ROSHAN'S REVIEWS
  • New Reviews
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Must-see Movies
  • Film Diary
  • Contact

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019) FILM REVIEW

6/30/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture


***

12A,  129 Mins

A whistle-stop tour of Europe descends into franchise fodder.
It's really annoying being in the minority of opinions, isn't it? Trust me, I know how it feels  and the 'Spider-Man' films - in all their various versions - are a classic example of exactly this. I was in a minority of people who felt short-changed by Sam Raimi's emotionally empty 2002-2007 originals (too much Tobey Maguire dancing) and, again, was in the pint-sized population who shared the belief that the Andrew Garfield-starring reboots were the superior products.

How disheartening therefore that all the angsty good work of those films should be grossly undone by the mess of 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' (2017) - less a movie than a marketing campaign for Marvel's ever-expanding brand name. That is despite rave reviews claiming the studio had finally nailed the beating heart of the web-slinging vigilante.

Two years on, we get 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' (2019) and we're now in a post-Tony Stark world populated by teens with older brothers now younger than them thanks to "the Blip" (Thanos's wipeout of half of universal existence).

Tom Holland's geeky Peter Parker has far bigger problems to contend with though. Specifically how he's going to woo "girl next door" Mary-Jane Watson (Zendaya). Perhaps a school trip to Europe should be the answer to all his greatest woes. Although, as Peter finds out, it's not easy balancing hormones with saving the world...

It's hardly surprising that 'Far From Home' is marked improvement on its cartoony predecessor and does benefit from nice 80s nostalgia, an abundance of attractive European locations and a deliciously camp villain in Jake Gyllenhaal's paralell world-travelling Mysterio - a welcome change from the science experiment-gone-wrong baddies that too often serve as Spidey's nemesises.

It's faults lie in the cold, clinical corporateness of its franchise-building cinematic universe that undercuts the whistle-stop sightseeing on display. This is less a sequel than a bitsized epilogue to the gargantuan finale offered up by 'The Avengers: Endgame' (2019) populated by "wink wink" nods to fellow superheroes and cameos that turn out to be more extended gags than "bit parts".

To be fair, the episodic nature of the plotting is nothing new to the Marvel Universe. It's certainly what made me switch off even in the better standalone outings like 'Black Panther' (2018) and 'Thor: Ragnarok' (2017). And yet rarely has one of the studio's productions felt so devoid of creative heft with this film existing largely by virtue of establishing further franchise fodder.

It doesn't help that Tom Holland is utterly inept in the titular role. His attempts at adolescent angst resembling that of an irritating puppy barking for unearned attention while his chemistry with peppy Zendaya is virtually non-existent.

With such an absence of character development, that Director Jon Watts should try to distract us from the one dimensional writing with rampant CGI destructions of London, Venice and Prague is perhaps forgivable. Such 'Transformers'-style tedium might be more bearable if we had a smidgen of heart tucked amidst the carnage, but this big-budget behemoth appears to have eyes fixed firmly on the crowds...



0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Meet Roshan Chandy

    Freelance Film Critic and Writer based in Nottingham, UK. Specialises in Science Fiction cinema.

    Roshan's Top 10 Best Films of 2020

    1. Tenet
    2. Clemency
    3. Rocks
    4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
    5. Mangrove
    6. David Byrne's American Utopia
    7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
    8. Calm with Horses
    9. Saint Maud
    10. Soul


    Follow Me on Twitter
    ​

    Tweets by chandy_roshan

    Rating System 

    ***** 2 Thumbs Up
    ****  Thumb Up
    *** Waving Thumbs
    **   Thumb Down
    *   2 Thumbs Down
    ​

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2015

    RSS Feed

    FILM OF THE WEEK
    ​

    Picture

    Soul
    ​(PG, 97 Mins)

    Pixar's latest is a lovely, jazzy look at life, death and the afterlife. Their best film since 'Inside Out' (2015).


    DVD OF THE WEEK
    ​

    Picture

    Relic
    (Blu-ray and DVD)
    (15, 89 Mins)

    Natalie Erika James' real-world horror taps into our fears about ageing and Alzheimer's with spine-tingling and moving results.

    TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK
    ​

    Picture

    Slumdog Millionaire (2009)
    (15, 120 Mins)       
    Weds 20th Jan., 11.20pm, Film4

    Feelgood film or not, Danny Boyle's movie is a fable of Dickensian social realism and escapist dreams.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • New Reviews
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Must-see Movies
  • Film Diary
  • Contact