Spider-Man: No Way Home is directed by Jon Watts (Spider-Man Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home) and is the 27th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Based on Marvel Comics character Spider-Man created by late writer Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man: No Way Home takes place directly after Spider-Man: Far From Home where we see Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity revealed to the world. Dealing with the aftermath, Peter as well as MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) struggle to find peace in their now chaotic life. Peter decides to visit Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in his Sanctum Sanctorum to cast a spell that would erase the world’s knowledge of Peter being Spider-Man. Fearing that the spell would affect MJ, Ned, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), and aunt May (Marissa Tomei); Peter tampers with the spell resulting in villains from different universes: Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Electro (Jaime Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) coming through. Peter and Doctor Strange now must work together to return these villains to their universe.

I must say, Spider-Man: No Way Home is an absolute blast! Spider-Man: No Way Home is the perfect film to end the year that knows how to real people in for a fun and engaging Marvel film. The film does a fantastic job at being a Marvel film: having an engaging and riveting story that’s written well, spectacular action sequences, great characters and character moments, great acting and chemistry from the ensemble, well-composed music by Micahel Giacchino, and solid comedic moments. Watts crafts a great Spider-Man film that truly feels like the end, and also the beginning, for Peter Parker going forward in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

One of the biggest strengths the film has is the acting and chemistry of the ensemble. The cast works together really well, you feel the connection and emotions they convey on screen. Anytime Tom Holland and Marissa Tomei, or Zendaya and Jacob Batalon were on screen together I felt the energy they bring. Tom Holland, for me, was the breakout star in this film. He’s put in him all with this character to create a version of Peter Parker that’s unique to the other iterations of the character we’ve seen on screen before (i.e. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield). Another strength the film has is the character of Peter Parker. For a lot of Marvel fans, the character of Peter Parker wasn’t the Peter Parker fans were looking for and I can finally say that by the end of this film, Peter Parker evolves and becomes the version of him that we’ve been longing to see. The villains are great too and it was awesome seeing these characters return for one more Spider-Man film. Willem Dafoe killed it as Green Goblin and somehow managed to be more maniacal and cynical than before, giving Peter Parker an even harder time. While Green Goblin had more screen time than the other villains, it didn’t seem as though the villains overstayed their welcome and were outshining Spider-Man. This film also has some surprising and great fanservice moments that hit right at home with Marvel fans that made theaters roar in excitement.

One of the minor flaws this film has is the pacing, the pacing is a little too fast. Though I understand why the film’s pacing is the way it is, things just seem to happen too fast and there’s no breathing room to digest some parts of the story. Another flaw this film has is the comedy, the comedy for the most part lands awkwardly and this is a recurring problem with Marvel films. Marvel has always struggled at writing comedic moments that flow naturally with the characters and No Way Home’s comedy is solid at best. There wasn’t a moment where I was laughing all the time and there wasn’t a moment where I was cringing, but the comedy can be a hit or miss. 

Overall, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a film that needs to be experienced in theaters. Much like Avengers: Endgame, No Way Home is an event that has been in the making for a long time and is the perfect conclusion to this Spider-Man trilogy. Spider-Man: No Way Home is an absolute blast that hits right at home with Marvel and Spider-Man fans alike. I’d rate Spider-Man: No Way Home a solid 4 out of 5. As always with Marvel films, two credit scenes are worth checking out for the future of Spider-Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.