Spider-Man: Far From Home
The main newcomer to the cast is Jake Gyllenhaal (he was Dastan in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time) as Quentin Beck. After a brief stop in Mexico first to find out about a cyclone with a face on it, where we first see a man with a helmet and cape, the film picks up at Peter’s school, explaining how half the student population had blipped out due to Thanos, then returned five years later, but no older, throwing the school year into chaos. There’s a cheesy memorial video to Captain America, Black Widow, Vision, and Iron Man (including I will Always Love You by Whitney Houston). The blip was eight months ago and it is now the last day of school. Peter and some of his classmates are preparing for a history of science trip to Europe. But first, Spider-Man needs to make an appearance at a charity event for those displaced by the blip, including May Parker. He cheerfully does so, though he gets a bit freaked out by questions on if he will be the next Iron Man and is he going to fight aliens if they show up again. And no, he does not want to talk to Nick Fury and he’s not sure how to feel about Happy apparently dating his aunt. As Peter puts it, he really needs this vacation.
Peter also has a plan on this vacation to woo MJ and ultimately tell her how he feels, complete with purchasing a glass necklace of her favorite flower and an evening atop the Eiffel Tower. But it doesn’t quite go according to his wishes and MJ ends up next to newcomer (since he aged while everyone was away), Brad. Ned also manages to hook up with classmate Betty while on the long flight to Italy.
Peter does get the necklace for MJ, but then a threat bursts forth from the water. Peter doesn’t have his suit on him, but he gets civilians to safety, then finds a mask to put on before he offers his help to the man in the helmet who is flying around. He attempts to save a clock tower and the crowd cheers for the new hero, who Peter’s classmates coin as “Mysterio.” At the hotel afterwards, Nick Fury finds Peter, and knocks out Ned so the two can speak (though they keep getting interrupted by other trip members). Fury ultimately brings Peter to an underground mission command, where Peter meets “Mysterio,” who goes by Quentin Beck and claims to be from another Earth [this ties in to comic lines, which I have not read] and Peter is very excited to talk about the possibility of a multiverse [which is the direction Marvel goes in next]. Beck claims that the threats are Elementals, who already destroyed his Earth and SHIELD has evidence to support the other sightings they’ve had. They figure the next stop for the Fire Elemental is Prague. Peter really doesn’t want to get involved; he just wants his vacation, and the world could figure out his identity if he appears as Spider-Man in Europe. He suggests several other Avengers, including Captain Marvel, which Fury barks not to mention her. Fury then snarks back “you’ve been to space.” But very well, Peter can go back to his group, with the glasses that Stark left him.
Turns out, Fury “upgrades” Peter’s class trip, so they end up going to Prague. But Peter still has teenage problems to deal with and accidentally uses the new glasses from Stark to set a drone on the guy who is also interested in MJ. EDITH is augmented reality and connects to a worldwide security network. When Peter is forced to see Fury again, the man barks that Peter is not ready, but he still has a job to do. Beck soothes Peter’s nerves, encouraging that the teen is not a jerk for wanting a normal life, and Peter reflects that it is nice to have somebody to talk about superhero stuff (meaning that he’s not close and hasn’t kept up with the other Avengers, and that’s a bid sad). But it’s soon time to swing into action, with a new black suit so he’s not “Spider-Man.” Unfortunately, MJ has followed him, along with Ned and Betty, who get put in danger by the Fire Elemental. (And he gets coined with the term “Night Monkey,” to further throw off suspicion.) While Peter is fighting the Elemental, something briefly blocks the Ferris wheel his friends are stuck on. Beck flies into the Fire Elemental and it evaporates, but for a moment, Peter fears he’s lost another mentor so soon after his last one.
Fury pushes his point that the world still needs the Avengers, and maybe Stark was wrong to trust Peter so much. Beck takes Peter out for a drink (lemonade, since Peter is sixteen here and not old enough to drink). And Beck asks what Peter wants. Peter talks himself into transferring EDITH to Beck, because yes, the world still needs Iron Man, but that doesn’t mean it has to be Peter. Stark trusted Peter to find the right person and he feels it is Beck. Peter leaves happy, ready to pursue the rest of his plan with MJ.
Except, Beck is not entirely who said he is. He’s not from another Earth, he’s a former employee of Stark’s, who got fired for how he wished to use his invention. He is an expert in holographic and illusion technology (which Tony used and renamed “BARF,” which Tony admitted needed a new name), but Stark’s staff saw instability and the man was fired. He’s joined forces with other disgruntled Stark employees (like the man Stane yelled at in the first movie) to create this “Mysterio.” The drones they use are weaponized, so the damage is real, but one could fly right through the Elementals. And with Mysterio, Beck plans to become the next great superhero. The team is not impressed that Stark handed over the EDITH tech to a teenager.
Peter manages to go out with MJ that evening and she admits she figured out he’s Spider-Man. Which Peter tries to deny, until MJ pulls out part of a drone she discovered that the scene of the fight. Peter works out that the threats are fake and has to own up to yes, he’s Spider-Man, and he needs to go take care of this.
