Previously published May 24. 2022

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Nostalgia. Anticipation. Action, action, action! Spider-Man No Way Home absolutely dominated the charts. One of the best films of 2021 has jumped to number 6 on the highest-grossing movies of all time list, with a total of $1.69 billion worldwide.

For months prior to the film’s release, fans were speculating about the possible return of the previous Spider-Men, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. So to watch the movie in theatres was an experience like no other. As soon as Garfield’s Peter Parker graced his presence on the big screen, fans went wild – screaming, applauding, some crying. Needless to say, it all happened again with Tobey Maguire’s appearance. And at every returning character/villain’s entrance – Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church), and The Lizard (Rhys Ifans), a sense of nostalgia from the last 20 years took over the room.

The acting all around was brilliant; the character development (including, for the first time, MJ and Aunt May’s) engaging and sparking the core of the film. The dynamic between the three Spider-Men was fantastic. Lots of humor, sentimental moments, and one very intense back crack captivated the scenes prior to the ‘big fight’. There were many scenes which fans were quick to point out as favorites. One was when the Spider-Men recreated the infamous meme of them pointing to each other. Another, when Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men were questioning Tobey Maguire on where his web comes from, “like does it just come out of your wrists or does it come out of anywhere else?” or when Macguire asked if the Avengers was a band.

Fans also got a sense of closure from many of the returning characters in this film. One such moment was when Garfield’s Spider-Man caught MJ as she was falling from a tower towards the end of the film, mirroring Garfield’s failed attempt at catching “his MJ”, Gwen (Emma Stone) when she fell from a tower. “Are you okay?” MJ asks Garfield as he himself is visibly seen gaining closure with tears in his eyes as he responds “yeah”, garnering many sniffles and “aww”s from the audience.

Although the cinematography, especially in the fight scenes with all the villains was absolutely incredible and the character reintegration and development were spectacular, there were many plot holes in the film. It picks off from the end of the previous Spider-Man movie, where Peter Parker’s identity is revealed. Not being able to get into MIT because of this, Peter goes to the magical and mystical Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and asks him to perform a time-altering spell, making everyone forget that Spider-Man was in fact Peter Parker (which by the way, doesn’t make for much of an interesting inciting incident, especially for an MCU film). Of course, this plan all goes downhill as Dr. Strange somehow manages to open a time hole in which everyone who ever knew Peter Parker from any universe would come to this one. Managing to trap all the returning villains, Peter decides to reform them knowing that if he sent them back to their respective universes now, they’d all be sent to die. And the film begins.

The problem with this plot is just that it simply doesn’t make any sense. If everyone who knew Peter Parker came into this universe, then where was Gwen and all the Uncle Ben’s and Aunt May’s? The next question is why did Peter decide to help these five villains? Because all the destruction from the fights probably resulted in not only innocent people’s deaths but Aunt May’s as well. Also, won’t reforming the villains and sending them back to their universe so they don’t die forever alter time and the future for all these universes? And yet, after all this hassle, at the end of the film Peter comes to no avail when his identity as Peter Parker is forgotten to all, including his loved ones, MJ and Ned. Though, I find ending on the somber note of MJ not knowing who Peter was is a wonderful way to close off the movie, the plot in general was very weak. Obviously, that did not detract much from the movie as a whole as the sense of nostalgia with the returning characters took the gold and made us all fall in love with the film!

References

• Bojalad, A. “Sam Raimi Gives Final Verdict on Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Den of Geek, 25 Jan. 2022, https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/spider-man-no-way-home-sam-raimi-review/.
• Buzaglo, J. “10 Funniest Spider-Man: No Way Home Quotes.” ScreenRant, 29 Dec. 2021, https://screenrant.com/funniest-spider-man-no-way-home-quotes/.
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 17 Dec. 2021, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10872600/.