REVIEW: Spider-Man: No Way Home

I started 2021 with Spider-Man as my most anticipated film of the year, and darn did it live up to my hopes! While not necessarily a major contender for movie of the year at The Oscars—it’s not an art house piece of cinema, and doesn’t pretend to be—this is absolutely the most fun I’ve had at a theater since the beginning of the pandemic.

You won’t find spoilers here—I want you to discover the surprises of the movie for yourself!—but you’ll find plenty of vague praise for both the acting and the story overall.

Tom Holland (who plays the titular character) gives his best performance to-date, with a captivating and emotional outing. He truly embraces the character of Peter Parker, his flaws and his positive attributes alike, in a way I haven’t seen in a previous movie for the Character. Zendaya and Marisa Tomei also have stellar scenes in this movie.

The villains in this film were also far stronger and more thought-out then I expected given the plot of the story, with them entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe from parallel realities. The story really coalesces in a way I didn’t expect.

Overall, this is a Top 3 MCU movie for me, and it’s a must-see in the theaters. It’s also one of my favorite movies of the year. It’s not going to win many Academy Awards, but it knows how to win audiences—and satiate their thirst for Spider-Man.

And despite a couple brief suggestive moments standard comic book movie violence, and a couple dark scenes, this is a relatively family-friendly movie (our boys ages 7 and 8 will be able to see it, anyway). If your kids have seen Endgame or most any other MCU movie, this one shouldn’t be an issue content-wise.

I’m heading into my third showing of the night, with another to follow tomorrow morning. And you can be sure I expect to enjoy it just as much as I did the first time earlier today.

The bottom line: You just need to see it. 9.5/10