"Spider-Man: No Way Home" - two hours of vivid emotions, fan service and lack of logic

On December 15, the comic strip "Spider-Man: No Way Home" was released on Russian screens. This is the third solo film about the famous superhero Peter Parker in the framework of cinematic universe (he also appeared in several crossovers). But more importantly, this is the studio's first truly massive release since the previous Spider-Man: neither parting with the Black Widow, nor meeting new characters, Shang-Chi and "The Eternals" attracted so many fans.

And surely many of them have inflated expectations. It seemed that after the global crossover of all the heroes of the universe in two parts of The Avengers, Marvel could no longer come up with something more impressive. However, already from the promotional campaign it became known that the studio swung into a completely unusual move: in the new film, Peter Parker meets characters from the old Spider-Man franchises.

And this finally turns the picture into entertainment for fans, in which one should not look for logic. Although - in a strange way - even the shortcomings of this film can be considered reasons to watch it. After all, the authors throw up completely unpredictable turns several times, and the intensity of the drama at some point can bring to tears.

Unexpected plot and strong drama

In the finale of the second part, the villain Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) gave Peter Parker (Tom Holland) the last rally before his death. He publicly blamed Spider-Man for his death, and at the same time revealed to the whole world the name of the superhero. The video was replicated by the controversial reporter Jay Jonah Jameson (Jonathan Kimble Simmons triumphantly returned to his famous role). After that, the townsfolk were divided into two camps: some continued to consider Parker a hero, others christened him a criminal.

Because of this, problems began not only for Peter, but also for his family and friends. Desperate, the hero goes to Doctor Strange and asks for the spell that will make everyone forget about his true identity. But the ritual is not going according to plan, and everyone who fought with Spiderman in other universes. Strange believes that all the villains must be urgently sent back. But Parker learns that they will die there, and decides to give everyone a chance to get better.

The fact that the picture will become a crossover with previous franchises has long been no secret. They somehow tried to hide it only at first. Then, even in trailers, they showed Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin from the paintings of Sam Raimi of the early 2000s (Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe did not seem to age at all, they are still great), as well as Electro and the Lizard from the works of Mark Webb in the tenths (the character of Jamie Foxx himself jokes that he has become better looking, but Rhys Ivans seems to be completely superfluous).

But the presence of these heroes in advertising does not destroy the intrigue. For comparison, you can recall the promotion "Finals"When all the trailers were collected from the first minutes of the film, forcing fans to build the wildest theories. "Spider-Man" does not come to such a degree of secrecy: the general outline of the plot seems to be predictable. But many fans, having seen the picture, will notice that they have been deceived more than once in the videos.

And the very participation of villains from other universes is not such an unambiguous move as it might seem. After all, for example, Otto Octavius ​​was originally a kind person and friend Parker. And most of the antagonists were just traumatized people who needed help. Therefore, the alignment of forces in the plot will change several times in the most unexpected way.

Moreover, with all the abundance of characters, the film "Spider-Man: No Way Home" was able to make it the story of Peter Parker. In previous works, the hero was constantly lost against the background of stronger mentors: first Tony Stark, then Mysterio. Now, the main drama is built primarily on the experiences of the Spider. And especially emotional viewers will have tears more than once: the hero will have to face both difficult choices and losses.

By the end, the authors completely twist literally all the components to the maximum: emotions, scale and even a soundtrack. All this leads to a very unusual twist, which, on the one hand, loops the story of Spider-Man, and on the other, opens the way for sequels.

But a complete lack of logic

When it comes to comic-based blockbusters, it's not entirely fair to use the little-known as an example. auteur cinema. But here it is difficult to refrain from irony. In 2010, director Quentin Dupieux (aka Mr. Oizo) released a very bizarre film, Tire. The opening scene of this picture is devoted to the causelessness of what is happening in any plot. That is, the author declares that in any work, some of the events have no foundation whatsoever and is present simply at the request of the scriptwriter and director.

This unexpected example is the best illustration of Spider-Man: No Way Home. In the new Marvel film, every second major twist comes about on a reason so far-fetched that it’s impossible to take it seriously. So, in one of the scenes, Spider-Man will fight Doctor Strange in the mirror world. Just because it is beautiful. And about the very basis of the plot, when Peter interferes with the spell, have already been joked on the Internet several times. If the hero wanted his family to know about him super powers, he could tell them.

Alas, even the most tragic moments will be built on the principle “if there were no character, there would be no problems”. Parker and his loved ones regularly create dangerous situations despite the warnings of reasonable colleagues, and then, suffering, try to fix everything. And when you listen to Jay Jonah Jameson's rude statements, sometimes you want to ask: "And what is he wrong about?"

