The high school years have had good and bad times for each of us. Being at the age where we seem to know more than our elders, we realize as time goes on that we really don’t. But how much more complicated does it get when you are a superhero? The “Spider-Man” series has looked at this for many years, and the latest film featuring Peter Parker also closes out Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”
Jon Watts directs again this time around with a story that takes place after the events in “Avengers: End Game” as Parker (Tom Holland) and his classmates are taking a trip to Europe, where new villains appear and are wreaking havoc all over the planet. A man dubbed “Mysterio” (Jake Gyllenhaal) appears on the scene and claims to have prior knowledge of them from living in a parallel universe, prompting Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to ask him to join a new team of Avengers. From here, Peter struggles with being a superhero as well as a teenager, much less what may or may not be what things seem.
There is a ton of high-dollar CGI here, and it is money well spent, much like the rest of the MCU. All of the visual effects blend with the shooting that was done on soundstages very well, complimenting a fun cast with Gyllenhaal standing out, running the gambit of acting emotions and body language.
The difference for me here from other films in the series is that this seems to be geared more towards the millennial crowd than most of the others focusing on a broader audience. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was just different. The pacing works well (especially after the three-hour length of “End Game”), but not enough to be a strong finish for Phase III. I still enjoyed it and will recommend “Spider-Man: Far From Home” as an afternoon showing in a theater.