Sweet Spidey High: "Far From Home" solidly steps up as a sequel just as breezy and fun as predecessor

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

129 min.

Release Date: July 2, 2019 (Wide)

It can be a tough act to follow something like 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which may have been the sixth incarnation of Spider-Man but came as a breath of fresh air with zippy fun and the irresistible Tom Holland playing Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter ego. Now making this the eighth Spider-Man installment after 2018’s animated, non-MCU, Miles Morales-headed “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home” really has to prove itself, and yet it is still a solid sequel and a whole lot of fun to be back with Peter and the characters we met last time. Returning director Jon Watts and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers not only maintain their jokey, light-hearted yet sincere tone but double down on it, and that is always for the better.

Following what is being called “the blip”—the five-year period in which the population vanished and then reappeared without having aged because of Thanos’ snap—16-year-old Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is adjusting to life without Tony Stark as his mentor and two other Avengers meeting their end. In the Spidey suit, he’s helping his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) be the face of her local charities, but Peter is also screening calls from the exasperated Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who needs Spider-Man’s help to defeat extradimensional monsters, known as Elementals, alongside Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), who hails from a multiverse. When it comes time for Midtown High School’s science trip to Europe, Peter is determined to let M.J. (Zendaya) know how he really feels about her and take a vacation from using his “Peter tingle.” Unfortunately, duty calls when those monsters Fury warned him about (“Bitch, you’ve been to space!”) show up.

Getting out of Queens and going abroad, like a PG-13 "Eurotrip" without nude beaches and absinthe trips, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” challenges the character of Peter Parker to be more than just the friendly neighborhood web-slinger. Even with the opening sequence’s hilarious use of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” over a student-announcements’ memoriam montage, the film holds the weight of the momentous, game-changing aftermath in “Avengers: Endgame” before playing out as a breezy yet perilous field trip. One of the major strengths of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was how it treated itself as a human-sized high school comedy first and a superhero action adventure second, and that mostly happens here. Peter Parker still may be just a kid, but he has a responsibility to uphold, and “Far From Home,” itself, has more responsibility to keep things fresh.

Tom Holland, for the film’s sake, remains delightful to watch with that boyish pep about him perfectly suiting Peter Parker, and there is also even more of an internal conflict for Peter to battle with, seeing as how he must fill in for Mr. Stark. The entire ensemble is agreeable company: Jacob Batalon, once again, is a lovable scene-stealer as Peter’s best friend Ned, and his scenes with Angourie Rice, who luckily gets more to do this time as type-A Betty, are surprising and sweet. Hinted at the end of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” that Zendaya’s sarcastic Michelle Jones likes to be called “MJ,” Zendaya brings her own kind of deadpan charm to the character of MJ, who has a macabre sense of humor, and makes her connection with Peter effortlessly winning. Even Jon Favreau, as the late Tony Stark’s righthand man Happy Hogan who is now dating Aunt May, gets to be included in on the action. Martin Starr and JB Smoove, as teachers and field trip chaperones Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell, are both very funny without wearing out their welcome; in Starr’s case, it’s like his “Freaks and Geeks” character Bill Haverhuck grew up without losing his nerdiness. Finally, in a key role, Jake Gyllenhaal relishes the role of Quentin Beck/Mysterio and brings a commanding presence; without having any prior knowledge of the character, he is a very compelling addition. 

When “Spider-Man: Far From Home” later reveals its cards, the payoff is more inventive than expected, despite it not being terribly surprising on the identity of the antagonist when the curtain is pulled back (and this reviewer is not well-versed in the comics). That the CG water monsters, which emerge from the Venice canals early on in the film, are positively goofy at first glance is very much the point because, when the time is right, director Watts brings an inspired, psychedelic visual sense to the real antagonist’s illusionary tricks. While “Spider-Man: Far From Home” leans into its goofier side even more, making one smile ear to ear, it does raise the stakes as well. Obligatory as it is by now, that mid-credits coda is actually a genuine bombshell that changes everything, instilling hope that a third installment will keep complicating Peter’s newly learned dilemma in surprising directions.

Grade: B