Spider-Man: Far From Home deftly juggles the baggage from Avengers: Endgame all while delivering the most action packed visually impressive Spider-Man film to date!

Warning! Avengers: Endgame spoilers ahead! 

Score: 4.5 / 5

Spider-Man is back! After a solo adventure and three movies fighting against and with the Avengers, the web-slinging, wall-crawling, friendly neighborhood high school student has returned for a new solo adventure. Far From Home is another excellent Spider-Man film that avoids any major pitfalls and sets us up for a very, very interesting third entry down the line. 

I mentioned spoilers for Endgame above, and I’ll say it one more time. Spoilers. For Endgame. Not Far From Home. That huge Avengers movie. Got it? Alright then! It would be impossible to talk about Far From Home without spoiling the ending of the last Avengers because just like how Spider-Man: Homecoming was massively influenced by Iron Man and Captain America: Civil War, Far From Home owes all its setup to Avengers: Endgame. This entry deals with Peter Parker dealing with the fallout of the world as a whole, recovering from half the planet’s population disappearing for 5 years to the death of the leaders of the Avengers. There’s no Iron Man, Captain America, or Black Widow, and so far, no other superhero has taken up the role of leading the Avengers. This movie continues to hit on the themes of living up to your responsibility even if that conflicts with what you want in your life. Classic Spider-Man stuff. 

If this all sounds like a whole lot to juggle in one movie. You’d be right. Yet somehow, the writing team and director Jon Watts found a way to make it work. By leaning into comedy and not retelling moments again, the story smartly moves forward with how all of this would affect Peter’s life. Is he ready to lead the Avengers? How does the world continue like it used to after this crazy universe-shifting event? This movie tackles all of these things super well, and it makes for a fun time. I haven’t even brought up Mysterio, the new friend (enemy?) of Spider-Man. Jake Gyllenhaal continues to shine in about any role he is in these days, and this character is no different. The MCU Spidey movies are now two-for-two in giving us great antagonists to Peter that have depth and really shake up the status quo. By the end, the story wraps up cleverly and leaves the door wide open for some absolutely bonkers possibilities for what comes next. 

Stepping away from the satisfying story, this movie has the best action sequences I have seen so far from a Spider-Man film. The Mysterio trickery is on Doctor Strange levels, leading to some amazing action that I was not expecting from a Spider-Man movie. He may not be old or mature enough to lead the Avengers, but his fighting prowess is right up there at the top, as far as I’m concerned. 

The cast and writing continue to deliver in giving us relatable, down-to-earth high school student moments. Tom Holland is still the best Peter Parker / Spider-Man combo, perfectly nailing awkward and heroic moments. So many scenes will have you laughing at the situation and remind you of moments in your teen years that feel very relatable. It’s by leveraging these moments in between the action and superhero drama that Far From Home keeps itself from ever falling on its face. 

It’s impressive, but at least for me, it left me feeling like this movie could have more time to breathe. It felt packed, which the movie was, but almost like there was no room to slow down. It’s my only gripe to what is easily now my favorite Spider-Man 2 entry (there have been three of them now!). If you haven’t seen Endgame, you may want to give that a watch first. Otherwise, get to the theaters and enjoy another great Spider-Man movie!