Spider-Man: No Way Home

 

Spider-Man: No Way Home (6/10)
Genre: Superhero/Action
Director: Jon Watts
Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2021

Sony's trouble continues in creating a Spider-less universe and the failure so far is proof of it. One of their achievements was the critically acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which in my opinion, laid the cornerstones for Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

Quoting Damon Lindelof, 'it’s an industry. And if you make a couple of great Marvel movies, the instinct is, We need to make more Marvel movies, and we need to expand this.’ Spider-Man: No Way Home feels the same. 

I couldn't watch Spider-Man: No Way Home during its theatrical run due to my work schedule, and thanks to the internet, I knew all the spoilers, so my enthusiasm was a little less while watching this movie, and after watching it felt like Marvel Studios is more concerned about getting all the big names onboard who have been a part of the Spider-Man movie franchise since the beginning (Thank God they left the Japanese version behind) instead of creating a cohesive storyline.

I love the concept of multiverse, and it is good to see everyone in one film, but does it mean giving priority to marketing than the actual film? It is known to everyone that big films such as these are mere marketing commodities disguised as films, and the studios will do everything to sell them. Spider-Man: No Way Home succeeds with flying colors, but with every movie such as this, things are becoming a little poignant and mainstream, which in turn is also influencing other creators - look at the fate of DCEU. 

Now the question arises what is so wrong? If I compare the earlier Marvel movies to recent ones, there is a radical change - for instance, take the characters of Hulk and Thor as an example. And if we talk about the multiverse, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a prime example of making an entertaining film on the same concept with impressive storytelling. 

I am not criticizing No Way Home, it is fun to watch, but now I feel a little bored of watching so many Marvel shows and movies, and of late, they are starting to feel a little redundant. Yes it was good to see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in the mix, but their characterisation were poor. 

The story is about Peter Parker's desperate attempt to conceal his secret identity with the help of Doctor Strange, leading to chaos in the multiverse. 

After Sam Raimi, Jon Watts becomes the second director to complete a Spider-Man trilogy, and even though No Way Home is by far the most successful one, I still like the first film in the franchise. If we talk about direction, look at his work in The Old Man series or Cop Car and compare it with his Marvel ventures - marketing. 

Actingwise, there are way too many big names in this film, and even though Tom Holland is the primary character, he feels lost in the crowd. And then you have everyone else doing what they did in their previous outings. 

My favorite moment is the fight between Peter and Norman. The visual effects are good, and the film has plenty of action. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home is entertaining, to say the least, and well received by global Marvel fans and comic book fans, breaking box office records, but to me, its just an one-time watch, or am I becoming too Scorsese (lol)?