Spider-Man: No Way Home

 4/4

Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Marisa Tomei, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield

Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Action/Violence, Some Language and Brief Suggestive Comments

A few weeks ago, I was playing "Marvel's Spider-Man" on my PS5, and a thought had occurred to me: superhero movies only work when the audience can vicariously experience being one.  Since no one on Earth has the technological know-how or the genetic mutation to swing from spiderwebs or fly around in a metal suit, we are left with comics, video games and movies to allow to live that fantasy.  That's what separates good superhero movies like the MCU "Spider-Man" trilogy and duds like "Eternals" (I'll leave Nolan's Batman trilogy as an exception because those movies were anything but escapist fantasy).

Of the MCU canon, the Spidey movies starring Tom Holland are the best of the relatively weak lot (although the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies are a close second).  That's because they take their time developing characters we can identify with and care about, rather than keep them at an ironic distance.  They also give their stories appropriate weight.  Too often the MCU hedges its bets, relying on special effects and fan service to tell their stories and never buying into the stories they purport to tell.  That doesn't happen here; "Spider-Man: No Way Home" takes itself seriously (well, not too seriously) enough that the audience has an emotional stake in the outcome.

After he was outed as the web-slinging hero and slandered as a murderer by the treacherous Mysterio, Peter Parker's (Holland) life has gone upside down.  He and his friends MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Batalon) are arrested.  Even Aunt May (Tomei) has been hauled in front of the cops.  Although they are cleared, rabblerousing journalist J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons in full Alex Jones mode) has turned public opinion against Parker and his alter-ego.  No longer is he just the "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" but is instead a callous terrorist and murderer.  Hounded by the press and with his friends tagged as guilty by association, Peter goes to his friend Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) for help undoing the damage.  Strange agrees, but the spell goes wrong and soon the various multiverses have collapsed into each other.  This Peter finds himself up against villains faced down by his predecessors, including Doc Ock (Molina), Electro (Foxx) and the Green Goblin (Dafoe).

What's great about this movie is that the story evolves.  When a new development happens, it isn't wiped away with a deus ex machina or clumsily manipulated into a traditional storyline.  The film takes its new developments seriously and has the characters really respond to them.  That makes the storyline unpredictable and exciting.  Things go wrong, or at least, they don't go exactly as planned.  Then the characters have to respond to them, and there are real consequences for their actions.  Yet as convoluted as things get, director Jon Watts and his screenwriters always manage to tell the story clearly.  There is very little room for confusion, and that's generally because Watts is a good storyteller and because he has paced his film so well.

It also helps that everyone in the cast brings their A-game to the set.  Even actors who haven't donned their costumes in two decades are good enough to make us believe that no time has passed.  Willem Dafoe is as menacing as ever, Alfred Molina plays a man who is both likable and intimidating, and so on.  Even Tobey Maguire (never an actor of great range) and Andrew Garfield (the weakest of the three) are better than they ever were during their tenures as the titular hero.

Not to be forgotten, of course, is Tom Holland.  It's hard to imagine anyone playing the character better.  He owns the role.  With all the nostalgia and special effects, it's easy to forget just how good he is as a performer.  From the goofy, nerdy teenager to the guilt-ridden pariah and the enthusiastic superhero in-between, Holland doesn't miss a beat or strike a false note.

This is a fantastic superhero movie, easily the best in the MCU canon.  One of my frequent complaints about Marvel is that, with all the money and talent they have at their disposal, they just make by the numbers movies.  They rely on the brand name and fan devotion to the hard work it takes to really engage the audience and make them care.  But when they do manage to make the effort, they can make magic like this.