Spider-man: No Way Home

Spider-man: No Way Home

Director: Jon Watts. Stars:Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch 

The fact that this film even exists is not just the closest thing to a ‘miracle’ for any superhero fan (and for a Spiderman freak like me, this is pretty much a childhood dream come true), but it also shows the power that the Marvel Machine has these days: basically they can do anything they want.They had already proven themselves with the humongous “Avengers: endgame” in 2019 in which they were able to put together one of the greatest cast ever assembled, raking them up from more than 10 years of previous films, into a very satisfying epic finale.As it happened, it ended up being the most successful film in cinema history with a massive $2.8 billion gross worldwide (only to be beaten again by James Cameron who, like a sore loser, decided to re-release Avatar in China, thus adding enough money to get to 2.85 billion and pass its adversary). Wherever you stand on the “Marvel franchise” debate, one has to bow to such numbers. With this latest Spider-man (latest, but certainly not the last: mark my words, this is going to make a fortune and we’ll see more of Tom Holland in the suit) they went even further by creating a real crowd-pleaser which celebrates twenty years of the Spiderman legacy at the movies and brings this trilogy to a great conclusion.Needless to say, your appreciation for “No Way Home” will very much depend on how fond (and knowledgeable) you are about ALL the previous films: there are so many “call-backs”, “Easter eggs” and “winks” that the geek inside me was on over-drive and was just having the time of his life. It is of course one that plays to the fans, and one wonders what it’ll do to the average moviegoer, but hey, how many of those are left these days anyway?If this is what’s needed to get people back in the cinema, well please, give me more of this! It’s very hard to talk about this film without giving away some BIG spoilers (even if some of those are possibly the worst kept secrets in movie history), but it’s a film that starts on top gear and hardly slows down. However, beyond the spectacular fights, the astonishing visual effects, the vertiginous swings across New York and overall sense of fun that bursts from every frame of this film, the moments that I will remember more than anything else were actually the most intimate ones. There are some truly heartbreaking scenes in this film, including a poignant ending which will leave you wanting to see Spiderman 4 as soon as possible. Tom Holland is once again a very likeable presence, showing not just his charisma, but also his vulnerability and playing on the fact that he is actually very young superhero (in fact the youngest of all the actors who previously played the character). In the end, while this might not be the best Spiderman movie out there (That trophy still belongs to Raimi’s 2nd film with Tobey Maguire in my view), this was certainly the most enjoyable experience I’ve had in the cinema in years. And apparently I wasn’t the only one to feel that: there were a couple of moments in the (packed) auditorium where I was, when the whole crowd exulted and screamed with happiness, clapping and cheering at the screen, like I have hardly ever seen or heard before. If this isn’t the joy of watching a film with an audience in the cinema, then what is?4 stars as a film, but 5 (and more) as an experience with a crowd of people (hopefully Covid-free)