Movie review
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is one of the biggest success stories in cinematic history. Taking the idea of connecting each movie into a single story was a huge risk but they pulled it off masterfully. Each individual movie they released turned out to be big events – the last one being “Avengers: End Game”. This was the ultimate culmination of years’ worth of MCU movies coming to a conclusion.
Ever since “End Game”, the interest for the MCU has dwindled a bit. Yet, MCU still makes entertaining movies from time to time like “Shang-Chi” which was enjoyable. They have also dabbled in various TV series such as WandaVision, Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye. Hawkeye has delved into the death of Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, but none of the other series or movies rekindled what happened in the End Game until “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home feels like an event movie. There was so much hype revolving around the movie and I can gladly say that the hype was worth it. I have watched the movie twice now and it is a great movie overall. It is one of the strongest MCU movies to date and probably one of the best Spider-Man movies as well. The movie starts where we left off in the post credits of Spider-Man: Far From Home where everyone in the world knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. This caused a lot of issues for both Peter Parker and his friends, MJ and Ned. It even affected their chances to attend the prestigious MIT due to the controversy that revolved around Spider-Man killing off Mysterio in the previous movie.
Now Peter Parker got this idea to ask the Master of the Mystic Arts, Dr. Strange, to help him with his predicament by asking the Master to conjure a spell to erase everyone’s memory that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. This was going to be a literal memory wipe scenario that even all of his loved ones will not remember him and everyone that he has teamed up with will also forget who Peter Parker is. This scenario distressed Peter greatly to a point where he botched Dr. Strange’s spell which initially seemed harmless but turned out to be what the magic of the movie was all about.
The magic of Spider-Man: No Way Home comes from the reveal that the villains from the previous Spider-Man movies such as Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Electro, Sand-Man, and Lizard came back and the original actors reprised their roles for this movie to face off against the MCU’s Spider-Man. Just seeing Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe reprise their roles as Doc Ock and Green Goblin, respectively, just oozed with nostalgia. It made me remember my childhood seeing these fantastic actors masterfully bring these villains to life on the big screen. They also shine in the movie and stayed true to their interpretation of the villain.
No Way Home is one of the darker movies in the MCU. There were dark scenes that you don’t usually see in an MCU film that were not sprinkled with humor unlike in prior Spidey movies. But there were also some usual scenes that were tinted with humor. There was a scene where a joke almost destroyed the mood, but thankfully this was only in the first act of the movie.
The second and third acts of the movie are the highlights of the film. It is jam packed with action, emotions, and some of the best scenes in the MCU that I have ever seen. To keep this review spoiler-free, let’s just say when I was watching the movie the first time, there was a particular scene where there were cheers and jeers from the movie goers, but there was also a standing ovation when that same scene happened.
This movie is also one of the longer MCU movies, clocking in at 2.5 hours. It was also one of the quickest 2.5 hours I have ever experienced. It felt like 30 minutes just passed and I was glued to the screen the entire time waiting for each scene to happen. Also, a tip for those who are planning to watch the movie, I recommend getting a small drink with your food and going to the restroom first as you do not want to miss out on every single scene of this movie. Make sure that you stay and watch the Post Credit scenes. There are two of them: A Mid Credit one and a Post Credit one. Both scenes are exciting.
I highly recommend this movie especially if you are a fan of the MCU and a long-time fan of Spider-Man. Despite the slightly slow first act, the rest of the movie was just a blast to watch. It certainly is not an ordinary MCU movie. This is a big event for cinema. It is an ultimate treat.
Rating: 10/10
Gabriel Craig Hernal Rivera
Gabriel Craig Hernal Rivera is an Engineer. A graduate of De LaSalle University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering. He currently works at Accenture U.S. in Metro San Francisco as a Training and Development Specialist. Outside of work, Gabriel enjoys exercising, watching various TV series programs, and especially video games. He also enjoys watching videos regarding Game Design, Game Theories, and in-depth reviews on video games to get a better understanding of the current trends in gaming.
