OK, Spoilery Spider-Man: No Way Home Thoughts
The good:
- I appreciated they kept it in New York instead of spending time sight-seeing. Joining the Avengers for stuff was cool and all, but I want more friendly neighborhood Spider-Man content to balance out the cosmic and multiverse stuff, like the Maguire movies, but also like what I remember from the animated series years ago.
- I really liked the characterizations of the returning characters—the ones that were tweaked were still close enough to feel in character.
- On a related note, I think this film did a better job balancing its big cast than Spider-Man 3 or Eternals, so kudos to the writers for that. Though I recognize they had the advantage of not having to really introduce any of them.
- Also on a related note: DOC OCK!!! Sorry, he just continues to be my favorite Spider-Man villain. (Maybe this movie will get me to actually cosplay him(?))
- They had decent excuses for sidelining Dr. Strange from the fights—no need to send him to the magical pool with the script for Thor: Ragnarok¡
- The three Peters together were great, and I appreciate that there were good character interactions beyond the obligatory fanservice.
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I really liked Maguire!Peter—I have been disappointed since Holland was cast in Civil War that we did not get a live action adult Peter (as great as Holland is in the role), and I really like that we got to see him having learned from his mistakes, owned them, and grown into a better person.
- (Maybe the bar has just been set so low that one of the most attractive things a man can be is emotionally mature 😛)
- Garfield!Peter saving MJ...I saw that moment coming, I knew it was going to be an obligatory callback to a kind of poorly handled moment...and even so, it got me in the feels so much harder than I expected 🥺
- Seeing it in Boston was fun because the whole theater got a kick out of, “They have crime in Boston, right?”
Complaints:
- It may have technically been set in New York, but it still largely felt like generic city. Especially compared to the Raimi Trilogy, but even compared to Amazing.
- I realized after the movie Zendaya!MJ is like the least developed of the live action Spider-Man primary love interests. Dunst!MJ was an actual person with her own interests and desires outside her relationship with Peter; Zendaya!MJ's traits are...she is angsty and allegedly knowledgeable about some STEM field even though we barely see her use that(?)
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I just also cared much less about their relationship in this one(?) They are cute and all together, but because she feels less fleshed out, it makes their relationship feel more hollow(?) Like Garfield!Peter and Stone!Gwen's interactions were really cringey in Amazing 2, but at least that was a little bit because you could see she had goals outside her relationship with Peter and he was being inconsiderate (to say the least) of that.
- (Not saying it was definitely because of th^t, but my theater applauded for every old character's return, every Spider-team moment, every great line, and was silent during Holland!Peter and Zendaya!MJ's big kiss moment.)
- I assumed we just skipped Peter's origin story in the MCU because it was the same as the last two we saw, but the first scene with all the Peters seemed to imply Holland!Peter did not have his own Uncle Ben moment, and I dislike that.
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Related, killing Tomei!May felt kind of like an unearned fridging. I think there is the potential for a message about it being important to try to rehabilitate people despite what the Goblin did to May becoming an important value to Holland!Peter going forward, but I am going to judge the choice to kill her harshly for now and only reevaluate if we see that shift in his character in future movies.
- (But hey, Uncle Ben Moment 2! [Peggle2.gif])
- I really disliked that the “solution” for most of the villains was just to remove their powers. None of the Spider-Men would consider giving up their powers for a second; since when is the problem with Electro or Sandman that they have superpowers??
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With all the cameos and fanservice, there was one I really wanted: At the moment when the universe was cracking and others were coming through, just give me five seconds of Emma Stone!Spider-Gwen.
- (Or Bryce Dallas Howard, but I figure Stone makes more sense since her Gwen was the most developed, just like we obviously got Ifans as Connors instead of Baker.)
- Other missed cameo opportunity I cared about: At the end, when Peter moves into his new apartment and the landlord tells him when rent is due, they should have brought back the “Reeeeent!” landlord from the Raimi movies 😛
One last thing: My flatmate wants a Space-Jam-esque crossover with the live action Spider-Men and Into The Spider-Verse Spider-People (and I would like to add 2D animated Spider-Man). Sony, please make that happen.