What critics thought of ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’

The reviews of Spider-Man: Far From Home are rolling in and critics have mixed feelings about the epilogue to Marvel’s grandiose Infinity saga.

As the follow-up to Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home has a lot of eyeballs on it as fans eagerly await to see the fallout of the final conflict and see what Marvel is setting up for its next phase of films.

Reviews have noted that it’s refreshingly lighter and more fun than Endgame, making it a great palette cleanser follwoing years of major conflict, while simultaneously exploring some of the threads that Endgame left dangling and, of course, injecting some FX-heavy action and adventure along the way. 

Here’s what the critics have to say about Spider-Man: Far From Home:

Connecting with characters

Alexis Nedd, Mashable:

“Watching Peter experience grief, stress, and guilt over his role in this new reality is pretty difficult stuff, but in Holland’s hands the emotional journey Peter takes feels natural and relatable.”

“That’s how you cast a comic book movie”

“Of course, Holland isn’t alone in driving Peter’s story — he’s excellently paired with Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck/Mysterio, who makes flying around with a fishbowl on his head a captivating addition to the MCU’s repertoire of superpowers. Gyllenhaal Gyllenhaals all over Far From Home, adding a potentially illegal amount of charm to every single line reading and gesture. He’s so conspicuously charismatic that every character who encounters him appears to have a moment where they come to the realization that Mysterio could beat them with a pillowcase full of bricks and they’d say thank you. And that’s how you cast a comic book movie.”

Alex Abad-Santos, Vox:

“The image of Peter breaking down at Tony’s tombstone also underscores that Tony’s sacrifice did not offer a clean-cut, happy ending. Instead, it has left Peter with an unintentional burden: He lives every second of his life in fear that Tony Stark’s sacrifice was in vain, that he doesn’t deserve Iron Man’s bequeathals, let alone a spot with the Avengers at all.”

“In this moment, it’s clear how much Tony means to Peter — that Tony has become this latest Spider-Man saga’s Uncle Ben. It was Ben after all, not the radioactive spider, that was the driving force and guiding light that turned comic book Peter Parker into Spider-Man and who taught Peter to never forget the responsibility to his power. Tony functions in the same way, his death ultimately affecting and guiding Marvel Cinematic Universe Peter.”

Defts twists and fake-outs

Owen Gleiberman, Variety:

“The key to the new movie’s appeal, apart from the fact that Tom Holland acts with far greater confidence and verve in the title role, is that the entire film is a bit of a fake-out, and I mean that in a very positive way. There’s a good twist, and it’s totally central (I won’t reveal it), but what’s resonant about it is that it enables Far From Home to play around with the very issue of what matters in a superhero movie. …”

“Quentin, it turns out, isn’t quite what he seems, but that’s a routine twist. The real twist is that reality, in Spider-Man: Far From Home, isn’t what it seems. Peter, who tries to hide the fact that he’s Spider-Man by donning a black ninja version of his costume (inspiring Europeans to call him “the Night Monkey”), is fighting a magic trick of evil. It’s as if he’s in a matrix he has to unplug from — and when he does, the film almost seems to be commenting on the fanciful essence of comic-book cinema. Mysterio, beneath his powers, turns out to be a kind of flimflam visual-effects wizard. But is this a meta statement on the genre or just a neat way of pulling the rug out from under us?”

“It’s mostly rug-pulling, though of a deft and satisfying sort.”

A fun teen romp

Jim Vejvoda, IGN:

“Far From Home is – like its predecessor, Spider-Man: Homecoming – an ‘80s movie at heart. If Homecoming was a John Hughes movie then Far From Home is a hybrid of European Vacation, WarGames, and Gotcha!, meaning it’s a fish out of water comedy mashed up with a teen romance and espionage adventure. The latter element is courtesy of Nick Fury (the perpetually gruff Samuel L. Jackson), who is less a mentor for Peter here than a proverbial principal, always on his case about not screwing up if Peter knows what’s good for him.”

Chris Klimek, NPR:

“Peter and his Midtown High School peers — the same loveable crew who populated Homecoming two summers ago — embark upon a class trip to Europe, during which our Peter hopes, loudly and frequently, to take a breather from the whole great power, great responsibility gig. Frankly, I’d have happily sat through 90 minutes of just that. Returning director Jon Watts did a marvelous job of building out the supporting cast — Jacob Batalon as best-pal Ned; Zendaya as a refreshingly enigmatic version of Peter’s crush, MJ; Tony Revolori as rich-kid jerk Flash Thompson; Angourie Rice as Betty; Martin Starr as the kids’ high-strung faculty chaperone. Just watching this crew of smart kids shrug their way across the continent is, well, relaxing — not a sensation one frequently associates with these films.”

Less-than stellar effects

Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter:

“Coming up short are the physical manifestations of [redacted]’s infernos and Spidey’s efforts to combat them. In an era of ever-more impressive and realistic special effects, those on view here seem rather hokey and ill-judged. Compared with what we’ve seen Spider-Man do in various previous outings, there is a contrived, even mechanical aspect to the storms [redacted] whips up to wreak havoc, which in the process renders him one of the least persuasive and intriguing bad boys in the annals of cinematic Marvel.”

Unsatisfying conclusions

Alex Abad-Santos, Vox:

“Far From Home director Jon Watts gives into a frustrating habit of introducing promising starts of ideas, only to let them fizzle out when it comes to the followthrough. Far From Home ventures into rich emotional territory with gestures toward how humans skirt responsibility when they experience loss, and how aggravating it must be for superheroes to have super-strength and near-physical invulnerability, but still not be able to mend their emotional damage.”

“Then the movie just lets those moments fade.”

Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters July 2.