The reviews for Spider-Man: No Way Home are swinging in, with critics unpacking the third instalment in director Jon Watts' Spider-Man series.
No Way Home starts where the previous film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, left off: with Spider-Man (Tom Holland) having his identity as Peter Parker revealed for all the world to see by Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). On the heels of that, Peter and his loved ones, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are now forced to reckon with the aftermath. So, Peter turns to the power of sorcery, requesting Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to lend a hand — and yes, opening a portal to a dynamic, chaotic multiverse.
Critics have, for the most part, praised the visual effects and stunts, the performances of the cast (returning and new), and the empathetic handling of the villains — the whole lot of them. I mean, Willem Dafoe as The Green Goblin, Alfred Molina as Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx as Electro – the role reprisals here are enough to tempt any Spider-Man fan. There has been, however, criticism for some well-worn superhero tropes returning. But overall, it seems that this is yet another beloved chapter in the Spider-Man story, if not an overwhelmingly action-packed one.
Here's more of what critics had to say.
A charming cast that swings right back into it
Mashable, Kristy Puchko
The character combinations here are absolutely wild. Their sequences range from nail-biting suspense to tear-jerking drama (seriously, bring tissues), quirky in-jokes, and deeply nerdy conversations that are awkward yet adorable. Watts handles these shifts in tone with wit and agility as sharp as Spider-Man's. It doesn't feel jarring for a comedy bit to lead to tears or an action scene to be preceded by a hangout beat. Part of the pleasure of this film is the time it allows its characters to experience moments high and low.
IGN, Amelia Emberwing
Built around performances like [Willem] Dafoe’s — Alfred Molina’s Doc Oc and Jamie Foxx’s Electro aren’t anything to sneeze at, either — is the root of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home’s success. Amidst the laughs and the tears is a deep, heartfelt empathy that’s felt missing not just in the early MCU, but in the Spider-Man films that preceded this one.
Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson
The series’s typically winning performances — from [Tom] Holland, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei and others — similarly suffer. Here, the actors are tasked simply with tucking their heads down and holding this unwieldy thing together; less winning performers would no doubt have struggled more.
CNET, Jennifer Bisset
Holland also gets to showcase his dramatic acting talents, more than just his effortless likability. The darker, M-rated material pushes Holland to the burning, emotional places that flicker with the moral decisions nagging inside Peter. Special mentions go to Zendaya (Peter's girlfriend MJ) and Jacob Batalon (Peter's best friend Ned), the former of which has much more to do, despite playing Peter's girlfriend and inevitably finding herself falling from a tall building in the third act. MJ is even gifted a thread of character growth — but be warned, such gifts can so quickly be taken away (sigh).
The Guardian, Benjamin Lee
In a year that’s also seen Cumberbatch’s greatest performance to date, a shattering turn as a closeted rancher in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, it’s disappointing to see him lumped with laboured one-liners once again as one of the most powerful yet least interesting Avengers (“This is why I didn’t have kids” is one of many that needed a serious punch-up). Holland and pals are as up-to-the-task as ever though, and while it’s a shame they’re not furnished with some better lines, their combined charm and lived-in chemistry carries a great deal of the film through.
The plot web: tidy or tangled?
Mashable, Kristy Puchko
Spider-Man: No Way Home won't be for everyone. Some might see its cross-movie webbing as too chaotic, too fan-servicey, or just generally too much. Personally, having rewatched all of the previous movies recently, I was in awe of how Watts and his team weaved such different styles and textures together to express common themes and a familiar yet fresh tale of what it means to be a hero who is hurting. These elements play together in a dizzying ballet of action and emotion, bolstered by impeccable visual effects and an all-star cast eager to sink their teeth into these juicy collisions.
AV Club, A.A. Dowd
No Way Home is messier than the average adventure off the MCU assembly line. It has more in common with Raimi’s overcrowded Spider-Man 3 than just a certain sentient storm of minerals (played by… well, it’s not entirely clear, even after a climactic desanding). At times, it feels like there are as many movies competing for screentime here as there are villains, with returning director Jon Watts attempting the herculean (or just Peter Parkerian) task of balancing a large cast of old friends and family with a new roster of adversaries with whom the audience is assumed to be familiar.
