Quips, Thwips, & Closure– ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Spoiler-Free Review
–This movie might confirm every guess you’ve made about No Way Home. But even if it does, you’ll still get swept up in the experience.
Walking into the theater, I was worried that there was no way No Way Home could live up to the film’s hype. After all, rumors and false-spoiler claims promised us more than just the world. It promised us all of them.
Well, I’m here to tell you that the movie exceeded my expectations. It was an exciting, rich, and emotionally fulfilling ride. Home was, in fact, a nearly-perfect MCU film.
This is the only No Way Home spoiler you’ll find in this article, I promise.
“Hello, Peter”: The Best of No Way Home
There’s a lot happening in No Way Home– 5 newly-recycled villains alone make for a lot of big personalities on screen. The story could have easily lost one (or all) of the characters in the noise, but it doesn’t.
The newest installment in the Spider-Man mythos is a precisely-timed film. Every quip and every emotional moment sticks its landing perfectly.
What’s more, it manages to evolve each of the characters it brings into the MCU. Characters that didn’t quite click in their previous stories, like Jamie Foxx’s Elektro, have the space to give their characters more dimension and personality.
The villains are, of course, a major draw for this movie. Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock provides audiences a particularly satisfying arc, paying tribute to the character’s complexity in Spider-Man 2. Sandman (Thomas Haden) and the Lizard (Rhys Ifans) also have significant story moments.
And as for Willem Dafoe, this guy showed up to prove that he is the ultimate Goblin. His performance is stirring, and this film features some grade-A Dafoe facial expressions. Those eyes will be living rent-free in my nightmares tonight.
Oh, the Tangled Web We Weave When We Spin a Multiverse
My only qualm with this movie is minimal. Like, so minimal, it’s certainly going to be explained away by Marvel’s superior staff of pretend-science experts.
But there seems to be some wibbly-wobbly reasoning regarding who is appearing from which universe, when, and why. There are some blips (heh.) in the multiversal yoinking timeline that will require a little fictional ‘splainin’.
Final Thoughts on the Final Chapter of No Way Home
Do you remember seeing Endgame in the theater? That moment when Falcon’s voice came through Steve’s earpiece and everyone in the audience lost their minds?
No Way Home does it better. It really does. This story closes this trilogy chapter and polishes up some previous stories, too. I want to go see it in theaters again so I can hear a new audience react.
Be prepared for feels, though. I definitely cried at more than one moment.
Lastly, I know that I said “this movie still slaps even if you go in with spoilers,” and I mean that wholeheartedly. If you came across a spoiler and you’re mad about it, that’s not going to ruin your experience.
That having been said, be careful walking out of the theater and talking to your friends. Be a friendly neighborhood fan– don’t post or yell out spoilers!
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ premieres in theaters December 17th.
