The spark of nostalgia is the driving force behind the movie, “Spider-man: No Way Home.” With the confirmed appearances of Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and JK Simmons, as well as the potential cameos of former Spider-man actors Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, fans are ecstatic. Combining former actors and actresses with the current cast, Tom Holland as Spider-man, Zendaya as MJ, and Jacob Batalon as Ned, Marvel fans are expecting one of the biggest movies to date. 

Marvel fans had to wait months to see the official movie trailer for Spider-man. Although the movie was announced more than four years ago, it took until November of 2021 for the official trailer to finally be revealed at a special fan event. Arguments can be made that holding back the trailer for so long was the right move, as it generated tons of publicity. On Nov. 16, 2021, the trailer was released to the world and set records. The official trailer was viewed 355 million times across the globe in its first 24 hours, shattering the previous record which was held by “Avengers: Endgame.” 

From this point on, I would like to give a spoiler warning, however, I will try to keep the spoilers light and only use them when necessary. 

After all of the hype the Spider-man movie has received, fans around the world flooded the theaters on Dec. 16 for the premiere, and then once again on Dec. 17 for the official release. “Spider-man: No Way Home” shattered box office records this past weekend opening with $253 million in ticket sales. This puts the movie in third place for any opening weekend sales behind “Avengers: Endgame” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” The film also scored sales from overseas, bringing the total sales to $587.2 million, which is the third-highest worldwide opening of all time. This two-and-a-half-hour masterpiece has earned glowing reviews from everybody who has seen it so far. It has earned a 9/10 on IMDb, 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and 98 percent of Google users enjoyed the movie. 

So, from the reviews, you can tell it was a pretty great movie. As The Talon’s movie reviewer, I would be inclined to agree. I saw the movie both on Dec. 16 as well as Dec. 17. Both times, the movie had me interested and captivated for the entirety of the movie. The movie has everything: action, love, mystery, suspense, twists, and turns that you would never expect, and some surprises you could guess (but that is always good). If you have not seen the movie trailer, skip the rest of this paragraph. If you have seen it, you would have already been made aware of two grand appearances during the movie. Both Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavias and Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin make outstanding appearances. Both of their actings are just as good in their original Spider-man movies. 

But they weren’t the only amazing actors. This Spider-man movie is one of Tom Holland’s best performances as Spider-man and possibly his last as he is taking a “break” from the role. As well as Zendaya, who played her role as Michelle Jones (MJ) much differently, yet still just as good. And of course, Batalon, who plays Ned Leeds, had an amazing performance as well. 

Of course, there are more important things in movies than acting, like the plot, and more 

specifically in Marvel movies, how the plot of this movie fits with the plot of the whole Marvel franchise. I would say this did an excellent job. 

Right now, Marvel is doing some “rebranding.” Their old characters are gone or dead. So they are taking their chances with new and younger characters, with Holland’s Spider-man being a less recent addition. With this new movie, fitting into the newer franchise is important as ever. The movie brought back old characters, as well as brought in newer characters, creating a good mix and an interesting movie. For example, Doctor Strange, who could be considered newer because he was brought into a Spider-man movie for the first time, and he played an interesting part in this movie. In the same field, the introduction of the Multiverse is a much newer concept introduced by Marvel using the 2021 TV shows “WandaVision” and “Loki”. 

But on the flip side, we have characters like Peter, MJ, and Ned who have always been a part of the Spider-man franchise. Relating directly to the Marvel Universe, characters like Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) who was Tony Stark’s bodyguard or personal assistant throughout all of the Marvel movies starting in the first Iron Man movie in 2008. 

Special effects are one of my favorite aspects of movies. Overall visual appearance is always what catches an audience member’s attention right from the start. Of course, this being a Marvel movie, they did not disappoint. Spider-man movies especially are very exciting in the special effects department. From the web-swinging to the costumes, to the other effects (like magic) are always stunning. The teams who work behind the scenes of all Marvel movies are very impressive. And with a budget of $200 million, you can tell just by looking that they used that money well.

Of course, there are things I did not like about the movie, no movie can be perfect. Now, this might contain spoilers, so if you are worried about really light spoilers, move along to the overall review numbers. The only thing I did not like about the movie (but of course understood why it had to be included in the plot) was the college admission trope. Whenever I see that in movies, I’m just annoyed. It made more sense in this movie than in others, but it was still not as enjoyable as the rest of the movie. Really smart characters looking to get accepted, but of course not getting in. And the final reveal with all three of them there, but the disappointment to see that no one got in. It was not horrible, and they made it fit into the plot well, but it was still not the best part of the movie.

But a movie like this is very difficult to find flaws in. It was overall outstanding, and I was very impressed. 

With all of that said, here are all of my ratings:

Visual Effects: 10/10

Soundtrack: 9/10

Characters: 9/10

Development: 9/10

Exposition: 9/10

Plot: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

I can tell you with great confidence that when you return to the box office this winter, you will not be disappointed if you buy some tickets to “Spider-man: No Way Home.” It is the perfect gift from Marvel to all of us during the holidays, and I cannot wait for what’s to come this next year.