There was a lot of expectation leading to Spider-man: Far From Home, being the final installment in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first three phases. The film relishes in this feeling as the world finds its way back to normalcy after the five year blip and the death of its hero Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Watching the movie after MCU and Sony announced the split was bittersweet because now I worry about which direction Spidey will go without guidance from Marvel’s Kevin Feige.

Synopsis: As Peter Parker (Tom Holland) prepares to go on a European summer trip with his classmates and hopefully confess how he feels about MJ (Zendaya), he is activated by Nick Fury after a threat called an Elemental shows up in Mexico. He is also introduced to a character named Quentin Beck aka Mysterio, who claims he is from the multiverse and that he is battling the same creatures who destroyed his version of Earth. After battling with the Fire Elemental, Spidey must decide whether he’s ready to step into Iron Man’s shoes or hand over the reins to someone who is much more worthy of being the next Tony Stark.

There are many familiar elements to Spider-man: Far From Home but as it happens after the events of Avengers: Endgame, there is an awkwardness in a world with the Avengers out of commission. I was really excited about how the Spider-man franchise will pick up the reins from Endgame and was actually quite worried about the multiverse arc. A lot of fans had lingering questions after the concept was introduced in the final Avengers movie and the Russo brothers actually did a good job explaining it. In the wrong hands however, the multiverse can be quite confusing and complex, and casual fans may find it difficult to understand.

I liked how Marvel used to the multiverse (which was already tackled in Endgame) as a possible direction for the Spider-man franchise with extensive promotions hinting that this was going to be the future of the MCU. That is until they pulled the rug by negating the entire concept and introducing Quentin Beck as someone completely different and disconnected from the multiverse. Like the Mandarin arc, I was baffled by this choice.

Despite this, I liked the way that Spider-man: Far From Home established the dynamic between Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Holland as if to tease a big brother relationship so soon after he lost his father figure and mentor. It kind of worked. But then again, Jake Gyllenhaal is kind of an expert in playing dual-faced characters that it gets hard to trust him completely after seeing him in these roles quite often.

Tom Holland is absolutely amazing as Spider-man and I doubt that anyone could inspire as much love and adoration for the character as he does. Even when he screws up, fans stay on his side and this is something quite special. I like how Happy sort of steps up as an ally in this installment. I even think he and Aunt May look cute together although I was secretly shipping Tony and Aunt May because their history in Only You.

MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) remained consistent from their first outing although this time around, the tone of the sequel seemed more serious with much more at stake compared to Spider-man: Homecoming. I liked the awkwardness of the teens as they navigate through their feelings and try to look cool at the same time. It was a fun script.

Overall, I thought there was too much CGI but it was justified by all the illusions that Mysterio sought to create. Nick Fury was way more annoying than usual in this installment, leaning on and resorting to blackmailing a kid to get his way, but generally, Spider-man: Far From Home was fun, youthful and a bit sentimental in all the right parts. Its really a shame that Sony could no longer tap into the Peter and Tony dynamic as they move forward because its really one of the main strengths of this version of Spider-man. The way he channels Tony when he wears Edith and his knack for creation — its something that fans will definitely miss in future movies.