I was lucky to have a theater all to myself to watch this motion picture, otherwise I would had been trying my hardest to hold back the tears from rolling down my face. Spiderman: No Way Home will pull at your heart-strings, especially when hearing words from a certain distant relative which set the momentum to the plot. A film full of past memories fused with the present challenges your humanity. The fanservice (material intentionally added to please the audience) thickens the plot as well, an achievement not many films could have executed as effectively.
Tom Holland was the right choice to portray the latest rendition of Spiderman. Unlike his predecessors, he not only looks like your next door neighbor high school kid but carries himself as a young boy being thrown into the frenzied, chaotic world of jaded and, often times, menacing adulthood. What strikes me is how much time and focus is given to each of the other characters, almost as equally as the main protagonist whom at times acts as the backdrop in the scenes. I should mention, the correlation of how a young man is at times overlooked and dismissed in real life is played well by Tom Holland’s non-hero image.
The true tests of any hero, in real life or fiction, are the sacrifices they endure, either by choice or by fate. Tom Holland’s character reveals the Achilles’ heel in his alter ego. Unforeseen conundrums are bestowed upon him, that only as a young man, not shielded as Spiderman, must overcome to feel the full effects of his passage into manhood. You, as the viewer, feel such actions immediate to your core-being, they transcend to your own thoughts and anxieties from real life experiences and to those people close to you. I was left with what if? Who are my priorities? What are my morals? Am I doing enough? Did I make the right choices?
While I don’t want to spoil the movie, I was delightfully surprised by an unexpected cameo or two. For some strange reason, I started to reminisce of “Happy Days” where Fonz and Ritche and the gang showed up and everything felt fine again. Though it was short lived, it raised awareness to remind me that life is short. The special effects and motion graphics are very effective in relaying troubling and at times fantastical scenes, but it was the scenes from the cameos that were truly magical. I wanted to be there or I wanted to bring back those great wonderful untroubled times full of hope, love, happiness and comradery.
You must watch this movie. It may compel you to be more involved with the world, particularly in the current world affairs we are all experiencing.
Review by: Sozzled