Anthony Canton III
Spider-Man: No Way Home is the epitome of what an epic superhero film should be. It’s attention to the history of Spider-Man films is in some ways so on point it’s jarring. Emotionally it’s gut wrenching and heartbreaking, yet hopeful. Tom Holland is a superstar of the highest order. It’s a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy yet it leaves something on the table for the future. It enters my top 5 MCU films as even with its long awaited hype and knowledge, it still delivers. There are character performances from many that are excellent and full of depth. Willem Dafoe specifically delivers a performance the likes of which we might never see again. The theater experience was at Infinity War/Endgame levels. They have a tough act to follow to top this film, but I’ll be happy to see them try. The opportunity to tell new stories will be excellent for the franchise going forward.
Filip Manka
Wow, they made it. After all the misgivings, disastrous leaks, and promotional material, I got a really good and coherent Peter Parker/ Spider-Man story. It’s not a perfect movie. There’s a lot of bad editing and scripted scenes, the visuals and CGI are miserable for the most part, and the dialogue in many scenes leaves a lot to be desired. However, the amount of heart, the understanding of this character, the world with really surprising interactions, and the meta layers were something really good. It was an amazing experience, a fan event that did a great job of embracing a large amount of fan service emotionally.
I had a great time. There was a lot of emotion, laughter, and at times embarrassment, but I’m happy that underneath all that content, we got a good conclusion to the trilogy. The future promises to be wonderful!
Hunter Radesi
I’ve been disappointed in this Spider-Man for months. I never wanted this movie to tackle the multiverse, and I definitely didn’t want what felt like a clear trajectory for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker to be sidetracked by studio-driven money grab. This is why, against all odds, it brings me great joy to say I actually really liked No Way Home. I suppose what I wasn’t expecting was for the film to be so aggressively Spider-Man in nearly every way. Holland’s Peter gets an arc that works with his previous story, while propelling him forward into his next era. As much as I wanted to see new villains close out this trilogy, I could not contain my nerdy excitement when personal favorites like Willem Dafoe and Andrew Garfield showed their faces again. And boy, did they show them. Absolute top tier performances from the duo, as well as Holland and Zendaya. While I did miss the lower-level, high school hijinks of the previous installments, there’s just something about a theater going insane together that can’t be beat.
John Sabato
Spider-Man: No Way Home is an incredible closing film of the Homecoming trilogy. While the film’s biggest fault is the spell plot, it makes up for it with brilliant character work and performances from everyone. Tom Holland shines in this film, truly his best performance as Spidey: he’s giving it everything he’s got. Willem Dafoe is another standout here; his return is unhinged and wildly unpredictably, the way he’s able to just turn it on and off is what makes him so interesting, and almost sympathize with him. The end of the film is what really seals the deal and promises an interesting path forward and will surely give the fans everything they’ve wanted with MCU Spider-Man in the next trilogy.
Mary Maerz
I thought No Way Home was wonderfuI was impressed that it managed to be a great movie and experience despite the ridiculous build up to it. It somehow delivered on all of its “promises” but yet the movie didn’t really suffer from the “it’s trying to do too much” plague that caused plenty of other comic book movies to not be successful, including past installments of Sony’s Spider-Man franchise. While Tom Holland’s Peter Parker definitely got a genuinely emotional and strong story, the best parts of the movie (to me, by far) were still the Sony crossovers. The dialogue and character interactions were very strong, especially considering how forced the situations in which the characters found themselves in actually were. I do not truly understand the Endgame comparisons–yes, it was a very ambitious crossover and finale-type event, but Endgame was a culmination of 22 movies worth of essentially the same story, whereas No Way Home was more of a celebration of the three live-action eras of Spider-Man within Holland’s third solo movie. So No Way Home is no doubt one of the biggest solo movies of all time, but it didn’t hit anywhere near as hard as Endgame did for me. Because of how much it relied on the Sony crossovers, I am curious to see how this movie ages once the novelty wears off. Last but not least, No Way Home’s plot really made no sense and there are countless plot holes or at least major questions that the movie just completely ignores. To be fair, No Way Home was great even with that caveat, but I’m always going to be frustrated by that.
Charles Murphy
The most comic booky Marvel Studios movie to date. The most Spider-Man Spider-Man movie to date. The most Peter Parker Spider-Man movie to date. Spider-Man: No Way Home is all these things. Emotionally, this film is on par with Infinity War and Endgame. And while part of that comes from Tom Holland, who has delivered on these scenes time and time again, there’s no doubt that the return of Andrew Garfield, whose masterful understanding of the character was enhanced by his turn here as an older, embittered Spider-Man, caused an emotional overload. Peter has been put through the ringer during his first few years as Spider-Man and No Way Home boldly tackled those themes and allowed Holland’s Peter to learn the true cost of being Spider-Man. Parker Luck was on full display. The returning characters served the story well and their arcs show that both Spider-Man and the Marvel Studios crew have grown in the way they deal with and treat villains. Helping people is what Spider-Man is supposed to do and, at the end of the day, that’s what happened here. Easily the best movie of the year and the best live-action Spider-Man film to date.
Megan Murphy
Spider-Man: No Way Home has got to be the best Marvel Studios production yet. Differing from other Marvel movies, I never had a moment to blink or a hint of boredom. This movie had such an intriguing plot that never skipped a beat. The incorporation of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield has opened up a whole new world for Marvel (literally and metaphorically). Although characters from other universes have shown up in Loki , What If?, and Into the Spider-Verse, this movie by far takes the cake on opening new opportunities. With Spider-Man being such a popular character and the popularity the Spider-Man movies have gained, I think that the true idea of the multiverse will be able to come to light after Spider-Man: No Way Home. Marvel Studios will now have so many opportunities to introduce new characters and the audience will have a better understanding of the multiverse and its extremities. In the end, this movie was one of the best ever Marvel movies with many to choose from.
