Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Jon Watts, Columbia Pictures & Marvel Studios, PG 148 Minutes.
In this third instalment in the Spider-Man franchise which follows on from ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’, the identity of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is publicly revealed in the movie’s opening scenes both as Spider-Man and as a high school student.
Besides being pursued by the media Peter soon finds himself fending off disapproving criticisms at his apartment that he shares with his Aunty May (Marisa Tomei) in particular from his biased Daily Bugle host Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmonds).
To stop the situation getting worse Peter turns to his friend Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) – having collaborated with him as part of the Avengers team – for him to use his powers to make everyone forget he is Spider – Man.
Once he agrees to his request Dr Strange is subsequently asked to change everything again to exclude Peter’ girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon) which cracks open the multiverse – allowing people from different universes to enter the present.
Peter is soon confronted with such villains as Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) from 2002 ‘Spider – Man’, Dr Octavius (Alfred Molina) from 2004 ‘Spider-Man 2’, and Marko aka Sandman (Thomas Church) from 2007 ‘Spider-Man 3’; lastly there is Dr Connors aka Lizard (Rhys Ifans) from 2012 ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ and Dillon aka Electro (Jamie Foxx) from 2014 ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2.’
With the multiverse now blown open they are followed soon after by two Peter Parkers aka Spider-Men from their own universe – namely Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
At first the present Peter Parker (Holland) attempts to change the criminality in each of the past villains with the help of the other Spider-Men but is hampered by Dr Strange being detained in another dimension.
Due to his personal loss Peter convinces Dr Strange to shut down the multiverse and return everyone to their universe in addition to having his identity as Spider-Man removed from each person’s memory including that of My and Ned.
Apart from the overlong production Watts has made his enthralling storyline much more intricate through his inclusion of the multiverse which allows him to pay tribute to the past Spider-Men in the series going back to 2002 – including their villains.
Despite this it was still pleasing to see the return of Maguire and Garfield as the first two Spider-Men combining with Holland to combat their past adversaries with Molina being particularly entertaining as Dr Octavius.
It remains to be seen if the amiable Holland returns as Spider-Man as according to certain media reports this movie may be the final instalment in the enjoyable Spider-Man trilogy.
Vic’s Verdict: 3 ½ Stars
