By now, you should know that I am unashamedly a Marvel junkie. The superhero mythos is simultaneously consistently inspiring as well as diversely engaging. I was quick to watch Spiderman: No Way Home to avoid being caught by spoilers and was rewarded with enough surprises in the movie to last me a while. Here’s your fair warning that this blog post touches on spoilers for the movie so drop a like and come back later once you’ve caught the last movie in Tom Holland’s Spiderman High-School Trilogy.

Following the events in Far From Home where Mysterio reveals Spiderman’s secret identity as Peter Parker to the world, No Way Home tells the story of how Parker must finally come to terms with the responsibilities of being a superhero. Triggered by brutal college admission rejections for MJ and Ned because of their association with Peter, the young Avenger attempts to take the easy route by asking Doctor Strange to cast a spell to make people forget that Peter Parker is Spiderman. It’s a telling scene, as Doctor Strange reminds us, because rather than actually make an appeal with MIT directly, Parker relies on magic to change his reality.

The first two movies in the trilogy cover Peter’s development both as a teenager and as a superhero, but he has had the mentorship and support of both Tony Stark and Happy Hogan during these chapters. No Way Home is the first time we see Peter emphatically learn that superpowers by themselves do not make a hero. Rather, it is the combination of a strong value system and the recognition that you have to be willing to live with the consequences that demonstrate the maturity of a hero. With great power comes great responsibility is not just uttered in this movie, it is expressed at the core.

I enjoyed the more action-flick elements of the movie, from bringing back major villains to the cross-over of Tobey Macguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman characters. There were a number of scenes that were clearly about fan service, including William Dafoe’s iconic “I’m something of a scientist myself” line. The final battle sequence was also worth the hype that the movie had been building up to, and I appreciated that Holland’s Spiderman took a more restorative focus on justice rather than a pure punitive lens. This both creates an appealing enough draw for the movie but also positions Holland and his Spiderman as unique.

Having said that, as with many other commentators online, I also agree that I had issues stomaching some of the major plot points, including why Dr Strange would so readily perform a spell that could have such wide-ranging implications. Perhaps he was already rather frivolous with his magic-making, but that did not come across from his previous appearances. Parker’s final sacrifice to have everyone forget who he is also made little sense to me, but perhaps that was just rushed storytelling towards the end.

All in all, No Way Home is still an enjoyable movie with enough treats to make you forgive the plot holes. I respect the ambition that went into the highly anticipated movie.

Here are my ratings:

Cinematography: 4/5

Screenwriting: 4/5

Musical Score: 4/5

Acting/ Performance: 4/5

Overall: 4/5