Spider-Man: No Way Home is best Spidey film ever
Call me biased, but Spider-Man: No Way Home is the best movie about our beloved friendly neighbourhood webslinger.
I was initially concerned that multiverse concept will create a tangled mess, but I was proven wrong.
A Spider-Man multiverse was introduced in the 2018 animated Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, which opened up the possibilities of many Spideys and villains coming together.
No Way Home picks up straight from the aftermath of Mysterio's death in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) where Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is unmasked as Peter Parker and branded "public enemy No. 1", no thanks to the zealous news presenter J Jonah Jameson (a fabulous J K Simmons).
Repercussions are fast and furious. The final straw is when Peter, his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon) get rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, their dream college.
In typical Peter fashion, he overreacts to the bad publicity and begs Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to reverse everything back to normal.
What follows is as per the trailer. Supervillains from other Spider-Man universes show up - Dr Otto Octavius/Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Max/Electro (Jamie Foxx), Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Dr Curt Connors/Lizard (Rhys Ifans) - and it's up to Peter and friends to stop them from terrorising his universe.
No Way Home is filled with nostalgia and expects everyone to know what transpired in the various Spidey big-screen incarnations over the past two decades, starting with Sam Raimi's version in 2002.
Director Jon Watts delivers a spectacular action piece balanced with much emotional turmoil.
This is the greatest hits compilation that fans have been waiting for. Many standout moments are courtesy of the alumni, poking fun at their earlier outings.
It's interesting to note that the baddies are called by their names and not alter-egos, thus humanising them somewhat.
It also goes with the premise where Peter seeks to reform and cure them instead of sending them back to their dimension to meet their certain deaths.
Peter's greatest superpower has to be his empathy, and Holland delivers just that.
Since his appearance in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, Holland has gone from a bumbling, likeable teen and matured into a bona fide leading man. He truly embraces the Spidey adage: with great power comes great responsibility.
No Way Home sees him carrying the full load singlehandedly without the need of a seasoned actor (Robert Downey Jr in Homecoming, Jake Gyllenhaal in Far From Home).
While Cumberbatch is a key figure here, his presence is more as a tease of what's to come in his own MCU film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, next year.
Do stay on for the end credits, which should excite all Marvel fans - I was.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now showing in cinemas.
Score: 4/5
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now