Spider-Man: No Way Home | Screenlife Reviews

We can all agree that by and large 2021 was not a good year. Thankfully, in one aspect, particularly the movies, it was a rousing success. We had everything from terrifying horror films and boundary-pushing animation to heartstring-pulling dramas and top notch action flicks. After a year at the movies and at home glued to every streaming service under the sun we’ve come up with a list of our personal top ten films of the year. Granted we didn’t get a chance to see everything and while we recognise some films here have their problems, these are the ones that made us the happiest to escape to from the scourge that was 2021.

But first, some honourable mentions. Godzilla vs. Kong brought the long awaited earth-shaking showdown of Kaijus on the scale they truly deserved. Jungle Cruise was the spiritual successor to 1999’s The Mummy we never knew we needed, anchored by the terrific chemistry of Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. The Suicide Squad was the hilarious, action-packed retcon of the abysmal 2016 instalment that proves James Gunn a master of the superhero (or in this case antihero) film. Nobody created an unlikely action hero out of veteran character actor Bob Odenkirk; a quirky, white-knuckle thriller from the creators of John Wick. Finally, the well overdue screenwriting return of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, The Last Duel, proved a thrilling, at times harrowing follow-up; an awful subject matter told in a non-conventional, always engaging way.

10. King Richard

Will Smith gives the performance of the year as the Williams’ patriarch; a deeply flawed yet deeply caring character who has carefully structured a plan to ensure his daughters dominate the game of tennis. Reinaldo Marcus Green’s film succeeds by focusing not on the successes of Venus and Serena throughout their competitive lives, but through its examination of the adversity and struggles they underwent to get where they are today. Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton quickly vault to the top of the pack as two of the most promising talents working today, but it’s Jon Bernthal who is the MVP supporting player, with an unusually quirky performance as coach-to-the-stars Rick Macci. An emotionally stirring sports biopic filled with heart, King Richard hits with all the force of a Williams’ sister serve.

9. Boiling Point

A kitchen caper that quickly moves beyond its one night in one location shot in one-take gimmick (no sneaky cuts here either, just one incredibly well choreographed 90 minute shoot) thanks to a carefully measured and constantly rising sense of tension, Boiling Point is, as well as an incredibly effective slow-burn thriller, a showcase for the talent that is Stephen Graham; a veteran English character actor who finally gets his time to shine here. Playing an overwhelmed chef on the busiest night of the year, Graham becomes superbly unhinged as problems are heaped on his shoulders, as a constantly roaming camera that moves from one disaster to the next contributes to a constant sensation that something is going to tip the scales here. When things do reach their peak and Graham self-destructs, it isn’t in a loud, overly melodramatic way, but a sad descent into the inevitable; a final gut wrenching piece of acting that cements Graham as a truly talented actor more than capable of carrying features like this.

8. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

It’s not easy to break into a franchise as established as the MCU, but Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings manages to introduce martial arts to the long-running Marvel series and make it look easy, with director Destin Daniel Cretton delivering some of the most exhilarating hand-to-hand combat since The Winter Soldier. What really cements Shang-Chi as a top-tier origin story is the deeply tortured, unconventional father-son relationship at its heart, thanks in no small part to Hong Kong cinema legend Tony Leung as Shang’s father Wenwu. He gives a gut-wrenching performance as a man who has returned to a pursuit of power after the death of his wife, tarnishing the relationships with his children in the process and stopping at nothing to obtain the power to resurrect his true love. Wenwu is one of the few MCU villains with a genuinely compelling driving force behind him and Marvel’s first Asian-starring superhero film is all the richer for it, even if Simu Liu isn’t given the material he deserves in his debut.

