So we went to
see Spider-Man: Far From Home
this weekend. It was an enjoyable outing with Tom Holland still killing it as
Peter Parker, AKA the Amazing Spider-Man. The film has humor and heart
and yes, since it’s a super hero movie, exciting action sequences.
In short, Spider-Man: Far From Home was good and I enjoyed it.
Now I’m going to gripe about some things.
What the hell happened to Uncle Ben?
After sitting through Uncle Ben getting shot by a robber twice to propel Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield on their way, I appreciate the current production team on this version of Spider-Man to not retread that oh so familiar ground. But Ben’s death and Peter’s role in it is a formative element of Peter Parker’s role and mission as Spider-Man. So far in the course of two solo movies and his appearances in other MCU movies, Peter has not once mentioned his Uncle Ben. Not even a reference to “with great power comes great responsibility”.
It seems that the old obsession with atoning for Uncle Ben’s death has been replaced with living up to the trust and legacy of Tony Stark. In FFH, Peter experiences an illusion designed to rub his face in his failures. Included in the imagery is a tombstone and inscribed on it is the name of Tony Stark. I know most of the movie is about the constant pressure Peter feels to live up the legacies of both Tony Stark and his armored alter ego Iron Man but geez. If there was any moment where Ben Parker’s name should come up, it’s a moment of Peter confronting his failures.
Of course the illusion is conjured up by Mysterio who has his own obsessions with Stark which may account for that particular image of Stark’s tombstone. Which brings us to the next gripe.
Tony Stark is the ultimate creator of villains.
In Homecoming, Adrian Toomes, the Vulture, goes on his crime sprees because Tony Stark was a dick. In FFH, Quentin Beck, Mysterio, reveals his malevolent motivations are because Tony Stark was a dick. The motivation for the villains in all three Iron Man movies was that Tony Stark was a dick. Never mind that Tony straight up invented Ultron in the 2nd Avengers movie. It seems Tony’s greatest skill as an inventor was creating super villains.
I know the whole deal is that Tony Stark was a flawed human being who tried to be a better person and tried to make the world a better place. And Odin bless him, he didn’t always get it right. But it’s hard to overlook the “not getting it right” when it serves as the plot fodder for two Spider-Man movies in a row.
Aunt May, Spider-Man’s sidekick
The whole schtick for decades has been poor, elderly, frail, always about to die Aunt May. Oh lordy, if she knew that her precious nephew was Peter Parker was Spider-Man, well, the shock would just kill the old girl, don’t you know. But with Aunt May now being portrayed by perennially hot Marisa Tomei, that bit ain’t going to fly. Her catching Peter in his Spidey suit at the last moment of Homecoming was a classic with her “What the fuck?” reaction.
Now in FFH, we see that May has a nice working relationship with Peter and his arachnid alter ego, going as far as to remind Peter to pack his Spidey suit for his trip to Europe. And when Peter makes a point to leave the suit at home, it turns out May packed it for him anyway.
Which is all well and good. I like this fresh take on Aunt May. My gripe here is I feel cheated of the moments following May’s discovery at the end of Homecoming. C’mon, what was that conversation like? How did May process this new found information? What happened in the moments between May finding out Peter Parker is Spider-Man and May packing the Spidey suit in Peter’s luggage? Dave-El wanna know!
I’m not sure where within the structure of Far From Home this story would’ve been told but I still wished we had not missed it.
OK, I’ll stop the griping.
To reiterate, Spider-Man: Far From Home was good and I enjoyed it.
In short, Spider-Man: Far From Home was good and I enjoyed it.
Now I’m going to gripe about some things.
What the hell happened to Uncle Ben?
After sitting through Uncle Ben getting shot by a robber twice to propel Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield on their way, I appreciate the current production team on this version of Spider-Man to not retread that oh so familiar ground. But Ben’s death and Peter’s role in it is a formative element of Peter Parker’s role and mission as Spider-Man. So far in the course of two solo movies and his appearances in other MCU movies, Peter has not once mentioned his Uncle Ben. Not even a reference to “with great power comes great responsibility”.
It seems that the old obsession with atoning for Uncle Ben’s death has been replaced with living up to the trust and legacy of Tony Stark. In FFH, Peter experiences an illusion designed to rub his face in his failures. Included in the imagery is a tombstone and inscribed on it is the name of Tony Stark. I know most of the movie is about the constant pressure Peter feels to live up the legacies of both Tony Stark and his armored alter ego Iron Man but geez. If there was any moment where Ben Parker’s name should come up, it’s a moment of Peter confronting his failures.
Of course the illusion is conjured up by Mysterio who has his own obsessions with Stark which may account for that particular image of Stark’s tombstone. Which brings us to the next gripe.
Tony Stark is the ultimate creator of villains.
In Homecoming, Adrian Toomes, the Vulture, goes on his crime sprees because Tony Stark was a dick. In FFH, Quentin Beck, Mysterio, reveals his malevolent motivations are because Tony Stark was a dick. The motivation for the villains in all three Iron Man movies was that Tony Stark was a dick. Never mind that Tony straight up invented Ultron in the 2nd Avengers movie. It seems Tony’s greatest skill as an inventor was creating super villains.
I know the whole deal is that Tony Stark was a flawed human being who tried to be a better person and tried to make the world a better place. And Odin bless him, he didn’t always get it right. But it’s hard to overlook the “not getting it right” when it serves as the plot fodder for two Spider-Man movies in a row.
Aunt May, Spider-Man’s sidekick
The whole schtick for decades has been poor, elderly, frail, always about to die Aunt May. Oh lordy, if she knew that her precious nephew was Peter Parker was Spider-Man, well, the shock would just kill the old girl, don’t you know. But with Aunt May now being portrayed by perennially hot Marisa Tomei, that bit ain’t going to fly. Her catching Peter in his Spidey suit at the last moment of Homecoming was a classic with her “What the fuck?” reaction.
Now in FFH, we see that May has a nice working relationship with Peter and his arachnid alter ego, going as far as to remind Peter to pack his Spidey suit for his trip to Europe. And when Peter makes a point to leave the suit at home, it turns out May packed it for him anyway.
Which is all well and good. I like this fresh take on Aunt May. My gripe here is I feel cheated of the moments following May’s discovery at the end of Homecoming. C’mon, what was that conversation like? How did May process this new found information? What happened in the moments between May finding out Peter Parker is Spider-Man and May packing the Spidey suit in Peter’s luggage? Dave-El wanna know!
I’m not sure where within the structure of Far From Home this story would’ve been told but I still wished we had not missed it.
OK, I’ll stop the griping.
To reiterate, Spider-Man: Far From Home was good and I enjoyed it.
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