CNET, Jennifer Bisset
For the most part, it works. It works — if you've seen all the previous Spider-Man movies. Inevitably a tangled web of characters, backstories and motivations, No Way Home has a surprisingly tidy plot for those who understand where each player has come from.
The Guardian, Benjamin Lee
While it would have been preferable to see a less convoluted plot constructed more from a desire to progress rather than regress, relying on fan service as a driving force, the script is more coherent than it could have been given the many moving parts and is not quite as overstuffed as say Civil War, the third Captain America instalment that also pushed the series from its own world to that of multiple others. It’s flawed for sure but still moves with more deftness than most (arriving after Eternals is a blessing for any Marvel film) and there’s an ending that suggests an awareness of its roots (post-credits scene aside), hinting at a promising way forward rather than back.
Visually, an inventive and gritty adventure
Rolling Stone, David Fear
What we can say is this: No Way Home is a perfectly fine superhero movie. It has a couple of great set pieces — the initial fight between Ock and Holland’s Spider-Man is proof that director Jon Watts has gotten increasingly better at staging these kinds of things; there’s a dizzying chase through Escher-like cityscapes that echo a similar sequences in the first Doctor Strange movie, yet still feels inventive — plus some tragedy, some sacrifices, Easter eggs for the heads (someone’s been tagging graffiti under the name Ditko), a battle royale, post-credits sequences and the feeling that this has been a set-up for the next film, which will set up the film after that, on and on ad infinitum.
CNET, Jennifer Bisset
The visual effects in general have been parceled out and tapered down, so that we don't have to sift through the effects-heavy murk-storm of Far From Home. The action scenes, featuring hand-to-hand combat, feel more practical and visceral. Grittier, sweatier, bloodier. A first-person perspective straps you in for a dizzying ride with Spider-Man swinging from A to B. Small details, such as Peter using his webs to grab things around Aunt May's apartment, add welcome charm and color. This time, Peter also exercises his Spidey senses, so that the often joked about "Peter tingle" is now a real asset -- one that we can finally feel too, via sound effects and a close-up on Holland's face.
There are just
Mashable, Kristy Puchko
Boom: The Multi-verse has cracked open, unleashing villains from the previous two Spider-Man film series: Willem Dafoe as The Green Goblin, Alfred Molina as Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx as Electro! You get the idea, but you can't imagine how thrilling it is to watch this play out.
The Verge, Chaim Gartenberg
Each villain gets his moment in the sun (some briefer than others), and long-time Spider-Man fans will get a thrill of getting to see Doc Ock smash his way through a highway of cars, a devilishly grinning Green Goblin cackling his way from scene to scene, or Jamie Foxx’s Electro not having to be a blue CGI Doctor Manhattan knock off. Dafoe leads the charge, bouncing between his feral and friendly personalities without missing a beat in the intervening 19 years, while Molina’s tortured scientist struggles to control his out-of-control creation
With great power comes great...empathy
Variety, Peter Debruge
“No Way Home” keeps the surprises coming up to (and even through) the end credits, but perhaps the most unexpected is Peter’s decision — together with girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon) — not to defeat these villains the way his predecessors did. Instead, Peter hopes to “cure” these goons of the mutations that are making them unhappy, even if it means defying Doctor Strange (one of several characters on loan from the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which Holland’s Spider-Man has been making now-regular appearances).
IGN, Amelia Emberwing
Spider-Man: No Way Home’s empathy finds itself woven into the storyline in a way that doesn’t feel overly didactic or pandering, but instead truly drives home the ethos of Spider-Man: with great power comes great responsibility. Even when it freakin’ sucks. (Especially when it freakin’ sucks.)
Hollywood Reporter, John Defore
As the old villains reappear, we’re reminded that practically every one of them is a good soul gone wrong — some made monstrous by the same kind of dumb luck that made Peter a hero. So when Strange prepares to send them back to their own timelines (where, we may recall, most of them perish spectacularly), Peter balks.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is in cinemas Dec. 17.
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