SpiderMan: No Way Home – Movie Review
Our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has impacted generations growing up. So many have been able to relate to this superhero’s story. Stan Lee’s creation brought tears and smiles to young and older people multiple times in two decades, with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland playing the web-slinger in their Spider-Man movies. Last December, Peter Parker was seen once again in theaters. Marvel and Sony did not fail the fandom with Spider-Man No Way Home. It reached $1.37 billion in the box office worldwide, making it the 12th highest-grossing film globally.
Numbers don’t lie; it is the best Spider-Man movie ever made from a subjective point of view. Filmmakers did an outstanding job with both the plot and cinematic art. Tom Holland’s performance as the web-slinger impacted audiences in this third film. Peter Parker learns what it truly means to be a superhero after the whole world discovers his identity. Facing new challenges but fighting old villains, we can see how this character keeps growing and developing as he sacrifices a lot to save the universe… or should I say multiverse? That’s right; Spider-Man faces villains from other universes after he tampered with Dr. Strange’s spell to make the world forget the web-slinger’s identity. I believe we can all agree that No Way Home presents one of the most tragic and intense Spider-Man stories seen in cinema. Uncle Ben’s death in Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s films, in addition to Gwen’s death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, does not compare with how No Way Home played with the fans’ hearts.
As technology advances, our ability to create artistically beautiful visual effects also expands. Long viewers of Marvel movies have seen that the visual effects have improved over the years, from the first IronMan movie to SpiderMan: No Way Home. The new SpiderMan movie used a mix of VFX tricks such as blue screen, modeling, effects, body swaps, and more to achieve stunning VFX.
The effects, perfect lighting, and sound effects complimented Tom Holland’s acting by pushing forward all the moving emotions No Way Home provoked in many movie scenes. In addition to this, the mathematical integration with Dr. Strange’s superpower effects in the mirror dimension never ceases to amaze. It always brings to life the cinematic aesthetic that was not seen before this superhero’s appearance.
Comparing this excellent CG integration to the initial Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man films is incredible because we get to witness the technology and creative development that filmmakers have been able to produce throughout the years.
In the first SpiderMan movies, their suits were real costumes created to be shot on set. Most of the suit shots in the most recent SpiderMan movie are CGI. They did an excellent job transitioning the actor’s head to the CGI body. Additionally, VSFX artists did a fantastic job transitioning from a live-action person to a CGI model of a person. For example, in an initial scene where Peter Parker is carrying MJ, they talk, then swing off over a freeway towards his apartment. The transition from real-life people talking to CGI models flying up into the air was seamless.
There were certain shots in Spider-Man: No Way Home that were done so well, it’s difficult to tell that it is entirely CGI. For example, in the shot where Doctor Strange pushes Peter’s astral form out of his body, that scene is fully computer-generated. None of it is real, from the characters to the streets and cars in the background. The models, textures, lighting, and look development were done very photo-realistically. And although the scenes where Doctor Strange twists the mirror dimension are not possible in real life, the scale and atmospheric perspective of the models and lighting were done well enough to seem believable.
On the compositing side of VFX, mixing live action with CG was once again seamless. The shots on the freeway bridge when Doc Oc showed up were a mix of real objects such as the road, cars, trucks, and other props, while the rest, such as the city background, some vehicles, and other props, were all 3D assets. The VFX team used a blue screen to shoot the actors and added the city in the background, allowing them to shoot wherever they wanted. They also didn’t go completely digital and still used special effects to keep the movie’s “real” feeling. For example, some shots where cars are being crushed are not simulated in Houdini but instead are crushed in real life in front of a blue screen and then comped into the whole shot. Some explosions were also done in real life instead of on the computer.
The boundaries of real and CGI are pretty difficult to tell in most shots of Spider-Man: No Way Home. It is incredible to think that technologies and human artistic abilities allow us to create works of art that look almost exactly like real life. As time and technology advances, the excitement to see what VFX in Marvel’s movies has in store grows.
Even though most of the effects were outstandingly well done, a few hiccups could be improved. For example, in one specific shot in the fighting scene between Peter Parker and Green Goblin, it is hard to tell whether the actor performing is Willem Dafoe and not a stunt double. Nevertheless, it might be a good thing to pinpoint since Willem confessed in an interview that he agreed to return to play the famous villain because he was allowed to perform his stunts. In the end, it could be an example of excellent performance, but probably not the best CGI effects.
