Growing up, I’ve never been a big fan of caped superheroes. While I was born in the sunny state of California, I spent most of my childhood growing up in the industrial districts of China. Instead of Superman, I had Ultraman. Instead of the Spider-Man Trilogy, I had the CG — mess that was Journey To The West. I have never been introduced to the heart of the Spider — Man films, had never watched Batman’s animated series nor the Justice League, and so I won’t pretend to know the influence that characters like Spider-Man had on that generation, because I was never really exposed to it. Truth be told, my first genuine experience with a Superhero film wasn’t until seventh grade, when I returned to America. Up until then, I didn’t even like to watch films because of their violence(and the emotions they would make me feel).
So yeah. I don’t understand Spider-Man. I don’t understand what makes him tick, and I don’t understand the intrigue behind his character, because I’ve never read his comics or watched his films. And frankly, I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I haven’t even seen the legendary Raimi trilogy.
But if there is one thing I understand, it’s a good story. I love stories that are relatable. I love stories that are philosophical and give the audience something to think about. I love stories that respect the characters, stories that transport me into a whole new world while still being grounded in humanity. I love Spider — Man: Far From Home.
I say this, but in all honesty, there’s a lot about this film to dislike. The High School teen humor is not only cringey but also insensitive at times. Peter is a complete and utter idiot in this movie, and for a lot of the first act, I was really trying hard to not scream in pain. Maybe it was an accurate representation of High School relationships and anxieties, but as a recent High School graduate myself, I definitely did not want to relive those experiences again. And while those are valid points that have a possibility of taking away one’s enjoyment of a film, it’s still one of the MCU’s highest grossing entries, making over a billion dollars while simultaneously being loved by pretty much everybody. So how in the world is such an awkward teenage romantic comedy with no universe-ending stakes able to gross so much money? What is so special about this movie that it’s able to perfectly blend major — blockbuster with genuine and relatable story?
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Part 1: Peter Parker
“With great power, comes great responsibility.”
No Way Home’s first act focuses almost entirely on Peter Parker. There is no action, and for the most part, it shows Peter doing regular high school things. He wants to go to Europe. He wants to relax and have a good time, he wants to ask the girl he likes out. He doesn’t want to take responsibility for his actions, and he sure as hell does not want to be Spider-Man, knowing how many people look up to him as a role model. Peter feels forced into becoming Spider-Man, and so when the opportunity comes to just forget about all of the pressure to live up to Iron Man, He would easily take that opportunity. He doesn’t want to fight anymore, he doesn’t want that responsibility anymore, and in a completely selfish yet relatable move, he runs away from all his responsibilities.
And for the most part, it’s going pretty smoothly. There are some hiccups here and there with the natural high school awkwardness, but Peter is doing pretty well. He’s on his way to the beautiful city of Venice, with a perfect plan that could not possibly fail and a couple of weeks to just completely forget about Spider-Man. I mean, what could go wr-
The Luggage Check lady unzips his suitcase in to reveal his Spider-Man suit.
While Marvel plays this scene off as a joke, in hindsight, it’s a brilliant scene that first foreshadows the cracks of Peter’s escapist fantasy. Even when he’s in Europe, away from Iron Man, away from the press, away from his Aunt May, he can’t run from Spider-Man. Every step he takes is another reminder of his responsibilities, and the fact that there is a big giant water monster wrecking havoc around Venice isn’t exactly helping him. Even SHIELD is there, as if mocking Peter, daring him to leave Spider-Man behind. Point being, Peter wants to get away from Spider-Man, but his responsibility beckons him forward. No matter how far he tries to run, the literal waves of a giant water monster come pushing him back toward Spider-Man, back toward his responsibility.
But this time, there’s a hope of a different mentor figure. This time, there’s a person to take Peter’s burdens off his shoulders, and that man is:
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Quentin Beck/Mysterio
One of the biggest surprises to come out of Far From Home was Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio. In comic books, Mysterio was one of Spider-Man’s less iconic villains, but a villain nonetheless. So when it was announced that Gyllenhaal, the man who had played the manipulative and terrifying protagonist of Nightcrawler, people were excited for such a terrifying actor to play a Spider-Man villain.
