Spiderman: No Way Home Hits a Home Rum

When Spider-Man: No Way Home was released Dec. 17, 2021, it was the payoff for hype built up since the cliffhanger from Spider-Man: Far From Home, where the just-defeated Mysterio revealed Spider-Man’s secret identity of Peter Parker. During the time between movies, many had theorized that the success of the Sony animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse was good reason to assume that No Way Home would be a multiverse movie, pulling in previous Spider-Man actors and other Marvel characters to help.

I won’t spoil the surprises yet. Instead I’m going to give a brief overview and my overall score, then go into greater detail. Spider-Man: No Way Home was really excellent. I enjoyed the plot, the characters had some wonderful emotional moments, and there were some splendid references to past Spider-Man movies. This is one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, and if I had to rank it within the MCU pantheon, I’d put it in second place with a 9.8/10.

Ok, first the plot. After having his identity unexpectedly revealed, Peter Parker goes to wizard Doctor (Stephen) Strange for help. While in the process of altering Strange’s spell to fix Peter’s dilemma, Peter messes it, subsequently causing a tear in the multiverse and allowing former Spider-Man villains to come through into present-day New York.

While the movie follows this basic plotline and consequences for the first and third act, it takes a completely different direction in the middle of the movie when Peter decides to try and cure the villains of their evil. This second act drags along a little bit, losing some momentum. Thankfully, the plot picks up again and eventually leads to one of the best third acts in the MCU.

One of the most notable treats of No Way Home is resurrection of so many villains. All the actors who reprise their prior Spider-Man roles do an amazing job, especially Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin from Sam Raimi’s original 2002 Spider-Man movie. Dafoe now gives one of the best performances out of a stellar cast of villains. The other Sam Raimi trilogy villains were also good, but I feel like Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octavious was very underutilized and never really a threat after an initial battle. Still, he gives an absolutely fantastic performance as Otto.

In comparison, Rhys Ifans’ Lizard (from 2021’s Amazing Spider-Man) never seems like much of a threat in this movie until the end, and even then, I feel like they took him out too easily. Overall, the villains were really fantastic for the most part, but I feel like they could’ve used some of them more.

Reprising their exceptional chemistry is the main trio of friends. Ned, Peter, and MJ play off each other so well, and the chemistry between Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya only add to the fun. Another one of the heroes in this movie is Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. His inclusion in this film makes sense in both the short and long term, as not only does Peter need to learn that his actions have consequences, but this appearance helps set us up for Doctor Strange’s next movie, Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is an example of fan service done right. The movie brought back two more actors (either an unexpected surprise or a totally expected one depending on how much you frequent the news and fan sites) and they were on screen for the perfect amount of time. The actors help Peter with his moral and physical dilemmas, as well as in the final battle. We also get closure from plot lines that weren’t finished in past Spider-Man movies.

The emotional moments just landed for me; they were amazing. This is the first movie I cried at. With iconic lines and heartbreaking moments, I found this movie a treat to watch. This movie easily deserves a 9.8/10. You do not want to miss out on it.