‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ movie review: Fall in love with the multiverse — and all its madness

This is a spoiler-free review

Oh what a jolly joy this film is! Maybe it had something to do with watching it in a theatre full of screaming fans, (I have to admit I screamed too). Jon Watts’ third Spider-Man movie following Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), is so full of warmth and Christmas cheer, apart from eye-popping thrills and heart-wringing nostalgia, that you cannot help but smile happily.

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After being outed as Spider-Man by Mysterio in Far From Home , Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) life has turned into a 24/7 media circus. When his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) do not get admission into MIT because of their association with Peter, he decides to ask Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell, erasing everyone’s memory of his identity. Going against advice from his friend and mentor Wong (Benedict Wong), Dr Strange starts to cast the spell. When talking of casting the spell for lesser reasons, Strange mentions a party that we would have loved to go to if only to trip the light fantastic with Wong and Strange.

Realising that the memory wipe means his friends and loved ones will also forget him, Peter interrupts Dr Strange as he is casting the spell, causing a tear in the multiverse and bringing assorted villains from different universes. Dr Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Lizard (Rhys Ifans) from Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies fight till they realise the Spider-Man they are fighting is not the one they fought before.

Dr Strange is all for sending them back to their own universes to meet their fate, while Peter like his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), wants to give them a second chance. Light, bright and touching, (the “With great power comes great responsibility” line is enough to make one tear up), Spider-Man: No Way Home is perfect holiday entertainment.

The multi-verse with its pop science ties to string theory and psychology 101 for the identity issues (“The problem is you trying to live two different lives”), give the necessary heft to the movie without it being bogged down.

And there is also Happy (Jon Favreau) for extra cheer…

Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently running in theatres