Spider-Man: Far From Home 2019

The Good:

• Visually, Far From Home is by far the most beautiful Spidey movie so far (not counting the LSD trip that was Into the Spider-Verse).
• All that Mysterio extravaganza is very entertaining and beautiful to watch - it's like a more viewer-friendly version of Doctor Strange.
• It's refreshing to see a change from the good old New York setting from earlier films. Web swinging across Europe works surprisingly well.
• Nice ties to Endgame, with Peter having to cope with a life without his mentor.
• Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio is one of the more memorable villains in the MCU. He has been updated for a modern audience, but feels true to the original character from the comics. It takes a while for Gyllenhaal to truly nail the role and become one with it, but when he does, he is totally awesome.
• I still love the sassiness of Zendaya, even if I resent the fact that she apparently replaces MJ/Gwen from the comics.
• Just like Endgame, Far From Home isn't all out action. A huge chunk of the movie is closer to a relationship drama and teenage rom-com than your average superhero movie.
• Tom Holland's portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man proves that he is the most believable and comic-accurate film version of the character yet. He makes the part his own and feels like a natural.
• The twist in the end credits scene creates some interesting tension into future MCU movies.
• It's fresh enough to feel like a necessary sequel and it a whole lot more mature compared to Homecoming.

The Bad:

• The supposed major twist revealing Mysterio to be a villain all the time never worked for me. Disney tried too hard to sell the idea of Beck being a good guy, that it was always blatantly obvious that they were setting up a twist. Besides, it was never a very original twist in the first place.
• The first half of the film is an awkward teenage comedy, aimed at audiences younger than myself. I felt uncomfortable watching many of those sugar-coated scenes and would rather have skipped the altogether.
• Nick Fury and Mariah Hill are rather superfluous to the plot and are present just to provide a link with the rest of the MCU.
• The fact it is so tightly tied together with Endgame means this films doesn't stand very well on its own.
• In some ways, some of the action feels a bit too large-scale. I miss the somewhat small-scale, street-level action from earlier films.
• The Ned and Betty subplot feels forced and rushed.

Verdict:

Far From Home is a refreshing Spider-Man movie, with higher entertainment value and finer action and visuals compared to Homecoming. Still, the teenage relationship drama aims this movie towards a younger audience.