Spoiler Review:
When Sony announced that Spider-Man would be rebooted within the MCU, there was an expectation that there would also be a couple of solo Spider-Man movies coming with it. However, we didn’t expect the third solo film to be an ambitious project that is both a solid movie for fans of the Tom Holland films and an excellent send-off for the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies. What the Maguire and Garfield Spider-Man movies have in common is that the studio behind the films had grand plans for future movies but were never fulfilled due to critical reviews or poor box office performance.
Sony had plans for a fourth Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire, but they decided against making another for unclear reasons. It could have been the fact that Spider-Man 3 was received poorly or the studio interfering with Sam Raimi’s creative vision by forcing him into including the Venom character in the movie. An aging Tobey Maguire might have also contributed towards the studio deciding to pull the plug on a fourth movie. The downside of this decision is that it left a very unsatisfying conclusion for the character with a tragic ending. He finally reconciled with Harry Osborn, ultimately for him to die at the hands of Venom, in addition to Peter and MJ being in a weird place with their relationship. The only high point is that he forgives the man who killed Uncle Ben, but, in my opinion, I always disliked that they chose to make Sandman the killer instead of the guy from the first movie.
The Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies had greater ambitions than the previous trilogy. Still, those crashed far harder after the critical and box-office disappointment, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. In the movie, they teased a supervillain team-up film as well as another Spider-Man movie. Still, we never got to see those plans come to light. Canceling those plans had the same effect that it did with the Tobey Maguire movies, where it left the character at an absolute low but this time even worse than before. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ends with Peter killing his childhood best friend Harry Osborn and failing to save his love interest after she falls from a high building. After Gwen’s death, the rest of the ending is Peter mourning for her and feeling bad about himself, which is typically where you would want the character to be in the second act of a trilogy, but the third movie was never made.
When Sony decided to bring back the original actors for Spider-Man: No Way Home, they had the opportunity to make a proper conclusion for the Raimi trilogy and the Amazing movies, which they succeeded. The film gave enough screen time to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield to inform the audience of what they were doing after their films concluded.
Tobey’s Peter felt like he had finally found a sense of peace, and he mainly served as a mentor character to Tom’s Peter. When the three Peter’s meet for the first time, Tobey tells Tom about when he hunted down Uncle Ben’s killer leading him to feel empty inside after, trying to discourage Tom from doing the same to Green Goblin. Tobey stops Tom from dealing the killing blow to the Green Goblin during the film’s climax because Tobey doesn’t want Tom to repeat the same mistakes he did. The audience is also treated with a scene where he reconnects with Octavius where Tobey tells him that things are going okay for him.
The most impactful moment for Andrew Garfield’s Peter is when he rescues MJ from falling off the scaffolding. He tears up after knowing she is safe, partially from knowing he couldn’t save Gwen and realizing that he made up for it by rescuing MJ. It’s a great scene, especially since he admitted in an earlier moment in the movie that he became a bitter person after Gwen’s death, so knowing that some of the pain has been lifted leaves a far more satisfactory conclusion than the ending of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
One thing I’m glad didn’t happen was Tobey Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker giving praise to the Tom Holland Spider-Man. What I mean by that is that I’m glad there wasn’t a scene where they say something like, “You have the opportunity to be the best out of all of us, kid,” or “It’s now your turn to be the best Spider-Man.” Saying something like that would have been so easy for the studio to do, declaring that this is the best Spider-Man. The studio is aware that a large number of people prefer the Andrew Garfield movies or the Tobey Maguire ones, and I’m glad they didn’t try to say that they’re wrong for feeling that way. Instead, I’m happy that they could tell a cohesive narrative with multiple characters that can both be a respectful send-off for those original characters while also being a solid character story for the current Spider-Man.
We all know now that Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire have an essential role in Spider-Man No Way Home. They are crucial to helping Tom Holland’s Peter Parker save the villains and even save himself from the darkness of grief. It is beautiful to see the brotherly relationships these three Spider-Mans have. I believe their performance as a team left audiences wanting more because of their excellent chemistry on-screen.
No Way Home is an excellent movie, not only because it brings back all of our favorite characters but because it also breaks the pattern of “the hero needs to defeat the villain.” In this film, Peter Parker saves the villains even though he was tempted not to do so by many aspects such as his own grief and even Dr. Strange. It is lovely to see how Peter believes in second chances. In my opinion, this is what makes Spider-Man the best hero. He believes that everyone deserves to be saved, including the bad guys.