Except that wasn’t really the case. In the promotional trailers, Mysterio was hailed as a good guy, a person who had suffered great loss. And while people still probably realized that Mysterio was a bad guy, those skepticisms were genuinely conflicted during the moments that he interacted with Peter. Instead of telling Peter to mind his own business, he tells him how he can help him. Instead of lashing out at Peter, he has a genuine moment with him, telling him to chase his dreams. That skepticism turns into trust. We genuinely want to believe that Beck is a good guy, and the heart to heart he spends with Peter just makes both us as the audience and Peter trust him more. Peter, who had been running from that responsibility, finds someone who is the grounded, understanding leader who Peter could never be. Handing his glasses to a stranger who he just had two conversations was dumb, yes, but also the best choice that Peter felt he could make. He didn’t think he had what it takes, and after everything, Quentin was that man. Gyllenhaal’s Beck is agonizingly hopeful and sympathetic, and especially after what Peter’s being going through alone, with no one to truly understand what he’s going through, for the most part, I wanted Peter to give him those glasses, just as much as I wanted Beck to be on our side.
So when the big reveal comes and it’s revealed that Mysterio is the bad guy, we’re hurt. There was a part of me that still held onto the hope that Mysterio might still be good, that maybe it wasn’t real. So when that moment comes, when Mysterio interacts with Peter one more time, the revelation, the fear, the anger, all hits like a damn train.
Literally.
Maybe it was just the movie theater, maybe it was the shock of that moment, but I like to tell people that I genuinely felt the impact of that train as if it was impacting me. I completely felt the pain, Peter’s pain, as he struggled from the impact of the full force of his actions.
Gyllenhaal kills it as Mysterio, and although the character himself is pretty one dimensional, he makes for a genuinely terrifying and hateable villain. We trusted him, believed in his act, but it just turned out he was a man only motivated by his rage and greed.
It makes for a great social commentary on the need of us to believe. The truth is, most of us in life are lost, just putting together pieces, and when we see someone who has control of their lives, someone who seems to have everything down, we want to believe in them. “People, they need to believe in something. And nowadays, they’ll believe in anything.”
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One of the main criticisms that I hear about this movie is on Peter’s seemingly over reliance on Iron-Man. And, to be completely fair, those criticisms are at least kind of valid. Peter Parker should not have a billion dollar suit, Peter Parker should not be so intimidated by Tony Stark, Peter Parker should be Spider-Man, not Iron Boy. And I definitely get that, the heart of the original movies are definitely not there, but In my opinion, the two MCU Spidey flicks all have their own heart. It’s about a kid who wants to be Spider-Man to prove himself. It’s about a kid who wants to live up to the Stark name, but ultimately finds himself crumbling from the huge responsibilities expected of him. And it’s here, with his mentor dead, that Peter feels forced to do something he doesn’t want to, forced to become someone he doesn’t feel represents him. In Far From Home, he fucks up terribly, and he feels awful for it, in fact, he feels like a damned bullet train hits him at full speed. And just when it all boils over, and he screams, he lashes out, realizing the full extent of how he fucked up. Holland’s acting in this scene is really well done, a great display of bottled — up emotions and the terrifying anxiety of the situation. There is no way I’m going to be Tony Stark, there is no way in hell I can live up to him.
But it’s in that darkest moment, in realizing how badly he fucked up, that Happy, Tony’s best friend and Peter’s closest connection to Stark after his death, tells him about Stark. Tell him that, truth to be told, not even Tony could live up to his own expectations. He was always second guessing himself, and was a total mess. Peter learns that Stark wasn’t the completely perfect being that he saw him as, but was instead, a man. A man with brains and a lot of money, yes, but a flawed person, who had no idea who he was doing. But even then, even knowing how screwed up he was, how often he fucked up, the one thing he never second guessed was picking Peter. It’s a powerful scene, and it inspires Peter. It frees him from needing that suit, it frees him from this endless cycle of self hatred and proving himself. And now, he has a choice. A choice to become Spider — Man, even after knowing this, even after knowing that he doesn’t have to be Spider — Man. And ultimately, he chooses to become that symbol, that inspiration for kids on the street, not because he feels the need to be, not because he feels pressured to be,
But because,
He chooses to be.
But as we see in the trailers of Holland’s next Spidey movie, they’re about the consequences of choosing to be Spider-Man. They’re about what it means to be in that mantle, about the choice of being someone that the world despises.
That’s the heart of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