Beck discovers that Peter found out the truth while he’s running a rehearsal and decides he needs to kill the teen. He intercepts Peter on his way to Fury and uses illusions to mess with Peter. And in typical villain fashion, tells out hero “you’re making me do this.” Because if Peter had just gone on with his normal life and not gotten involved, Beck wouldn’t have to hurt him. “I control the truth,” Beck boasts. And twists the knife in Peter, mocking “if you were good enough Tony would still be alive.” Peter thinks he’s out of the illusion when Fury shoots Beck, but that is just another hologram, only broken when Peter gets hit by a train.
The teen lives, managing to collapse into a seat on the train, then passes out. He wakes up in a jail cell in the Netherlands with several kind men, who even covered him in one of their shits because he looked cold. Peter breaks the lock on the cell so he can leave (and the other men just close the door back up and stay put; Peter’s also lost the black suit to his guard, who is on the phone with his wife). He then finds another kind man who lends him his phone so he can call Happy. But Peter is so freaked out by the time Happy arrives, that he demands Happy tell him something only he could know. Peter initiates a hug with the man, who then patches Peter up. Peter blames himself for what is going on, then immediately apologizes for yelling at Happy. He admits he misses Tony; “everywhere I go, I see his face, and the whole world is asking who’s going to be the next Iron Man and I don’t know if that’s me.” Happy agrees that Peter is not the next Iron Man; no one can live up to Iron Man, not even Tony himself. He was a mess and second-guessed everything, except for Peter. “I don’t think Tony would have done what he did if he didn’t know that you were going to be here after he was gone.” [This is my favorite scene of the film; and don’t you just want to pull Peter into a hug?]
Then Happy asks Peter what is he going to do. Peter’s going to kick his ass. Well, first he has to find his friends, using Happy’s phone because Beck is tracking his (we know he’s on his way to London), and thanks to Flash, so does Peter. Happy’s jet is well-equipped and there’s a section in the back that is a mini-Stark lab and Peter can rebuild his suit. Happy (and us) notices that Peter is very reminiscent of his mentor right now. Happy even turns on the music: AC/DC Back in Black (a call-back to the very first Iron Man movie), to which Peter replies, “I love Led Zepplin!” [Peter, darling, that is not Led Zepplin.]
MJ shuts down Brad when he tries to bring up how weird Peter has been acting and everyone sides with her. Beck continues his illusion to Fury, but Happy also manages to get a message to the man about “appearances are not everything,” so the paranoid man is more on his guard. He drops Peter off in a new suit and goes after Peter’s friend. Beck begins his assault on London and blows up Happy’s plane, so they have to take cover in the Tower of London. Peter heads into the drone swarm and starts webbing them so he can shoot electricity through them and disable them. Hill even gets a shot off at one, protecting Fury. Beck then sends the drones after Peter (reminder, this teen is already wounded), but Spider-Man makes his way up to Beck (and kind of reminds you of Cap, with a shield and swinging something like a hammer) and punches him, which temporarily shuts down the drones. His “spidey-sense” warns him that Beck is not down like he thought, but he stops the gun shot. He takes the glasses off Beck (unfortunately, he’s taken his mask off at this point) and shuts down the drones. Beck collapses and Peter asks EDITH if the illusion is over. Yes (but we’re not actually sure if Beck is truly dead). Peter reunites with MJ on the ground and the couple gets their first kiss.
The field trip returns home (there is a deleted scene where MJ and Peter sleep against each other and it is very heartwarming), Betty and Ned have amicably broken up, and there is another deleted scene where May tells Peter he’ll grow into Tony’s glasses. Peter takes MJ on a swing through New York City (not something she wants to do again). But Beck’s team gets the final word, having leaked a video to the Daily Bugle (a controversial news website) spinning that Spider-Man is the bad guy and revealing his identity as Peter Parker. At the very end of the credits, it is revealed that Fury has been Talos this whole trip; the real Fury is in space.
The twist at the end does explain why Fury has been hard on Peter the whole movie, since it’s actually Talos and he doesn’t quite know how to mentor this teen superhero. Because otherwise, Fury comes off as a jerk. Beck is certainly a jerk; all Peter wanted was to trust someone, have someone continue to help him on the hero path. And Beck just manipulates him. I adore Peter in this film again. He’s following the path of a lot of other superheroes; having to balance a personal life separate from the superhero gig. We root for Peter to have normal teenage experiences, getting together with MJ, annoyed with Brad moving in, but cheering where MJ does not show interest in him. Does Peter do some embarrassing things? Yes, but that kind of comes with the teen territory. And I adore Happy stepping into the role as mentor; he points out that Tony was his best friend, so who else to help guide his protégé? Though, we do have to ask why the other Avengers left Peter alone. Everyone separated after Tony’s death (we see what some of them get up to in later series and movies), but seriously, as Peter points out, why is no one else responding to these devastating natural disasters, just this new guy?
Behind the scene irony is that as a Brit, Tom Holland was very close to home when they filmed in England. And Tom Holland and Zendaya are a real-life couple now. I have not yet watched No Way Home, but it is on my list, once it is on Disney +.
Up Next: A wrap-up to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then on to some of my other favorite series, starting with Harry Potter (I’ll put up another post about this soon, but I will say that you are under no obligation to read any of the films I review if you personally dislike them)
Dreamer in the Mirror 