By Seth Chaffee

I just watched Spider Man: No Way Home and I am happy to say that it was the best movie theater experience that I’ve had in two years. While it isn’t a perfect movie, it is just what I wanted going into the theater, and is everything that all the marvel fans are wanting to see.

The film follows up on the cliff hanger from the last movie. The whole world knows Peter Parker’s true identity and now sees him as a dangerous criminal. To fix this, Doctor Strange uses a spell to make the whole world forget who Spider Man is. It is from here that the movie gets interesting. Different villains from the multiverse are brought into this world and they are none other than Dr. Ock, Sandman, the Green Goblin, the Lizard, and Electro. 

This side of the story was executed perfectly because it didn’t feel like fan service that brings in these characters just for people to see. They served a purpose because since Spider Man knows that they will end up dying, he hopes to change their fate and make them find the good within themselves. This seemed pretty genius because it shows Spider Man’s character; how he doesn’t want to kill them or leave them for dead, he just wants to help people. All of the returning characters do a great job reprising their iconic roles. William Dafoe’s acting was great because he kept the insanity of the Green Goblin from the original Spider Man in 2002. I really found this movie to be the most compelling in terms of a structured story, out of all of the Tom Holland Spider Man films. Instead of Peter Parker being set at school events in these films, he has to come to terms with reality and how the real world is affecting his future. This seemed like a great character arc that added more depth to his personal life.

By the end, he is taking on the responsibilities of taking care of himself and fighting more independently since he realizes the world isn’t as easy as it was before everyone found out he was Spider Man. This movie gives everything the fans are wanting; which includes the nostalgia from different moments and characters from past Spider Man films. Usually in movies nowadays, these nostalgic moments and fan service that film makers include in movies seem a bit forced just for the fans only. In this, everything is brought together in a cohesive manner. 

The film carries a lot of emotion as well. Certain heartfelt moments we see are ones that the audience can connect to and also make Peter into a stronger and different person.

Every action sequence is so thrilling when we see who the characters are fighting against and with.

This movie is such a breath of fresh air and there hasn’t been a marvel movie like this since Avengers: Endgame where what we see on screen is what we would only imagine in our wildest dreams. Although every marvel movie brings humor into its films, this felt as though there was too much humor added. Some of the jokes were funny but some just didn’t land and were used in parts that should have been taken more seriously. Jamie Foxx’s character wasn’t very interesting when it came down to his motivation and Sandman didn’t have a big role in the film. I also found Peter’s knowledge of the multiverse a little unbelievable since he was already aware in the last film. The final conclusion was great, but the last few minutes of the movie didn’t make much sense. There were a few plot holes by the end that could have been cleaned up. With that aside though, I had a blast with this film and it offers everything possible to the longtime fans of Spider Man. Within all of the Spider Man films, this is definitely my favorite.