Crisis Management: “Spider-Man: Far From Home”

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019, Dir. Jon Watts):

I didn’t think I’d have to save the world this summer.

Peter Parker

With the grand, universe-changing events of Avengers: Endgame lingering in short-term memory, you’d think Spider-Man: Far From Home would be a welcome dose of low-key fun, a pendulum swing back to simplicity. Peter Parker’s issues have always been more relatable than the global and galactic concerns that have inflated so many of the recent Marvel movies, so why not relocate ourselves to Queens, where Peter’s major foe in his previous outing was his girlfriend’s dad? (A homicidal dad in high-tech alien gear, but still.)

If you’re expecting Far From Home to be similarly laid-back as Spider-Man: Homecoming, it is — for a little while. As the title suggests, Spidey is out of his comfort zone in this installment, although it begins innocently enough with a class field trip to Europe. Love is in the air, and Peter (Tom Holland) has a seven-step plan in place for winning over enigmatic MJ (Zendaya), including a romantic finale atop the Eiffel Tower. Even Peter’s nerdy sidekick Ned (Jacob Batalon) is getting in on the fun as he enjoys a summertime fling with Betty Brant (Angourie Rice), while Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), former bodyguard to Iron Man, is smitten with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). So far, so laid-back.

But as we’re reminded early and often (beginning with a hilarious montage underscored by Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”), former stalwarts like Iron Man and Captain America have left the scene, and a new Avenger must step up. For Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the top candidate is Spider-Man, Iron Man’s former protege. When monsters based on the elements (fire, water, and all that) and a hero who claims to be from another dimension named Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) inconveniently wreak havoc up and down Peter’s vacation route, our webbed hero must decide whether he’s up to the task of Avengers-level mayhem. As Spidey complains during a charity event that turns into an impromptu press conference about his potential Avengers future, “Does anyone have any neighborhood questions?”

Nick Fury: We have a job to do, and you’re coming with us.
Peter Parker: I’m just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Nick Fury: Bitch, please! You’ve been to space.

Clearly the filmmakers still have the Avengers on their minds. In fact, the movie’s ultimate punchline plays off our expectations (and desire) to witness more world-threatening chaos, while tossing in pointed commentary on “fake news,” to boot. For most of the running time the story draws decent comedy out of Spidey’s reluctance to step up to superhero royalty (“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” Fury quips at one point), and Holland remains reliably loose, funny, and flustered as our webbed hero. But one can’t help but notice that Spider-Man’s brand of domesticated angst has little place in this brave new world of high-tech skulduggery and international incidents. Save for a funny bit when Peter accidentally calls a drone strike on Brad (Remy Hii), his rival for MJ’s attention, most of the film’s action is one tidal wave after another of CGI-generated catastrophe, in which scenic landmarks like Venice’s St. Mark’s Square and London Bridge are laid to waste.

Spider-Man has been far afield and out of his depth plenty of times, even in the comics, but the heart of his character, and his most appealing quality, has always been the gap between his powers and his everyman existence. Sure it’s a blast to zing around the city and crawl up buildings, but how does that help you get the girl you want, or put up with a dreary 9-to-5 job? Holland’s easy repartee with Zendaya and Batalon hints at a story that could have had fun with more down-to-earth stakes; these moments are soon swept away in the ever-deafening noise the film whips up at regular intervals.

Ordinarily an imbalance between character and spectacle wouldn’t be a fatal blow, but Far from Home has the misfortune of coming on the heels of the superior Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), an animated movie which drives inward instead of outward. While world-altering events are in play in both films, the latter’s fulcrum isn’t rote baddies and calamities, but rather Spidey himself — or to be more precise, mirror versions of himself from other universes, all of which are haunted by their own doubts and origin stories. Remove all the special effects sturm and drang, effective as it is, and Into the Spider-Verse has a simple emotional through-line that the late Stan Lee would have approved of: how to be the best version of yourself. Far From Home‘s crux is whether Peter can fill Iron Man’s boots, which superficially might be intriguing, but do we really expect this dorky, likable kid from Queens to become a full-time Avenger? More importantly, do we want him to? The question hangs over the film’s climax, as Peter fights off hordes of killer drones — a finale that could have involved just about any other superhero, with zero change in emotional impact.

Spider-Man: Far from Home concludes with the usual triumphant swing through the streets of Manhattan, topped with a doozy of a revelation that opens the door for further change-ups. As a cliffhanger for a sequel, it all works well enough, but leaves us with another nagging question: Is “Peter Parker, wanted international criminal” really what we want the next installment of this series to be about? No doubt the Marvel franchise will find a way to resolve all this and plow forward with its never-ending universe-building, but when it comes to capturing Spider-Man’s unique vibe and milieu, we’re as far from home as ever. ■