✯✯✯✯

When Spider-Man had made his first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, fans across the world were blown away by Tom Holland's likable, yet minimal, performance. Four films later, he returns with his second solo outing as the webslinger. I was a huge fan of Spider-Man: Homecoming and having director Jon Watts back at the helm, I was very interested to see how Spider-Man: Far From Home would end up. Considering how strong of a film Avengers: Endgame was, it was also going to be fascinating to see how a film set after that 3-hour-long epic would be executed. Far From Home is not only better than Homecoming, but it is a delightful piece of entertainment.

After a traumatic five years of being dusted away from existence and witnessing the loss of mentor Tony Stark, Peter Parker is looking to step away from the crime-fighting game for a short period. He is also about to embark on a school trip to Europe, including best friend Ned (played by Jacob Batalon) and love interest MJ (played by Zendaya). In the midst of his European excursion, Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) contacts Peter to assist him in defeating mysterious creatures called Elementals. Along with Fury, an interdimensional newcomer named Quentin Beck (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) comes in to assist Peter in stopping the Elementals. From there on, there are lots of fighting, lots of comedy and all in all, a surprising amount of suspense.

Holland continues to shine as Peter/Spider-Man, as he has a high amount of excitement throughout and acts like a teenager, which is why he has surpassed Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as the best Spider-Man on screen. Far From Home has great performances aside from Holland, with Gyllenhaal being a standout as Beck/Mysterio. He is one of my favorite actors working today and having him incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is nothing but a pleasant treat! Beck adds a likability to himself, while also having fascinating secrets of his own. The back-and-forth between Holland and Gyllenhaal is remarkable and one of my favorite aspects of the film.

The action sequences in Far From Home are so exciting, while also being psychologically mind-bending. It reminded me a lot of the beloved 2018 Spider-Man video game. I thought one of Homecoming's weakest links were how forgettable the action sequences were, minus the one that occurred at the Washington Monument. They manage to be more memorable this time around and I'm guessing that Watts took notes from Homecoming's criticisms. Let's not push aside the high-octane score from the always brilliant Michael Giacchino, who adds a lot of flare and excitement into his music like he did previously.

One of my biggest fears going into this was the romance that'd blossom between Peter and MJ. As much as I like Zendaya as an actress, she was one of my least favorite aspects of Homecoming. She pulls a complete 180 here by not making a MJ an irritating character and the chemistry between Holland and Zendaya is adorable. I loved their sequences together and as someone who, in high school, was nervous to talk to their crush - it was definitely very relatable. The relationship between them could've been cheesy, but because of how well-executed it is - it turned out a lot better than anticipated.

There aren't many problems I had with Far From Home, but I thought the film's pacing was iffy at certain points. The problem was very similar in Homecoming and it was one that didn't stop me from enjoying the film. It definitely could've been polished up a bit more for sure. I also was torn on how the third act of Far From Home plays out. The twists left me feeling a bit questionable, but in the long run - once the film wrapped up, it got me excited to see what happens next for the iconic webslinger.

I have loved the character of Spider-Man my entire life and even though he's been portrayed by three different actors on the big screen, he's always been exciting to watch. I've loved every film with Holland's incarnation of this character and whatever Sony decides to do next, I'm curious to see what goes down. It is going to be fascinating as to what happens after the debacle that's occurred between Sony and Disney. I hope something positive takes place, so that Spider-Man doesn't go far from his home in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.