In the wake of Tony Stark’s death and his return from being Snapped, Peter Parker is desperate to get away from it all. But a school trip to Europe becomes a SHIELD mission, an inheritance and the discovery of an unlikely ally in displaced multidimensional soldier, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). Mysterio is everything Peter aspires to be. He’s perfect. And that’s the problem.

Memorably described as ‘a school trip movie that keeps getting interrupted by a Bond movie’, Far From Home is superficially the most light-hearted Holland-era movie. Tony Revolori’s Flash and Angourie Rice’s Betty both get some welcome screen time and there’s a great running gag involving Remy Hii’s Brad and how he’s the only one who spots how weird Peter’s actions are. Plus, Jon Favreau’s Happy gets one of the biggest emotional beats of the movie when he rescues Peter that cements him as one of the nicest people in the MCU. Watch out for the great Captain America shield gag too.

But for all that, this is one of the darkest Spider-Man movies yet. Gyllenhaal, having a blast as Beck, is as credible as Keaton’s Vulture but with none of the twisted morals. Gyllenhaal truly excels at wide-eyed mania, and his Beck could so easily have been a panto villain. Instead, he’s Tony Stark’s shadow, as brilliant, as driven, a tenth as principled. The ending sting, even seeing it coming, is killer as a result and cements him as an all-time MCU villain. Likewise, the colossal scale property damage he casually inflicts and the fact the movie never shies away from the weapons he uses all coming from Tony Stark. Alongside Damage Control creating the Vulture, it’s fascinating to see these movies criticise the legacy of Iron Man, and weird how little that seems to have been discussed.

The action is great too and there’s a Buster Keaton-like energy to Holland’s movements that’s charming. Peter is very good at his job and Holland brings an almost clown-ish calm to a lot of sequences that makes them funnier and more gripping. That means the terrifying reality breakdown Mysterio hits him with is all the scarier too and reinforces both characters’ true natures. One is a driven sociopath, the other a hard-working fundamentally decent young man. The fight they find themselves locked in is literally one of honesty vs deceit and in a series justifiably criticised for weak villains, Peter is now two for two on all-time greats.

But the core of this remains Holland, Batalon and Zendaya. Peter, Ned and MJ are never sweeter than they are here and the gentle way the Peter/MJ relationship unfolds is funny and heartfelt. It also makes what’s coming all the sadder, but that’s Peter Parker to a tee. Sweet, funny, brave and sometimes with no manner of luck at all.

Verdict: Far From Home is emotionally heavier than its predecessor but just as light on its feet. Enormously good fun. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart