Spider-Man: Far From Home or Peter Parker’s European Vacation.

[Barry]

Spider-Man: Far From Home or Peter Parker’s European Vacation.
This is a non spoiler review, which means that I won’t give away anything more than what you have seen in the coming attractions.

First, this is NOT the Spider-Man I knew, nor the Peter Parker, Aunt May, MJ, Happy Hogan or Mysterio from the 1960s.  While I give it three out of four stars I will never be a fan of this new series.  It is not the Spider-Man created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, or by John Romita (who replaced Ditko.) I read Spider-Man from the beginning and this has none of the values or concepts that made me love comics. My Spidey was a loner. Here he is an Avenger, mourning the loss of Tony Stark and wanting to give up his role.  He has many friends and is lucky in love. And everyone knows his secret identity. One important thing: The visuals make Spidey more of a Superman than a Spider-Man, he seems to be flying all over the place.

This is really two movies. The main move is a teen movie, in the genre of 16 Candles and other movies of the 1980s. It is simply a romantic comedy trying to bring together Peter Parker and MJ.  If you like the actors, Tom Holland and Zendaya you will like this movie. Also Marisa Tomei and Jon Favreau bond here and it is more comic relief and romance than anything else. They have quirky, humorous scenes together. (They never even met in my comics!)

The beginning shows Nick Fury and Maria Hill (Samuel Jackson and Cobie Smulders  witnessing a huge monster destroying the countryside.  Other monsters, the Elementals (From Supernatural Thrillers?) attack other countries and they are rescued by Mysterio and a reluctant and vacationing Spider-Man. These elements, of course, are the super-hero aspect of the movies that are laid over the teen age romance. The world, and Peter are coping with the return of half the population from the Thanos Finger Snap in Avengers Endgame.  And they are coming to grips with the death of Tony Stark.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays the mysterious Mysterio. My Mysterio, who first appeared in Spider-Man #13, 1964, was a special effects movie maker who used his power of illusion to confuse people. He was actually one of the weakest and silliest villains, yet Steve Ditko drew him so well it was fun to read. Here is introduced as a hero, from another dimension.  But the original was a fake, was this one too?

The visuals and special effects are simply fantastic. Very imaginative and very striking. The surround sound was also effective and damn good. The musical score left a lot to be desired.

A fun movie, for sure, but it was made for teenyboppers, not for Marvelites.

[David Vaughn]

Thanks Barry...I still want to see it though

I actually like this Spiderman...he's more fun!

[tripplej]

Thanks Barry for the review. We will check it out as well.

[tripplej]

We saw this over the weekend and we greatly enjoyed it. Yes, it is a teen melodrama but hey, it was entertaining.
Also, great movie as a follow up with Spider-man homecoming..

[David Vaughn]

Saw it yesterday and enjoyed it as well, although not as much as the first movie. It didn't help that there were two toddlers in the damn movie theater...reinforced why I avoid the movie theater!

[Barry]

That is why Imwill wait to see the Lion King on home video

[AVSCraig]

That is why Imwill wait to see the Lion King on home video

This is why I wait for everything until it's on home video !