Plus, there are too many characters in this movie. When five villains are brought into the story at once, it's easy to understand that none of them will be given enough time. And it's the same with all the minor characters. And in this case, the writers acted in the simplest and not very honest way: almost half a tape, most of the background characters were turned into simply comic elements.

But in fact, all of the above cannot be considered as serious drawbacks of the picture. The authors themselves joke about the causelessness of what is happening through the lips of Doctor Strange. It becomes clear that the conventionality of the plot is completely deliberate. And hardly anyone but the most boring critics, will seriously disassemble the crossover drama of all films about a young superhero with a web. Everyone will go to watch a movie for familiar characters and interesting references. And with that, everything is perfect.

A huge amount of fan service and cameos

As mentioned above, the studio did not hide the fact that characters from different series will meet in the new film. More precisely, Tom Holland explained in an interviewSpider-Man: No Way Home Originally Planned To Keep Its Multiverse Crossover a Secret / IGNthat they tried to make it a surprise, but it was simply impossible to keep the intrigue.

Of course, such a move attracted the attention of literally all fans of the genre. After all, it was the films of Sam Raimi that once laid the foundation for the next generation of on-screen comics:X-Men"And" Iron Man "were already following them. And "The Amazing Spider-Man" has remained in the hearts of many an underrated franchise that collapsed due to the ambitions of the studio.

And so the tape "No Way Home" was turned into a kind of "War of Infinity" for fans of the Spider. This film allows you to meet again with your favorite characters and, more importantly, gives many of them that very second chance to correct mistakes.

Although the appearance of some of the characters has long been a secret of Punchinelle, we will not directly spoil the plot. We only note that one of the scenes will close perhaps the most tragic arc of all the Parker films.

On top of that, Spider-Man: No Way Home is an endless collection of cameos and just fun for fans. There will also be completely unexpected characters. Let it be for a couple of minutes, but the fans of the universe will be delighted. All the most important and memorable phrases from the franchises will be heard. And it will not even do without a reference to the cartoon “Spider-Man: Through the Universes». After all, it is difficult to refrain from comparing stories that are too similar.

The plot of No Way Home has absolutely everything that you expect from him. And even a little more.

But weak action and too many connections

There has been a long debate over whether it's fair to release superhero films the way Marvel does. After all, it will no longer be possible to watch individual pictures of the MCU in isolation from the rest of the works. And the Spider-Man trilogy is the most striking reflection of this approach.

If the conditional "Guardians of the Galaxy" is still understandable for those who are not familiar with the world of Marvel, but in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"The references do look like a mandatory tribute to the studio, then already the second part of Peter Parker's adventures was fully based on the events of" The Avengers ".

The third film finally gets bogged down in ties with the MCU. To understand the action, you need to know both most of the full-length works of Marvel, and the series "Loki”(The concept of the multiverse appeared there), and all the previous films about Spider-Man.

Although already "War of Infinity" and "Endgame" have proven that Marvel can afford it. This is more admirable than judgmental: the company has a truly huge fan base. So what is written can be taken as a warning: viewers will need all the knowledge they need. And comic book fans will notice the subtlest references: pay attention, for example, to the title of Flash Thompson's book.

The only part of the film that can really be criticized seriously is the action. Both previous parts were criticized for weak staging, excessive flickering and excesses with graphics. Unfortunately, in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the situation hasn't improved much. Despite the fact that the flights of the Spider are shown very beautifully, and one of the opening scenes in the apartment of the hero's aunt was filmed almost Tarantino long shot. But when it comes to fights, editing seems to go crazy: gluing is done even in the simplest moments, where almost nothing happens.

It is doubly disappointing due to the fact that the idea in the action is very good: there are crowd scenes with almost a dozen moving heroes, and the powers of Spider-Man and most of his enemies allow events to unfold not only on a plane, but also in air. But it will be difficult to consider something: they will show several aesthetic slow movements, and then everything will again plunge into darkness and flicker.

It's safe to say that all fans will definitely go to this film and form their opinion. Even before the release, through presales, Spider-Man: No Way Home collectedSpider-Man: No Way Home Set a Post-View Presale Record / Film Distributor Bulletin about 130 million rubles, which is almost twice the cash register "Venoma-2».

And most viewers will surely be satisfied. After all, the picture gives exactly what fans are waiting for: nostalgia, references, jokes and a meeting with your favorite characters. Hardly anyone had hoped for more.

Yes, and don't forget that there are two the scene after the credits. The first connects the cinematic universe with a familiar character, the second - the trailer for the new work of Marvel.