Endgame, but it’s Spider-Man
After having his secret identity revealed to the world, Peter and his friends are suffering the repercussions. To attempt to rectify this, he calls on Doctor Strange to assist in making the world forget him, but obviously, things don’t go the way he wants. When villains start to appear from other universes, it is up to Peter to send them back.
***Warning: Spoilers***
Like Avengers: Endgame, this film is a great feat of the industry. They may not have had to coordinate as many people as Endgame, but getting pieces of two previous iterations over the last few decades is equally impressive. To get the formalities out of the way, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, both previous actors of the titular character, are in this film. It’s arguable that both have been burned from the Hollywood system, and it’s commendable that both made an appearance at all. I just wished that I had stayed away from the movie’s worst-kept secret.
It’s really surprising how involved both actors were. I think we were all expecting just some kind of cameo, but they both play big roles. Aside from the obvious fan service, they almost got to redeem their characters from their respective universes. Instead of outright killing his foes, Tobey got to help rescue them. Andrew also got to rescue the girl. Similar to a scene in the recent Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, they were able to provide the current Peter with a form of counseling.
Why this happy-go-lucky Peter might need counseling is apparent in this movie. When Norm Osborn succumbs to the Green Goblin’s control, Aunt May falls victim to his rampage. This serves as Tom Holland’s “With Great Power” moment of his run of movies, aside from her giving the comics-accurate quote. In this iteration of the character, we aren’t sure if there is an Uncle Ben, and if there is, wherever he is. Several MCU characters have filled that void, Tony Stark being the closest analog. Besides these, Holland’s Spider-Man has just been living a normal high school kid’s life. All’s not doom and gloom though.
The movie really knew how to have fun with the pieces they had. From memes to real life callbacks, there were many jokes. Intertwine that with fast paced action and you’ve got a rollercoaster. When it came to solving the Sinister Five’s death problem, that came to a screeching halt. After sequences Doc Ock, Sandman and Electro, it felt a little out of place to have an extended sequence of science experiments. It feels like this could have been approached with a more engaging, but at least they had more jokes when it happened the second time around.
Not only are the Spider-Men back, but their villains are too, mostly. The actors for Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Electro, Sandman, and the Lizard. These five are in the movie, but Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin is the big star. Dafoe puts on a clinic through his constant battle with the Green Goblin character. When he flips that switch, he chews the scenery and is almost overwhelming for anyone in his way. Without the goofy bike helmet, he is able to put so much emotion through his rollercoaster of moods. Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock felt like it was pulled straight from the time period with the deaging tech. Jamie Fox’s Electro was okay, cracked a few jokes and hung out. The other 2 were pretty much just edited using old footage. A weird query about the alternate universe characters that showed up though is what constituted the time that you are pulled through? A typical quandary for these kinds of story plots.
Although one can enjoy this as a standalone trilogy, or even film, the real reward comes after watching the other films. What the filmmakers did here was a true achievement and a treat to fans of all ages. It might not be a perfect movie, but it is definitely one of the best Spider-Man movies of all time.