7. No Time to Die

Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond was a far more poignant affair than most had expected; a typical thrilling, action packed blockbuster sure, but one that gave Bond (and by extension Craig) time to reflect on his legacy. Cary Joji Fukunaga’s film feels like such a satisfying conclusion for Craig; his genuinely compelling romance with Léa Seydoux’s Madeleine reflecting the shift in Bond from macho-man cliché of old to a flawed, fully formed person craving a quieter life with someone he loves. The combat is a return to the crunchy, gritty hand-to-hand combat of Casino Royale that gives every bout the sense of life or death stakes; brutally violent and dangerous for a Bond that has stepped away from the game for so long. While Rami Malek’s villain falls short of being impactful or compelling, No Time To Die succeeds as a giant, multi-million dollar ride off into the sunset for one of the greatest Bonds to do it. Whoever is up next will have a tough time dethroning Daniel Craig.

6. The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Phil Lord and Chris Miller continue to push the envelope when it comes to animation, following up Oscar-winner Into the Spider-Verse with the arguably even better The Mitchells vs. the Machines; a frenetic, endlessly entertaining apocalyptic family road trip. On a purely animation level there’s simply nothing else like the Mitchells, a vibrant and unique style that feels alive in the doodlings and cutaway gags that appear on-screen borne out of the mind of film-obsessed Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson). That creative energy is in stark contrast to family patriarch Rick (Danny McBride), making for some heartwarming and emotionally shattering moments as Rick fails to understand his daughter’s interests, struggling to connect with her where once they were as thick as thieves. The Mitchells is also extremely funny, which should come as no surprise given the comedy all-star voice cast (alongside Jacobson and McBride are SNL alumni Beck Bennett, Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph), delivering mile a minute laughs that perfectly complement the frantically-fast pace set by the constantly evolving animation. A step forward in animation that never forgets to have fun along the way.

5. Candyman

Reviving a decades-old horror franchise proved to be the right move for Nia DaCosta’s Candyman reboot/sequel, an atmospheric nightmare that creeps its way into your brain and sends shivers down your spine with each terrifying revelation into the mythology of Candyman. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II gives an unhinged performance as Anthony, a painter who feels a particularly sinister connection to the legend and its effects on the neighbouring Cabrini-Green projects, losing himself the further he investigates. Coming from Jordan Peele (co-written with DaCosta and Win Rosenfeld), it should be no surprise that Candyman packs a good amount of social commentary into its gentrification-focused horror but it never feels forced, with DaCosta letting the commentary flow from the situations that the characters find themselves in, rather than bombarding you with preaching messages. When things lean into the horror they do so with reckless abandon; a gory, balls-to-the-wall crazy finale capping everything off and reminding viewers why they shouldn’t be saying the Candyman’s name five times.

4. Dune

Denis Villeneuve’s return to the world of sci-fi is nothing short of a masterpiece in big-budget filmmaking. A visual spectacle from start to finish, Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel about the political treachery and war between the Atreides and Harkonnen families for control of Spice (a precious mineral) amazingly never gets lost in the enormity of the source material, adapting a small portion of the books and doing it extremely well. Every planet is distinct, with production design that is, ahem, out of this world and Villeneuve uses scale to create some of the most jaw-droppingly impressive set-pieces in recent memory, whether that be the arrival of a giant sand-worm or the mass planetary evacuation of giant starships. At its core, Dune is a story about family legacy and with an all-star cast led by Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson that grounded, relatable story shines through the spectacle, immediately investing you in Paul Atreides’ plight. The only negative is that we have to wait two years for the next instalment!

3. Spider-Man: No Way Home

Not only did Tom Holland’s third Spider-Man film live up to the hype that had been heaped onto it in the months up to release, but it flew past it; delivering a dark, more mature outing that never took the focus off Peter whilst juggling fan service and a complex story involving returning villains from different Spidey franchises. Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx are a ton of fun reprising their roles here, but it’s Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin that is the standout, the veteran actor slipping right back into where he left off in 2002, contorting his face to denote the different personalities at play in his head and bringing a chaotically evil energy to go up against Spider-Man’s youthful innocence. It’s the third act that truly cements No Way Home as a top-tier Spider-man film however, a rousing finale that brings together more than 20 years of on-screen history for a showdown that rivals Avengers: Endgame in terms of sheer unbelievable spectacle. If you haven’t seen it at this point, then you must be one of about three people – what are you doing?

