Our take on... Spider-Man: Far From Home

The first film in the post “Endgame” era of the MCU marks the end of “Phase 3” in the series and serves as an extended epilogue in the story of Peter Parker following the events of the aforementioned “Endgame”.

We catch up with Peter Parker (Tom Holland) some eight months after the defeat of Thanos by the Avengers, but it came at the cost of Peter’s mentor Tony Stark. As a result, we find Peter in a vulnerable state as he doesn’t feel that he can be a hero in his own right, and because of this Peter is looking for a new mentor. From the top, the film does a great job of explaining what happened to the people who were snapped out of existence and brought back after five years and how it affected their everyday lives. As Peter is heading away on summer vacation with his classmates he has the zero intentions of doing any superhero stuff, but the returning Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has other ideas.

As Peter and his class travel across Europe they encounter strange creatures at every turn, who are matched only by a new hero in the form a character who comes to be known as Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). As well as all this, Peter has to deal with his burgeoning feelings for MJ (Zendaya).

“Far From Home” is a more light hearted respite following the heaviness of “Endgame” and is a welcome change in tone. Tom Holland has really made the role his own by now, and it’s not a reach to say that he’s the best incarnation of Peter Parker we’ve seen on screen to date. Gyllenhaal is a welcome addition and a fresh face to not only the MCU, but to the superhero genre in general as this is his first appearance in a film of this type since “Prince of Persia” almost ten years ago. The action is really well shot, and as my daughter pointed out the use of slow motion means you can properly see the ways that Peter uses his powers.

While the temptation may be there for some to use this film as an exit point for the MCU, and while the film does wrap up nicely in the end, there are enough loose strands to keep you coming back for more, especially with Holland’s winning performance in the title role.

These are the talented and gifted words of our man Kevin Dillon, @kevinwritestuff

Spider-man: Far From Home is available to buy on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K UHD at goldendiscs.ie and in all Golden Discs stores nationwide.