Let me start by clarifying something: overrated does not mean bad. I actually enjoyed
Spider-Man: Far From Home to a degree and was able to have some fun with it despite its glaring problems, but I feel a lot of critics either glossed over or ignored those same problems completely in their reviews, and I'm here to shed a little light on them.
Please also keep in mind that this is just one man's opinion, and I am in no way attempting to dissuade anyone from going to see the film. I'm merely outlining why it left me feeling disappointed, and wondering if any of you guys agree.
So, without further ado, here are 9 reasons why
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the absolute worst movie ever made (kidding).
Simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below!
"The Blip"
As the movie begins we learn that The Decimation wrought by Thanos in
Infinity War before being rectified by The Hulk in
Endgame is actually known as "The Blip," and it's treated almost as a throwaway joke with very little thought put into the implications of this world-altering event.
During a high-school "in memorium" for the fallen heroes, we learn that everyone that ceased to exist after The Snap simply returned to the exact spot they were in 5 years later. So, if someone was on a busy highway or a plane when they vanished, for example, bad luck?
Probably should have spent a bit more time on this one, guys.
The High School Stuff
Far From Home is basically a high-school romance with some superhero stuff thrown in, and that's fine... to an extent. A couple of scenes with Peter and MJ awkwardly flirting while stammering through their dialogue is endearing, but it soon becomes a little tedious - even if the actors do have strong chemistry.
We also spend far too much time with Parker's classmates, most of whom are either mildly irritating or full blown assholes. Again, none of this would be a problem if it was kept to a minimum, but it takes up almost the entire first act of the movie and even when the main plot kicks in we return to the clownery far too often.
It'd also be a lot easier to handle if these scenes were funny, but...
The Humor
There are a few laughs to be hand in
Far From Home, but most of the humor is of the obvious/juvenile variety, and the majority of the gags are more likely to result in eye-rolls than guffaws.
Anyone expecting a few trademark Spidey wise-cracks or quips is also going to be disappointed, because the Webhead spends pretty much every battle sequence completely out of his depth or screaming for help.
Spider-Man is Still Useless
Yes,
Far From Home is supposed to take Spidey out of his comfort zone and present him with formidable new challenges to overcome, but are we seriously expected to believe that after everything he's been through in the previous movies, he is still pretty much inept on every level?
Parker spends most of the movie either getting wiped out by The Elementals, standing around looking helpless, or banging his head on a church bell... twice. Plus, the first thing he does with Tony's E.D.I.T.H. tech is almost kill one of his classmates in an attempt to erase a photo from his phone
We get it: he's a teenager - but he's supposed to be 16, not 6.
The Action Scenes
While the final set piece with Spidey using his "Peter Tingle" to take out Mysterio's drones is undeniably impressive, most of the earlier action sequences are pretty forgettable.
They basically consist of continuous shots of The Wall-Crawler swinging around giant CGI monsters as they destroy a few buildings and conveniently manage to avoid causing any obvious casualties.
We're told that these Elementals (who are truly awful villains, incidentally) represent a major threat to the world, but that never really comes across, and watching mindless, man-shaped water splashing things soon becomes very repetitive.
The Twist
Jake Gyllenhaal does a fine job as Mysterio, but the big twist involving his character falls completely flat.
Putting aside the fact that even casual comic book fans will already be aware that Quentin Beck is a villain, it's pretty obvious that he's hiding something, and with no main antagonist to speak of (unless you count CGI fire and water) it's really not too hard to see his betrayal coming.
Plus, the big reveal is that Beck is yet
another disgruntled Tony Stark employee who wants to get back at his boss for misusing his tech. Could've sworn this was a Spider-Man movie...
No Multiverse
Unfortunately, this means that everything about Beck is fake - including The Multiverse.
The reveal in the trailers that The Multiverse now existed in the MCU after the events of
Endgame was one of the things fans were most excited about going into
Far From Home, and it turns out to be nothing more than another one of Mysterio's lies.
There's always a chance alternate universes will eventually come into play, but would they really establish something Beck clearly made up on a whim as canon? Either way, this was a big disappointment.
The Post-Credits Scene
After an awesome mid-credits scene which reintroduces J.K. Simmons as J.J. Jameson, we get a sequence involving Nick Fury and Maria Hill turning into Talos and his wife from
Captain Marvel.
It turns out the Skrulls have been posing as Fury and Hill for the entire movie while the real former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director relaxes on their ship. Amusing? Sure... but it completely negates everything that happened with these characters throughout the film, and the dynamic that was established between Fury and Parker.
How much do you want to bet this will be completely ignored moving forward, anyway?
It Feels Like A Step Backwards
Perhaps the biggest problem with the film is that it feels like a step backwards for Spider-Man. Or a step to the side, at least.
After having fought alongside The Avengers, stopped The Vulture and helped defeat Thanos and reverse The Snap (sorry, "The Blip"), this movie takes a still largely amateur Parker right back to the beginning and basically repeats his
Homecoming arc to the letter.
Sure, he eventually steps up, accepts his responsibilities (glad you realized that kiss could wait Pete... it's only the fate of the [frick]ing world at stake!) and stops Mysterio, but didn't we already see this progression in his first solo adventure?
The ending of
FFH does suggest that we're going to get something a little different in the next movie, so that's something. Maybe we'll finally get to see Spider-Man, because Spider-Boy has run its course.