2. Belfast

A slice-of-life examination of a youth lost during the Troubles in Ireland in the late 60’s, Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical Belfast is a refreshingly intimate film from the usual blockbusters he directs. We follow young Buddy (Jude Hill) as he navigates the everyday problems associated with school and crushes, whilst struggling to comprehend the riots and political upheaval that have his mother (Caitriona Balfe), father (Jamie Dornan) and grandparents (Judi Dench & Ciarán Hinds) so shaken. As uplifting as it is harrowing at times, Branagh strikes the perfect balance between the childlike wonder which Buddy (Jude Hill) views the world through and the shocking realities of the uprising happening around the young boy, harsh lessons he must learn at an age far too young to truly comprehend them. But it’s the exploration of the people around Buddy, his family and friends that make Belfast such a special film; a celebration of Irish spirit, the collective humour of the place and the struggles that the people have gone through. Branagh’s best work in years.

1. Malignant

The best film of 2021 also might be its weirdest; a shocking departure from James Wan’s usual horror efforts that makes for one of the most refreshing, off-the-walls crazy films you can experience this year. What could be mistaken for another Conjuring or Insidious instalment from Wan takes a dramatic turn in the third act, with a reveal you won’t see coming that completely changes the tone and outcome of the film. That might sound like a jarring shift but Wan pulls it off so masterfully, slowly building up the tension of the events unfolding around Madison (Annabelle Wallis) through his usual carefully controlled scares and atmosphere of pitch-black dread that that twist feels like a relief, a punctuation of camp amidst reminiscent of 70’s giallo horror. This bold embrace of the weird combined with the tried and tested Wan-ism’s might not be to everyone’s taste, but there’s one thing you can’t argue: you’ve never seen anything like Malignant before.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and no, we’re not talking about Christmas, we’re talking about the new Spider-Man film No Way Home! Quite possibly one of the most hyped films in MCU history, there was a lot riding on Tom Holland’s latest outing as the web-slinger and sufficed to say No Way Home lives up to all these expectations and then some; a more mature chapter in Peter Parker’s story that feels like an appropriate culmination of everything Holland has gone through and a celebration of the character’s rich on-screen history. Despite the all-star lineup of the web-head’s greatest foes, director Jon Watts never lets the story slip away from Peter, telling a quintessentially Spider-Man story that perfectly straddles the line between huge, explosive action and the everyday struggles of the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Peter Parker’s (Holland) life is in a shambles after Mysterio unceremoniously ousts his identity as Spider-Man to the world at the end of Far From Home, prompting the young Avenger to turn to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in an effort to erase the world’s knowledge of this fact and restore some semblance of normality to the lives of Peter and those closest to him. When this inevitably goes awry, Strange and Parker unwittingly fracture the multiverse, causing villains from all manner of non-Disney owned, Sony produced Spider-Man films to tumble into the MCU, including Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Willem Dafoe’s (all-time great) Green Goblin. Now tasked with capturing these intruders before they can wreak havoc on his universe, Spider-Man is forced to contend with the full weight of his actions and the true responsibility of being a hero if he has any hope of saving the world once again.

Reassembling these characters from previous films may seem on its face an obvious case of fan service, but No Way Home consistently finds fresh angles to approach these characters without tarnishing their legacy; natural extensions of previous narratives or chances to redeem an ill-received prior outing rather than simply being well-known punching bags for Spidey to wail on. Jamie Foxx’s Electro for example has far more personality this time around, free from the shackles of his nerdy, awkward persona in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and now a laid-back, wise-cracking bad-ass; a far more appropriate character for Foxx to play and one that he excels at.

