WARNING: you’re about to read the review for Spider-Man: Far From Home and it will contain some serious spoilers for Avengers: Endgame so if you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading until you have. But if you have seen it, enjoy the review! 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has certainly seen quite a shakeup after the snap that brought everyone back in Avengers: Endgame. While some heroes survived the massive battle, a handful of others sacrificed their lives to ensure that those who came back stuck around a little while longer. The one who has made the biggest sacrifice play is Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and while everyone all over felt the loss, no one has felt it more than our favorite friendly neighborhood wall crawler, who was like a son to Tony and with this loss, he’s going to have to live up to everything that Tony has bestowed upon him and that knowledge will come in handy when he swings into action once again on a globetrotting mission to save the world in the 2nd Spider-Man movie in the MCU (produced in collaboration once again with Columbia Pictures), the 11th & final film in Phase 3 of The Infinity Saga and the overall 23rd film in the MCU, Spider-Man: Far From Home! 

5 years after The Snap or The Decimation happened, the Hail Mary move that brought everyone back has been deemed “The Blip” by a majority of people. One of the people who blipped back is Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and ever since he and his friends, family and others came back, things have been trying to go back to normal. One of the normal things that has been on Peter’s mind is planning on stuff to do on the school trip through Europe, particularly profess his feelings for the offbeat MJ (Zendaya) but the one thing that’s not on his mind at the moment is putting on his Spidey suit and fight crime while on vacation. Considering that he’s returned from the afterlife after 5 years and just lost his mentor Tony Stark, can you blame him for not wanting to be on the job right now and just be with friends & classmates? However, one person who doesn’t share his feelings of not wanting to be on the job is Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who also blipped back. Fury asks Peter for his help when a potentially catastrophic event has begun on the planet, as three ultra powerful beings known as the Elementals have started to unleash chaos all over the world, including Italy, the first stop on the school’s European trip, using the powers of fire, water & earth. To defeat them, he’ll join forces with Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), a human seemingly from another Earth who uses mystical powers to take down the Elementals, who killed his family and destroyed his world. Peter never thought he would be saving the world on his summer vacation but if he wants to stay alive long enough to be both a normal teenager that wants to tell the girl he likes how he really feels and a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, he’s going to have to step up because the world needs the next Avenger. They need a hero.

It appears that the repercussions of Endgame would spread to the latest MCU Spider-Man movie. It was obvious that the climactic moment when Tony gave his life to decimate (or snap or blip) Thanos and his army out of existence would be something that would change Peter forever because he saw the man who was like a father to him die after reuniting with him after he himself was snapped by Thanos in Infinity War. While Peter is trying to return to a normal life, it’s absolutely apparent that the loss of Tony still weighs heavily on him and he’s also trying his best to remember the lessons that Tony taught him through all the times they were together. Then, there’s the concept of the Multiverse. Without entering any spoilers of this movie, we do get solid acknowledgement of the existence of the Multiverse even though it was heavily hinted at in Doctor Strange (anyone who has seen the movie will get the hint). However, we do also question the existence of it before the start of the 3rd act when several plot developments lead to a huge moment of doubt about the Multiverse’s existence but this is the MCU we’re talking about here. They always tend to fake us out with certain details so maybe we’re right to question our doubt. Finally, there’s that ending. That post-credits scene that, while not on the same level of catastrophic as Infinity War, will definitely shake things up in the MCU going forward and the cameo by someone who has connections to previous Spider-Man movies was a real treat to see. After that first post-credits scene, I am definitely anticipating how big the ramifications will be in the inevitable third MCU Spidey movie. Plus, the second post-credits scene that uses a certain element from Captain Marvel was a really fun moment and shows a little taste of what’s to come in future MCU movies. 

Holland has truly embodied both Spider-Man and Peter Parker over the course of the MCU movies that he’s appeared in as the character and Far From Home is no exception. He’s still that awkward kid who’s trying to maintain that double life but he’s become somewhat (almost) responsible since Homecoming as he’s trying to forge his own identity instead of trying to be Iron Man 2.0 (though he’s still trying to be just a little bit but not really). The chemistry between him & Zendaya evokes a charming kind of romantic comedy feeling between the two as they stumble while dealing with the feelings that they have for each other and it has such a real spark you can’t help but feel. Gyllenhaal does a fine job as Beck AKA Mysterio and when his true colors are revealed (which is obvious if you look close enough), he’s downright electrifying. Jackson as Fury is on brand as usual and the rest of the supporting cast end up becoming the highlight of the entire movie: Jacob Batalon (Ned) & Angourie Rice (Betty) are funny together, Tony Revolori (Flash) gets more to do this time around and is absolutely hilarious and Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan) becomes a major factor in the film’s spectacular London finale by being the ally that Spider-Man needs while also trying to get with Peter’s aunt May (Marisa Tomei).

Hilarious, exhilarating, romantic and full of heart and surprises, Spider-Man: Far From Home is a true summertime crowd-pleaser that serves as a extremely satisfying conclusion to Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will have you anticipating the next phase of the MCU and a new chapter in the continuing adventures of this iteration of The Amazing Spider-Man!