Spider-man: Far From Home

Spider-man: Far From Home is the first MCU movie post-Endgame so there is a huge curiosity to see where MCU will go from here. It is nice to see some tribute to events in Infinity War and Endgame but Spider-man seems to lack confidence to stand-alone. Tony Stark/Iron Man is gone and yet he is somehow still the main driving point in this movie. Far From Home hinges on Peter's struggle and decision to continue Iron Man's legacy while the antagonists are driven by personal grudges against Tony.

I feel that MCU has reached past its pinnacle in terms of story telling. After time travel that makes Endgame rather messy, Far From Home continues with plot formula that is usually bad for storytelling: illusions. Actually things are still okay until the end of the movie but after the end credits scene, I basically am asking myself and confused: what is real and what is fake. Is Mysterio dead? From the movie, I think he is but with all these illusions, it can be easily changed that he is faking his death. About Nick Fury: which is the real him and which is the fake him (Skrull)?

Despite the weak plot, MCU's winning formula of action and comedy is still going strong. I have to say that some of CGI effects look so obviously CGI-ed so it is kind of an eyesore. There is no actual fight between Spidey and Mysterio so essentially all the fights in the movie is fake. Jeez.. For the comedy, I have nothing bad to say. Some scenes are so funny that the cinema was laughing so loudly that I could not hear the next few lines.

The actors are not as awkward as in the first movie with their chemistry. I do not really like MJ in Homecoming but her character and personality are better developed here. Her chemistry with Peter is also a good mix of awkwardness and attraction.

One random thing that I have to mention is when Nick Fury is nagging to Spider-man, I find him sound very similarly to one of my favorite priest. I laughed when the nagging ends with "the choice is yours" which happens to be that priest's trademark line to end his homily. Lol.

It will be interesting to see how MCU will continue from here. I am hoping that the success will continue although sadly current evidence suggests that it will be difficult to top the original Avengers. In fact, some of the funniest or most memorable scenes in Far From Home are still linked to the original Avengers: Happy throws a shield decoration in a museum to the drone and fails and then he wonders how Captain America can throw shield around so easily; when Spider-man prepares for the final showdown with Mysterio, the two rubbles that he carries look like a reference to Captain America with his shield and Thor's hammer in Endgame. The most touching part for the whole movie is the tribute to the fallen Avengers at the beginning. I felt very sad when I saw Black Widow T_T Why must she die T_T And I am surprised that Captain America is considered dead. Well Captain America's fate at the end of Endgame is still a controversy and confusing thanks to all the time travel stuff.