Expectations are high for Spider-Man: Far From Home, not only due to the critical and commercial success of its 2017 predecessor, but because it arrives in the wake of the blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, and serves as the finale for Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are, of course, dangling threads involving the loss of Tony Stark and the MCU's new status quo, leaving many to wonder whether if director Jon Watts' sequel could stick the landing.
Judging by the first wave of reviews, which arrived this morning with the lifting of the embargo, the answer is a resounding yes. Spider-Man: Far From Home debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a critics score of 91 percent -- just short of Spider-Man: Homecoming's -- but it has since inched up a point.
CBR's review praises the film as a perfect follow-up to Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Homecoming, saying, "With the burden of dealing with some heavy MCU continuity, Far From Home isn't quite as refreshing as Homecoming, and its lively tone sometimes feels off for a movie that essentially takes place in the aftermath of the end of the world. But it also provides an effective epilogue and new beginning for the ongoing cinematic universe, looking ahead to the future without discounting the consequences of what came before."
Here's a selection of what other critics are saying about the film.
Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly: "I wound up liking Far From Home more than any Spider-Man film this decade. There’s something eerie in the constant assertion of Tony Stark as Tycoon SuperJesus -- but don’t underestimate the shifty layers the final act. The hero worship has a slippery quality here, with a less cheerful purpose than the sincere devotion of Homecoming or Into the Spider-Verse."
Owen Gleiberman, Variety: "There has, on occasion, been something at stake in a Marvel movie (Iron Man, the first two Captain America films, Black Panther, fill in your quirky favorite), yet rarely does it have much to do with how the end of civilization looms up in these movies. It has to do with that mysterious, hard-to-bottle chemistry of audience and superhero -- the flow of actor, character, mythology, and FX concept as they merge and navigate a universe of eye-widening hermetic excitement. On that score, Far From Home takes a quantum leap -- or maybe just a spider swing -- over the first Peter Parker film in the MCU, 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
David Crow, Den of Geek: "The first Marvel movie since the studio 'ended' its saga, as well as the sequel to 2017’s bubbly reboot, Far From Home has the unenviable task of justifying the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s continuation on top of maintaining the 'low to the ground,' sideways-slouched aesthetic of its predecessor. And honestly, it has way more success when it’s being a Spider-Man movie than a post-Avengers, MCU movie. Yet when it succeeds, it is nothing short of jubilant about the opportunity to put on a joyful show, stopping just short of actually buttering your popcorn mid-scene. Not that you’ll want it to stop."
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "How’s the new movie? It’s good. It’s fun. It goes out of its way to salute the visual effects armies that have made the MCU what it is today, for better or worse. I can’t say any more about that. It’d be a spoiler. And if there’s one thing I take seriously as a critic, it’s my duty to protect and serve as many millions as possible so that they may discover Spider-Man: Far From Home without any surprises blown."
Matt Patches, Polygon: "Spider-Man: Far From Home is the perfect chaser to Avengers: Endgame, and the breeziest spectacle of the summer. Jon Watts, who returns to the director’s chair after 2017’s Homecoming, is in total control as he scales the action back down to a single hero’s journey, grapples with the aftermath of Thanos’ reality-bending genocide (known to the kids of Queens as “the blip”), and shifts to the perspective of an angsty teen making life or death decisions. For Peter (still played with Michael J. Fox-patented nerd cool by Tom Holland), great responsibility can be a great pain in the ass. The smaller stakes conundrum finds Watts orchestrating the slickest action in the MCU."
Chris Klimek, NPR: "For as good as it is, there's just no way to receive Spider-Man: Far From Home as anything more than a vestigial tale, as it were, on the Marvel saga. It's an earnest, well-performed, lovably shaggy radioactive specimen that can't help feeling doubly premature for arriving only half a year after the rapturous Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and a whopping two months behind Avengers: Endgame, the MCU's monumental punctuation mark."
Molly Freeman, Screen Rant: "Spider-Man: Far From Home is a must-see for MCU fans, offering a different enough experience to the franchise's other 2019 movies - Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame - to stand apart. It's also able to hold its own as the first MCU movie following the epic Endgame, largely thanks to focusing in on one of the franchise's newer and more compelling lead characters."
Alex Abad-Santos, Vox: "All the false starts and dead ends make Far From Home feel uneven, despite spirited performances all the way around, especially from Holland and Zendaya. It’s not until the movie’s halfway over that it finds its own independent rhythm, finally making meaningful storytelling decisions instead of alluding to them, and snapping back to life in the process. It’s just a shame, then, that we have to wait for the next Spider-Man flick to fully see what Far From Home should’ve, could’ve, would’ve been."
Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post: "Well, now we’ve got National Lampoon’s Spider-Man. Actually it’s called Spider-Man: Far From Home, but that’s the vibe — teen mischief and transatlantics — except instead of sex gags, we get fights with titan-esque monsters called elementals. However, while 2017’s Homecoming was the perfect blend of Boy Meets World and Spider-meets-Man, Far From Home only lands as a nice high-school comedy. The action, villainy, twists and overall logic fall short of its awesome predecessor."
Opening July 2, director Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home stars Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, JB Smoove, Jacob Batalon and Martin Starr, with Marisa Tomei and Jake Gyllenhaal.