With every new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie, I seem to have a harder time gathering my thoughts and writing up my opinions. This may mainly be because I go into them now with the pure intent to have fun, relax, and enjoy myself. So, being critical can be hard!
What am I getting at? You're probably not going to see a lot of critical commentary here on Spider-Man: Far From Home. I stepped into the theater expecting a fun, humorous superhero flick, and that's exactly what I got. It's actually kind of awesome how even though the MCU movies are all connected, you can head into one knowing what kind of mood to expect depending on what the focus is -- not every MCU title has the same mood. Spider-Man lends to humor, teen angst, and action. It really does tickle my funny bone, and I love that.
Also, as a side note, I have not yet seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I've been meaning to, and I'm excited to watch it, but just haven't found the time. So, no comparisons between that and Far From Home in this post!
I guess I should start talking about the movie, right?
Hands down, my favorite character was MJ. I mean, are you all that surprised? If you've read any of my past posts about MCU movies, you shouldn't be. Anyway, I know some purists want the "typical" MJ, but I'm definitely a big fan of this version. She's not the damsel in distress that's been so overdone. She's smart (yes, she figured out Peter was Spider-Man), headstrong, and willing to defend herself if need be (she grabs a freaking morning star!). And then at the end, it's not Peter rushing to check if she's all right. Nope. MJ runs to check if Peter's all right. I really loved that switch.
Though MJ wasn't what you'd normally find in the comics, Mysterio's fish bowl helmet was plucked straight from the pages, which made a lot of people happy. I'd never read anything with Mysterio before this, but his extravagant costume does lend to his pompous personality in the movie, so it fits. And everybody knew Mysterio wasn't a good guy, no matter how much they wanted us to believe it with the previews. Right when Peter was handing over the glasses, I screamed, "No! You're in idiot! Don't do that!" inside. It was kind of fun how Mysterio created such an elaborate plan to trick Peter -- he not only created illusions with tech, but with his story as well.
I also found myself thinking "Poor, Peter," quite often. All he wanted to do was have a nice, normal school trip. And then we get the mid-credit scene. His life will never be normal again! That will be awesome to see unfold.
But what about the end-credit scene? I know some people missed it! I think it left far more questions, though. My biggest question is how did Talos and Soren play Fury and Hill so well? To a tee! And for how long have they been doing it? But I did catch the hint drop earlier in the movie when Fury said not to invoke Captain Marvel's name -- I found it odd phrasing and wanted an explanation. Well, I got it. Totally makes sense that Talos would say something like that. So, it's when he briefly slipped out of Fury's character.
Honestly, I don't have tons to pick on about the movie. Was it perfect? No. Did I have loads of fun watching it? Yes. And for me, that was my main goal. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get the multiverse payoff, though.
I will say, after all the new announcements about Phase 4 of the MCU, I'm really excited for The Eternals and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Especially the latter one. ;)