because whatever hero is hiring him would know he IS Daredevil with the implied choice being he could handle more sensitively the issues of super heroics. Peter and pals are oblivious to this making it all serendipity.

Once again Ned and MJ (Jacob Batalon and Zendaya respectively) play a BIG part in this movie though I am perplexed on why beyond comedic relief which should be from Peter in the form of witty barbs during battle. Once Peter screws up Strange’s spell with multiple conditions he adds while it is being cast, Peter must zap all the interlopers with a gauntlet. That begins the useless duo’s involvement for no plot reason. They would have been better off away from Peter for their safety.

Zendaya gives a slightly better performance than she has in the previous films. Ned once he got the portal ring at least made more sense to have a greater part in the story though really he was just a plot device to make things happen like keeping Strange in check or getting the assorted Peters FINALLY into the story. Little more than a plot device.

The choice of villains are Max Dillon/Electro (Jamie Foxx), Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), and Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) with an added ‘bonus’ of the MCU reality’s J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) acting as something like Alex Jones. Each baddy from the other realities are rebranded into misunderstood characters rather than individuals who succumbed to their demons and became bad. It’s the hero by trying to do the right thing that becomes the villain. That is the message anyway.

Even Doctor Strange falls into this. All come to realize in their world they are dead and Strange has no qualms sending them to die nor hiding that knowledge from them. He’s not even mildly conflicted about it. This leads to all the problems because the current Peter decides to fix them rather than gather them together to save all reality.

They’re villains because Spider-Man didn’t take the time out to rehab them. It eliminates their guilt. There is some mitigation when it comes to Dr. Octopus and the Green Goblin. Osborn had some mental health issues before he put the serum in himself, but he willingly decided to inject himself. He just let his demons out to play with the drug leading to a type of split personality. Dr. Octopus was a driven man to the point of almost obsessive. His wife understood that. It wasn’t until the chip failed and the influence of the tentacles took over that he became evil. Electro was the bullied that became the bully when he got power. Not uncommon in real life. Once his electricity was drained in No Way Home he just shrugged off his sinister ways and he was good. That is like saying all the thieves any of the Peters stopped would not exist if Spider-Man did not exist. I know these are not the most grounded films, but it is something that defies any logic.

I think there were too many villains here. Not only do we have the entire lineup from the first five Spider-Man films, but we have the new J. Jonah Jameson. It does not allow everyone a moment to shine or craft characters with strong motivation. Director Jon Watts and company rely on memory to get the viewer through.

There are some positives in this. How Spider-Man was able to override Doc Ock’s arms was great. The Electro redesign offered quick flashes of the face mask from the comics. Not that he wore it, but it was just the energy discharge around him. I think the script in a way acknowledged the comic romance between Ock and Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) when the two briefly cross paths in the story.

That also goes hand-in-hand with references to the comics titles of ‘spectacular’ and ‘amazing’ very smoothly. The eternal argument of why Spider-Man doesn’t have organic web shooters that fans have gone back-and-forth over for quite a long time gets acknowledged too. It gets meta to make comics fans happy.

Special effects were largely good though I think the Lizard looks worse here than he did before. Just something about him is faker than in his non-MCU appearance. He is hidden often in shadow which causes the character to look more like an unfinished bit of animation and not an integrated character.

Spider-Man: No Way Home works because of nostalgia. It has cool visuals and some great action with a so-so story. Because of the first half of my statement, I could watch this one again, but I don’t think it’s anything spectacular.