“Spider-Man: Far From Home” begins with a twist that will tug at your heartstrings. The film kicks-off about eight months after the ‘Blip,’ the events leading up to “Avengers: Endgame.”
Meanwhile, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill visit a disaster site in Ixtenco, Mexico, where they experience a storm caused by the earth Elemental. Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), a man with super powers from Earth-833 arrives at the scene. He tells Nick and Maria that he will handle it, warning that the next Elemental is headed for Europe.
At the same time, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) attends a charity event organised by his aunt May. Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) hints that Fury might be paying him a visit soon. But Peter disregards his warning. At the event, he is confronted by the media. They ask him about the vacuum Tony Stark has left behind and Peter becomes overwhelmed.
As such, Peter decides to take a break from superhero duties. He goes on a school trip to Europe with his classmates. And under the care of – Mr Harrington (Martin Starr) and the Mr Dell (J.B Smoove). He hopes to tell the girl of his dreams MJ (Zendaya) how he feels about her when they visit the Eiffel Tower in France.
The cast are a delight to watch. Holland made his debut into the Mavel Cinematic Universe as Spider-Man in “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016. Two years later he featured in “Avengers: Infinity War” before at the centre of “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” In this sequel, Holland portrayed the naive teenager convincing. It is no surprise that he has fast become a fan-favourite. Zendaya is quirky. Who can blame Peter for struggling to read her? Jacob Balaton’s performance also very entertaining. A most memorable scene in the film happens early on. Peter and Ned Leeds (Balaton) plot to get Peter to sit next to MJ on the plane but it goes awry. It becomes even more hilarious when Ned turns out the winner of the plan hooking up, in the most unlikely circumstances, with the blonde Betty (Angourie Rice).
Peter’s school excursion takes them through Austria. They make a stop in Prague at Czech Republic, go to Berlin and end in the London. These European locations play a big role in creating a great aesthetic pleasure.
The group’s first stop is Venice. Everything is going well until they are welcomed by a beastly whirlwind which ravages the city. Peter tries to contain the damage without his schoolmates noticing. Thankfully, Beck comes to this rescue. It earns him the nickname, Mysterio.
Once again, the world is under threat. What is left of the Avengers is unavailable. So, Spider-Man must needs to step up. Fury introduces him to Quentin Beck whom his classmates had nicknamed Mysterio. Quentin decides that he likes the name Mysterio and go by it. He explains that there are four “Elementals” – earth, water, wind and fire. Peter has big shoes to fill, thankfully there’s a new ally. So he declines until he realises that he cannot walk away from Fury. He had defeated three of them but the most powerful yet approaches. It is fire.
In another plot twist, the villain is revealed. And he uses illusion technology. The illusions created using CGI are stunning – watch out for the fight scenes in Berlin and London.
The plot twists turnout to be pleasant surprises. But they also raise questions. For instance, Tony Starks’s bequeathal to Peter or Mysterio’s motivation.
However, Director, Jon Watts, made a good choice in casting Gyllenhaal as Mysterio. It makes the treatment of the Prague bar scene quite moving and another very memorable moment in the film. Anyone in Peter’s situation would easily become endeared to Mysterio. So, Spider-Man’s choices are understandable.
But in the end, for all its intent and purposes, “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” feels like a high school romantic comedy augmented with superhero action and visual effects.
Directed by: Jon Watts
Cast includes; Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, J. B. Smoove, Jacob Batalon, Martin Starr, Marisa Tomei, Jake Gyllenhaal
Image credit: Columbia Pictures via The Hollywood Reporter