At the other end of the spectrum is Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, whose story wrapped up perfectly in Spider-Man 2. He certainly didn’t need more screen-time but what we get here is a fantastically fun and fascinating furthering of the character audiences know and love, with Molina hamming it up in the best way possible as the medically grumpy fish-out-of-water scientist turned supervillain. Those big, bombastic action sequences are all well and good but it’s the quieter moments that really justify Doc Ock’s return; a tortured soul desperate for a reprieve from the voices in his head and, like Peter, a return to the somewhat normal.

However it’s Willem Dafoe who cements his place as the greatest on-screen Spidey villain, slipping back into Green Goblin almost 20 years later and making it look completely effortless. On an acting level alone it’s fascinating to watch Dafoe contort his face and switch between the two personalities at war within Norman Osborn’s head on a dime; his voice dropping to a menacing growl as a sneer spreads across his face. But it’s the energy of pure, chaotic evil that he brings to the MCU that makes him Holland’s fiercest foe to date, wanting nothing more than to make Spider-Man suffer and relishing every second of pain he puts him through. Screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna do a great job ensuring they aren’t just trading on audience goodwill, building on the foundation of Norman’s lust for power established in 2002’s Spider-Man and taking it to the logical next step as he covets an entirely new universe to subject to his will.

In a film this crowded it might be easy for Holland’s Spider-Man to play second fiddle but – despite all the colossal world expansion and inevitable sequel set-up – No Way Home very much feels like the next chapter of Peter Parker’s story. With that comes an almost perfect balance between the small-scale problems that define a good Spider-Man story – girl troubles, college admissions and otherwise balancing the mundane with the extraordinary – alongside the huge, multiverse-ending stakes. This is still a young boy coming to terms with his responsibilities as a hero and the stakes of not committing fully to either of the lives he is attempting to live have never been felt more than they are here. Cumberbatch is an excellent and intriguing choice to shepherd Peter into that next phase of his journey, not as paternal as Iron Man and certainly not as nefarious as Mysterio, Doctor Strange doesn’t shy away from delivering hard truths, a necessary push that makes for some incredibly satisfying moments when the going gets tough.

No matter how crazy the plot may get we are always locked into Peter and how he approaches this latest challenge, particularly how it affects those close to him and his sweet relationship with MJ (Zendaya), who finally comes into her own as a central protagonist rather than a quirky side-character. This being an MCU film, things never get too dour (perhaps to some viewers chagrin) and the jokes fly thick and fast, with Jacob Batalon’s Ned stealing every scene he is in with absolutely pitch perfect comedic timing, never failing to have the audience guffawing at even the most juvenile of jokes. But this is Holland’s film and it is the best he has ever been in the role, due in large part to the amount of emotionally heavy material thrown at him in the script; we feel the desperation in Peter’s actions and the weight of what he must do to correct the mistakes he has made. No spoilers here but it warrants mentioning that – following a third act that ranks up there with Avengers: Endgame in terms of sheer wish-fulfilment awesomeness – the ending is one of the most cathartic, triumphant conclusions in all of the MCU; a perfect jumping off point should they (most probably) continue to further Spider-Man’s story but also an incredibly satisfying conclusion should this truly be the end, something neither of the other actors who have played the wall crawler can claim to have had.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is easily the best of Jon Watt’s trilogy and perhaps more impressively one of, if not the best Spider-Man film ever. The culmination of Peter Parker’s story as a young, inexperienced web-slinger is a rollicking rollercoaster of fun and action sure, but one that manages to pack big stakes and crushing emotional weight onto Holland’s shoulders that he handles beautifully. The returning villains are all an absolute blast to spend time with again, the surprises we can’t spoil will have audiences in a fervour and the supporting players are all genuinely excellent in the way they impact Peter’s journey from boy to Spider-Man. Don’t let the title fool you, with this film Tom Holland proves definitively that he is absolutely at home as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau, Tony Revolori & Benedict Wong – In cinemas now.