DVD Review: Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home
(DVD Spider-Man)

It is not hyperbole when I say that this 2021 release may very well be the best film in the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is filled with over 30 films already. It is also a film that could only have existed after a lengthy and complicated series of previous cinematic interpretations of the Spider-Man mythology. Tom Holland returns as teenager Peter Parker, our web-slinging superhero. But he’s got a problem – at the end of the previous film in his series, Spider-Man: Far From Home, he — *SPOILER ALERT* — managed to defeat the bad guy Mysterio, but Mysterio revealed to the world that Spider-Man’s secret identity was Parker. This has wreaked havoc on Peter’s life. So, as Spider-Man: No Way Home begins, Peter turns to fellow superhero, Stephen “Doctor” Strange, master of the mystic arts, to ask if Doctor Strange can do something mystically that will cause everyone to forget that Peter is Spider-Man. However, when Peter’s neuroses cause him to interrupt the complicated spell with caveats, the results turn chaotic.

 

Soon, Peter’s reality is visited by villains from other, parallel timelines – villains faced by other versions of Spider-Man (in previous films starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield) – Doctor Octopus, The Green Goblin, Sandman, Electro. Then the other two Spider-Men also show up. Strange’s interrupted spell has fractured reality – causing the “multiverse” of parallel universe/timelines to start crossing over or overlapping with each other.

 

This storytelling device allows the series Marvel Cinematic Universe films to absorb the continuity of the earlier Sony films that told varying different “origin” stories for Spider-Man. And for long-time fans, seeing Holland, Maguire and Andrews’ versions of Peter Parker all interacting and working to solve a major problem together is sheer nerdvana. But this film doesn’t simply pay fannish lip-service in crossing over these various iterations – Spider-Man: No Way Home tells a very serious life-and-death story, that in many ways reboots the entire Spider-Man cinematic storytelling universe from this point onwards.

 

The performances are all excellent, the effects work is superb (though I didn’t think the “Sandman” effects were as good as everything else). And the music and sound effects are incredible. Fans who have been following Spider-Man for decades (he first appeared in the comic books in 1962) will appreciate all the “Easter Eggs” and in-jokes, and those who’ve only started with this character in his latest film incarnation should find the dip into his history to be fascinating. My only big complaint is that one major version of Spider-Man was ignored – from 1978 to 1979 Nicholas Hammond starred as Peter Parker on CBS TV in 14 episodes of the live-action “The Amazing Spider-Man”. I really would have liked to have seen some acknowledgment of that series, the only live-action Spider-Man not acknowledged, in the appearance of multiple Spider-Mans in Spider-Man: No Way Home. But then I’m just a geek at heart. At least my favorite Spidey villain, Alfred Molina as “Doc Ock”, has a major role to play, and even gets a redemption arc following his earlier perfidy.

 

Highly recommended – and this film really kick-starts a series of Marvel Multiverse films and TV shows, including 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try all the previous versions of Spider-Man in feature films and television, including those starring Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield or the 1970s TV series “The Amazing Spider-Man” starring Nicholas Hammond — which can be tracked down online.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film ) | ( official Spider-Man: No Way Home web site )

 

See where the Spider-Man: No Way Home film falls in the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the If You Like…Superheroes in Film and TV booklist here on BookGuide!
See Kim J.’s review of the 2002 Tobey Maguire film Spider-Man in the October 2020 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
See Kim J’s Review of the 2002 Tom Holland film Spider-Man: Far From Home in the September 2020 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Black Widow

Black Widow
(DVD Black)

Black Widow is a prequel to the Avengers – for obvious reasons if you’re caught up on your Marvel movies. The story introduces, not only Natasha Romanoff, but also her “family” which is really just a bunch of Russian spies forced together to blend in with American customs. After their identities are uncovered they return to Russia and are split up. An antidote emerges, affecting brain chemistry in Red Room agents. Natasha reunites with “sister” Yelena in Budapest and they decide to break their “father” out of prison and track down their “mother” to bring down the Red Room using the antidote.

 

I can’t talk enough about Florence Pugh in this one, plus Rachel Weisz is one of my favorite actresses of all time. The casting is so well done, I actually watched it for a second time immediately following the first. It is an action movie – obviously – but the moments of comedy thrown in really bring it to another level. Yelena’s dark sense of humor mixed with Melina’s absolute no sense of humor create some really great moments.

 

I thought Black Widow was very well done, the storyline was good – a little predictable at times, but I think that’s true for a lot of Marvel movies. And it really made me root for Yelena and hope for future adventures with her.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the Avengers movies, though specifically anything featuring Natasha Romanoff. Also Lucy (another Scarlett Johansson action film), or Haywire (another a good female action movie with similar taglines).)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film ) | ( official Black Widow page on the Disney+ streaming site )

 

See where the Black Widow film falls in the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the If You Like…Superheroes in Film and TV booklist here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Carrie R.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame
[DVD Avengers]

This film, which was released in theaters in the Spring of 2019, and on DVD/BluRay and streaming platforms in the Summer of 2019, was the culmination of an incredible amount of planning and movie-producing. It was the 22nd film in a series of interconnected films that stretch back to Iron Man in 2008, in which all the films fit into a single continuity, with characters (played by the same actors) that cross over between films at will.

11 years of planning led up to the two-film climax that started in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and concluded with Avengers: Endgame. Dozens of characters from across the cinematic world based on the Marvel Comics universe end up on screen in this “finale”. Where Infinity War ended on a depressing cliffhanger, as arch-villain Thanos “snapped” 50% of all living things out of existence, Avengers: Endgame is the attempt (several years later) by the surviving superheroes to “reboot” their new reality and return to what they knew before, through an audacious and complicated plan.

People who don’t care about comic book characters on the screen should avoid this one like the plague. If you DO love Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, and their many friends and associates, this film was a dream come true. To say much about its complex and multi-layered plot would be to spoil the viewing experience. Suffice it to say — you really need to watch most of the other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2008 to 2019, in order to make sense of this film’s many plot developments.

The core group of actors who’ve portrayed the most iconic characters in the MCU films put in some of their absolute best performances in this crown jewel. The effects work is astonishing. The music is perfect. This film, which needed to live up to over a decade’s worth of hype, lives up to it in almost every way.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try all 21 of the films that preceded it, but particularly Marvel’s The Avengers, Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Avengers: Endgame web site ]

Read Scott C.’s review of Avengers: Infinity War from September 2018

Check out the extensive DVD list: If You Like…Superheroes on Film and TV in our BookGuide resources

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!