After the heavy subject matter of Infinity War/Endgame, it's good to get back to more fun superhero fair. We got exactly that with Ant Man & The Wasp, and we get that exactly with the new Spidey flick.

Where AM&tW was segregated from the major events of the MCU (until the post-credits scene), Far From Home ties itself directly to the previous events to add emotional weight and purpose for our hero. Here, Peter is dealing with not just "the blip" but also the death of Tony Stark and his new role as "the next Tony Stark" that is unwillingly being thrust upon him. He's just a kid and wants to live a relatively normal life. Saving the world is cool and all but can't a motherfucker take a vacation every once in a while? That his internal struggle here. Now add Jake Gyllenhaal being simply the best.

I love Jake. He's one of the best actors today and I love how he never got too self-serious. He's always up to being playful and a little unhinged (hello Okja!). Mysterio was always one of my favorite Spider-Man villains and this film uses him perfectly. In fact, it uses him so perfectly it can be considered a major spoiler to even acknowledge that Mysterio is a villain!!! The entire arc with Beck is genius. It keeps everything within the MCU tied together and follows the "actions have consequences" theme that has been a major factor in the overall franchise. It uses this theme to ties it in even further to Tony Stark and makes it a fitting coda for a world where the narcissistic asshole who always wanted to do good comes full circle. And that's the film: a coda to all that has come before.

The film doesn't set up what's next for the MCU. It doesn't create the next big obstacle that will come to ahead ten years/twenty movies from now. It's a nice bow on what came before. I've always had my issues with Tony Stark. Sure RDJ played him perfectly but what a shitty human being. Everything is Tony's fault is a good running joke for the first saga of the MCU. He kept trying and trying but his ego and self-centeredness kept screwing up all his good intentions in the end. Here we get a film that tackles that issue of character head on and shows us that we can have a better version of Stark. We can have Peter Parker.

Plus the film is a riot. Fun and light with tons of laughs and surprises. The perfect popcorn flick. And did I mention how amazing Jake Gyllenhaal is? Cause I'll write another thousand words just on how perfect he is and how he completely owns this film and elevates it to the level it ultimately succeeds at. Sorry...
MJ, Ned, Betty, Flash...the whole gang's here and it's one of the best times you'll have at the theater. I ultimately don't think it rises to the upper echelon of the MCU or even to the level of Homecoming, but I'll be revisiting this many times in the future for that Mysterio goodness. But it is one of the top entries into the franchise and not simply chuff.