On December 15, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel's main blockbuster this year, hit theaters. The most anticipated project of the winter. The biggest Spider-Man film. The most, most, most. But what the film is REALLY like, you'll find out from our revi...

The plot of Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up where the post-credits scene of the previous friendly neighborhood film left off. Mysterio, just before his defeat (we don't really believe he died, do we?!), leaves a recording claiming that Spider-Man is Peter Parker and that he is responsible for his death and the destruction in London. And thanks to The Daily Bugle blog and its host J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons), the whole world finds out.

Peter can forget about his old life. He's being followed, accused of all sorts of crimes, and getting into college is no longer easy (emphasize the latter). However, Parker comes up with a crazy idea — to turn to Doctor Strange, whom he met during the battle with Thanos. He asks Stephen to make the world forget his true identity. The former Sorcerer Supreme agrees, but during the forgetting spell, something irreversible happens. The universe literally begins to crack at the seams, opening a loophole for uninvited guests from other universes.

Pure Fan Service

The bosses at Marvel Studios, particularly Kevin Feige, aim to surprise audiences every time. Just look at the high-concept series Loki and WandaVision. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the chosen tactic was pure fan service.

So what?

It's hard to impress with scale anymore. Not after Endgame. Inventive visuals were already used extensively in the second MCU Spider-Man film. An interesting plot? Come on, Marvel projects aren't really about well-written stories (with rare exceptions).

So why not throw together a mix of long-beloved (and not-so-beloved) heroes and villains? And judging by the audience reaction, who erupted in applause at every appearance of familiar characters at the premiere, this bet pays off. Here and there, the film is peppered with quotes that echo previous Spider-Man films. Some subplots even serve as loose retellings of the works of Sam Raimi and Marc Webb. Why invent something new when you can repeat the mantra about power and responsibility for the thousandth time, and everyone will be happy?!

But, frankly speaking, sometimes the fan service works brilliantly. It brings a sense of nostalgia. It makes possible what seemed like absolute madness just a couple of years ago. Imagine, seamlessly uniting three franchises and three generations of geeks.

The film has plenty of original ideas in terms of character interaction. There's also post-irony. Without it, given the on-screen bacchanalia, it would have been oh so bad.

But while watching, you can't shake the feeling that because of all this fanfare, you know every next plot twist, every character line, every gag. Director of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Jon Watts, playfully flirts with audience expectations, but not to the point of not fulfilling them.

It might be a bold statement, but the success of such a film (which is beyond doubt) will mean the final victory of fan service over creative spirit. At least within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the fans who now dictate what will be in the movies (series are still feeling freer in this regard). Catering to them will be the top priority in the near future, not any semblance of artistic value. This is also evidenced by the recent modest box office results of fairly experimental films that tried to break out of the fan service and the usual Marvel action movie formula. And Feige and Co. will later have the argument, 'We tried, but you didn't want it.'

Roman Kovalev

Eternals — The Boldest and Most Specific Marvel Film Since Guardians of the Galaxy

On November 8, the film Eternals, directed by Oscar-winning Chloe Zhao, hits theaters. In the West, the film has been dubbed the worst Marvel project. In fact, it's the best MCU film for

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No Wow Effect

Jon Watts deserves thanks for trying to fill Spider-Man: No Way Home with interesting ideas. For example, depriving a superhero action film of the traditional conflict between protagonist and antagonist. The film explores the idea that even psychotic maniacs deserve a second chance. 'Don't kill, but cure,' as one character says.

The problem is that the delivery of these ideas is extremely clunky and unconvincing. Largely due to the illogical behavior of the characters. For most of the screen time, the characters make frankly stupid decisions. Even the youngest viewers might have questions for them. While in Peter Parker's case it's somewhat understandable (even the desire to sacrifice the stability of the universe for college admission, after all, he's still a teenager with a volatile psyche), it's hard to find excuses for others. And this is despite the fact that every other character is a brilliant scientist.

Perhaps the gaps in logic (even the conditional internal logic of a comic book blockbuster) could have been masked by interesting visual solutions or brisk action. But Spider-Man: No Way Home can't boast of either. The most impressive scene was shown in the trailers, and even that reeks of mothballs (Christopher Nolan did something similar over 10 years ago in his Inception). The final battle doesn't evoke anything but a wry grin — action scenes this shoddy aren't even made in TV series nowadays.

So it turns out that the carefree, almost childlike joy of seeing beloved heroes from the past is 'compensated' by rather mediocre direction. And the entire 'wow effect' quickly fades away.

Should You Watch Spider-Man: No Way Home?

A hefty pile of questions about the script, direction, staging, and excessive fan service prevents us from fully enjoying the good things the film actually has. These include successful humor, charming characters, a first-time decent performance by Tom Holland as the titular hero, and the discoveries mentioned above. Spider-Man: No Way Home evokes a lot of emotions. It's a shame these emotions aren't from watching a good movie.

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P. S. The film has 2 post-credits scenes, don't miss them. They also have logic problems, but they will both amuse you and delight you with the appearance of interesting characters.