Spider-Man: Far From Home (Spoilers. Seen it? Discuss it here!)

Brack

Just back from seeing this. My new favourite Spider-Man film. If you love Mysterio it will probably be yours too.

Loved the flippant treatment of the events of the last two Avengers movies at the start. Loved just how Ditko-y the visuals were in Mysterio's first fight with Spidey. Love that we get a near classic red & black Ditko Spidey outfit. WITH WEBBING UNDER THE ARMS~!

And absolutely hyped for the return of JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson. This time in full frothing at the mouth hating Spider-Man mode. Fingers crossed for Scorpion and/or Spider-Slayers in the next film.

Matt

I liked Gyllenhaal & the surprise mid-credit cameo. The Mysterio illusions were fantastic. Seeing Spidey get pummeled as he tried to fight illusions was amazing. It was like reading it in the books.

I liked how they tied in moments from prior movies into the plot.

My issues from the first movie still remain; too much with his classmates. And Spidey should be providing the quips, not Fury, Beck, & Hill.

I really liked seeing Beck (and Toomes last time), but I still prefer Raimi’s 2 movies.

Matt

I’ve made the mistake of turning on FX; Spider-man is on. A reminder of how much I love that movie.

Hex

Brack said:

And absolutely hyped for the return of JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson. This time in full frothing at the mouth hating Spider-Man mode.

I enjoyed the film... but this was by far my absolute favourite moment. Did not see it coming, and my jaw dropped. I had no idea they had signed up Simmons to return as JJJ, and as much as I wanted it to happen, I thought that door would be closed. JK Simmons is perfect casting, and the best thing about the Raimi films. So Happy!

spid

A friend of mine called the movie thoroughly enjoyable, and I agree that sums up the movie perfectly. I thought the humor hit a lot more than Homecoming. The focus on the kids was better for the time period they are setting these stories in. At this age Peter was not ready to hang out with the Avengers, and tackle their type of challenges.

The only knock I had against the film was solved with the mid-credit scene. I don't think a great Spider-man stories ends with a happy ending. I am not for killing for the villains as that seems like a waste, but I think there should be still be challenges facing Spidey for the next film.

Brack

spid said:

The only knock I had against the film was solved with the mid-credit scene. I don't think a great Spider-man stories ends with a happy ending.

I think the mid-credit scene works so well because his happy ending is him fully becoming Spider-Man.

• He makes his own costume.
• He gets his Spider Sense back.
• He steps out of Tony's shadow.
• His aunt dumps Happy.
• He and MJ are together.

What he doesn't know until the mid credits is that fully becoming Spider-Man also means...

• A cantankerous old man will attempt to ruin your life
• Sections of the general public will think you're a menace
• Happiness is forever fleeting

Having Mysterio wipe away Peter's happiness right as you think it's finally going his way is the best bit of villainy in the MCU so far. It's just so personal and spiteful.

Matt

Did anyone really believe Beck was a good guy & not lying about the multiverse?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/07/08/spider-man-far-from-home-avengers-endgame-marvel-gyllenhaal-holland-zendaya-sony-lies-misdirection-box-office/amp/

At least comic book fans?

Brack

Matt said:

Did anyone really believe Beck was a good guy & not lying about the multiverse?

Sony's 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Marketing Was A Triumph Of Misdirection And Distraction

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/07/08/spider-man-far-from-home-avengers-endgame-marvel-gyllenhaal-holland-zendaya-sony-lies-misdirection-box-office/amp/

Sony used 'Avengers: Endgame' spoilers and red herrings to distract us from a shockingly spoiler-lite campaign for 'Spider-Man: Far From Home'

At least comic book fans?

I think the point of the article was more that the marketing used less of the entire film than marketing typically uses (by comparing it to the promotion of previous Spider-Man films).

But yes, if you know Mysterio, you're waiting for the other shoe to drop from the moment he's on screen, and screaming at Peter not to give him E.D.I.T.H.

Matt

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/114759#Comment_114759

Hmm, maybe. I don’t recall being too surprised (or misdirected) based on the marketing.

Vertighost

Presumably all the jokes (and there’s a ton) are landing for people because no one seems to be bothered that this was not a good script in terms of plot or character - especially for fans. I didn’t think it was horrible but since the jokes weren’t working for me (and if they had i’d I probably agree with the majority and forgive the many problems ) I couldn’t help but notice the following:

1. Peter’s spider sense comes and goes as the writers need it to, no explanations given. I am not overstating this. The writers even touch on this fact later in the film when he’s asked about it and his answer is as unclear as the writers are. This isn’t like Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 where it’s established early on that his powers are on the fritz. This might not be such a problem if i hadn’t wondered why Peter didn’t just close his eyes and use his spider sense the first time Mysterio was attacking him just before Peter got run over by a train. Speaking of:
2. Peter is as invulnerable as Superman now? The train hit him full force and he was under it and still conscious. Now I understand he can handle extreme blows, but dragged under a train? A knife will puncture him and he will bleed. A bullet will go through him. His limbs can break and have. I always assumed he could be crushed and killed but I guess not. So moving forward, I’ll know that Spidey can be run over by a train and he’ll be fine soon enough. If this ever happened in one of the comics (and maybe it did) I never read it. But ok, let me not make too much of this one detail and focus on the lack of suspense and the villain.
3. How any fan of the comics wasn’t bored stiff by the first half of the film and those cheeseball elemental creatures is beyond me. Mysterio is a villain - we know this. Which could be forgiven if not for the fact that we are presented with the banal elemental creatures. There is zero suspense to be had in those fight scenes for anyone who knows who Mysterio is.
4. Our villain. A great villain is essential to any action movie. What exactly was Mysterio’s (the group) goal in all this? To become celebrities? Gain notoriety? And given their abilities to create the world’s greatest amusement park that they could actually charge money for - a park that’ll make Disney World look like a dime store picture show - the best way for these brilliant engineers to become famous is to cause a great deal of destruction and collateral damage (civilians included) and pretend to be a superhero, save the day and then... do what? Get a lot of press and.... ? Meet the queen and....? And this team of engineers supporting Gyllenhall’s plan to become famous get what out of this since their work must forever remain secret? What a giant come down from Keaton’s Vulture whose motivations were as relatable and understandable as they come. Even a cosmic being like Thanos made far more sense than this.
5. My last point is more of a quibble but worth noting: Zendaya’s MJ is MJ in name only. And I’m not talking about physical appearance. This character is Daria in a romantic comedy. She’s the antithesis of MJ. Now I’m fine with changing things up, so why call her MJ? Why not give us an entirely new character and call her something else? There’s no rule saying she has to be MJ. Peter’s had other romantic interests. And if it must be MJ then have Zendaya play someone resembling MJ and not Janeane Garofalo’s stage persona.

Again, if I had been laughing I might have forgiven all this. It certainly reinforces my belief that as long as you’re making people laugh they’ll excuse anything.

Matt

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/114822#Comment_114822

I think it gets praised because it’s the current iteration and technology has improved since Raimi’s run. Look how many people forgave Affleck/Snyder’s version of Batman, despite including elements against what the character has become known for.

Truthfully, if it wasn’t for being the end of a Phase 4, I don’t know if I would’ve seen this in the theatre. I wasn’t that satisfied with Homecoming.