Movie Review: Spiderman: No Way Home

 The Film: Spiderman: No Way Home

Stars: 4.5

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

In need of some respite from work and a total time out, after a quick dinner at the Loi Loi, Jay and I made an early session of Spiderman: No Way Home last night. We both like Marvel films and I've been hanging out for a new entry to the MCU. 

Needless to say, we both loved every minute of it. 

I was wrapped from the first song, Talking Heads I Zimbra started playing, but Talking Heads does that to me. 

So, what is this film about? Basically, it takes place in the weeks after the last Spiderman film, set in London, where Spiderman's identity was revealed to the world by Mysterio. And Peter is in a bit of a pickle. Needing his anonymnity back, he enlists Dr Stephen Strange to make this take place, with with disastrous results. A crack in the Multiverse occurs bringing back a number of Spiderman's enemies. Peter has to overcome his greatest challenges to bring the world back to order once again.

I won't say much more than this - I don't want to give any spoilers. 

This is a great movie, especially if you're up on the whole Marvel Universe. I'm not sure younger kids would get a lot of the references and there is a bit of mind bending to work out what is going on some of the time. But I enjoyed every second of it, even down to the two clips which came with the titles - and one at the very end which we had to sit down for while the ushers started to sweep out the spilled popcorn. 

It's got everything. Action: tick. Fun: tick. Emotional stuff: tick. (And yes, I shed a tear in a few places). Brilliant action: tick. Unexpected bits: tick. 

I didn't look at my watch once through the film, which is a guide to me for how much I enjoy a film. 

Jay commented that Tom Holland is getting a little old to play Spiderman - and it will be interesting to see if in further iterations he's playing the titular role, but as a soon to be college student, I think he's just about right. His boyishness and athleticism are fantastic. 

Zendaya is radiant as MJ, Spiderman's ever-present girlfriend and Jacob Batalon is wonderful as Ned, Peter's best mate. And of course, Benedict Cumberbatch reprises his role as Dr Strange with necessary humour and aplomb. The verbal sparring between Dr Strange and Spiderman brings a lot of the humour to the film. 

On a more emotional level, Marisa Tomei returns as Aunt May. Harvey Weinstein really did a number on the world when he blacklisted Tomei - she's as wonderful in this as in the rest of her films. 

Add to this some great cameos, which I'm not going to say anything  about for those who haven't seen this. There are some top flight  actors joining this film. 

And yes, I did need a bit of a break from reality, but I think even if I wasn't exhausted, I would have loved this. 

It's not just a film for Marvel fans, but I reckon younger kids would get bored and a lot of the nuances would go over their heads. 

It's great holiday watching. Chuck on a mask and go see it. 

Today's song: