Marvel fans patiently awaited the release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which followed “Spider-Man: Far From Home” released in 2019. This latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe did not meet my expectations, it exceeded them. 

After the catastrophic ending of “Far From Home”, “No Way Home” follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as he can no longer separate his normal life from his superhero persona. 

Striving to remain as “your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” while still going to school everyday and applying for colleges, he can no longer balance the two,which results in Peter asking Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for some help in sorting out the chaos. 

In an attempt to regain his anonymity, Peter goes to Strange to cast a spell that will cause everyone to forget Peter was Spider-Man. Only one problem — the spell backfires which inadvertently opens up the multiverse, which invited some villains and heroes from past universes who all knew different versions of Spider-Man. Characters like Dr. Otto Octavious (Alfred Molina), Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) made the movie more interesting and nostalgic towards viewers who grew up watching the other Spider-Man movies. 

While Strange demands Peter to clean up the mess he has created, Peter is determined to get these visitors home safely because they were taken from their own universes moments before they were killed by the Spider-Men from the alternate realities. We can really see how caring Peter is, even if these were villains, he didn’t make them feel worthless. Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) really shaped Peter and she believes everyone deserves a second chance.

The actors and dialogue really made the movie for me. All the actors really fit their characters. Tom Holland is a great Peter Parker, as he’s still a teenager as well as Spider-man, which director Jon Watts really seems to understand. His love interest, MJ (Zendaya), is one of the best. Zendaya’s charisma and delivery of witty, silly dialogue made the movie radiate with warmth. Even with a large cast, director Jon Watts made all of the characters have memorable moments. 

While the rest of the movie was phenomenal, the cinematography was exceptional. The interesting camera movements and intense action scenes kept me hooked. The loose shots that move around with the characters really captivated me and I felt like I was with the characters. Cinematographer Mauro Fiore who is known for his work on Avatar (2009), was definitely a good choice for this movie. 

Marvel has made countless great movies, but this one in particular was fantastic. You can tell that the cast and crew put a lot of effort into making sure the film was phenomenal and they definitely accomplished that. With this movie being the third installment of Tom Holland starring as Spider-Man, it was my favorite out of the movies so far. Well you know what they say, three is a magic number.  

“Spider-Man: No Way Home:” ★★★★★