Film

Spider-Man: Far From Home

A summer-abroad coming-of-age film dressed up as a superhero thriller. Tom Holland's Peter Parker is charmingly out of his depth as a teenager trying to enjoy Europe while Nick Fury pulls him into a world-threatening conspiracy. Funny, visually inventive, and genuinely concerned with the weight of responsibility on someone barely old enough to vote.

TMDb rating3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a light, funny teen superhero caper where the set pieces are inventive and Tom Holland's jittery, earnest Peter carries the whole thing.

Skip it if you want the franchise's heavier stakes, since this one keeps things breezy and sometimes plays like a holiday postcard with explosions bolted on.

What it asks of you: Two hours and nine minutes of mostly easy company, with a sequence of tourist-stop set pieces, a wry pace and little need to track dense lore.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Spider-Man: Homecoming2017

The first Holland Spider-Man film establishes Peter's voice and humor perfectly, shows his origin as a street-level hero, and proves that Marvel's lighter touch works better than grim reboots. Essential groundwork.

But It's the obvious choice. If you want to skip formalities and leap straight into the ensemble universe stuff, this feels like homework rather than fun.

Spider-Man: Homecoming poster

Iron Man2008

The film that launched the MCU's entire architecture. Robert Downey Jr. as a charismatic mentor-figure doing arrogant banter—the DNA of every Marvel film after. Surprisingly grounded, funny, and the prototype for how these films can actually work.

But It's 16 years old and shows its age technically. The climax is a weightless CGI slugfest that doesn't land like it should.

Iron Man poster

Captain America: The Winter Soldier2014

A political thriller wearing a superhero costume. Plot twists that feel earned, genuine stakes, stellar direction. The moment the MCU proved it could do something other than quips and set pieces. Sharp and propulsive.

But It's darker in tone—no gags to defuse tension. Requires you to care about spy-craft and institutional corruption rather than just watching things blow up.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Spider-Man: Far From Home

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Amazing Spider-Man 22014

Both films explore Peter as a teenager caught between normal life and superhero duty, but Raimi's version leans into the pain of that contradiction while Far From Home suggests he can manage both.

A chaotic, overloaded, genuinely strange superhero film that swings wildly between melodrama, technological spectacle, and genuine pathos about grief and obsession. It fails in fascinating ways that reveal what Holland's version smooths over.

But It's garbled and sometimes incoherent. The tone whiplash between jokes and tragedy is uncomfortable. Some will find it aggressively silly; others, genuinely depressing.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 poster
More like this (8)

Thor: Ragnarok2017

Taika Waititi's bonkers energy brings Thor into focus as a comedy character, not just a brooding god. Cosmos-sized destruction played for laughs. Genuinely inventive visuals and a score that slaps. Pure joy.

But The humor is relentless and occasionally overshoots the landing. If you want cosmic mythology played straight and serious, this film mocks that impulse.

Thor: Ragnarok poster

Ant-Man and the Wasp2018

Lighter than air but never weightless. Paul Rudd's charm carries a heist-movie structure through a quantum realm populated with genuine surprises. Funny without trying too hard, action without exhaustion.

But It's small in stakes and scope intentionally. If you need world-threatening consequences to care, this film's modesty will feel undernourished.

Ant-Man and the Wasp poster

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings2021

A martial-arts film that actually knows martial arts, with genuine heart about family obligation and letting go. Visually distinct from other Marvel output, grounded in culture, and unexpectedly moving beneath the action sequences.

But The opening hour is slower and more introspective than typical blockbuster pacing. The plot mechanics in the third act feel imposed from Marvel formula.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings poster

Guardians of the Galaxy2014

A heist film disguised as a space opera, held together by a killer soundtrack and ensemble chemistry. James Gunn found the sweet spot between sincere emotion and comedic irreverence. Endlessly rewatchable.

But The humor is 2014 indie-sensibility humor, which means some jokes have calcified. The villain is paper-thin. It coasts on charm rather than narrative drive.

Guardians of the Galaxy poster

Doctor Strange2016

Visually unlike anything else in the MCU—actually inventive with the magical/quantum imagery rather than just making it look like Earth but fancier. Benedict Cumberbatch is perfectly cast as an arrogant man learning humility.

But The plot is boilerplate villain-vs-good-wizard and doesn't surprise. The romance subplot feels bolted on. It's a gorgeous visual experience in service of a forgettable story.

Doctor Strange poster

Eternals2021

An ambitious, weird film that doesn't apologize for slow pacing and cosmic philosophy. Zhao's direction gives it texture and space to breathe. An art-film trying to hide in the blockbuster system.

But It's genuinely slow and meditative in a franchise known for cutting to quips. The ensemble is so large no character gets enough time. It's a mess of good ideas that don't cohere.

Eternals poster

A Ghost Story2017

Both films are secretly about growing up and the weight of responsibility to people you love. Far From Home uses spectacle; this film uses stillness. They ask the same question: who do we become when other people need us?

A haunting meditation on presence and absence, time and mortality. Dressed as a ghost story but really about how we leave imprints on the people we love. Quiet, devastating, shot through with strange humor that disarms you.

But It's deliberately slow and weird. A man in a sheet is the lead. It's searching for profundity in image and silence rather than plot. If you need something to happen every five minutes, this will test your patience.

A Ghost Story poster

Everything Everywhere All at Once2022

Both traffic in the MCU's multiverse ideas, but where Far From Home uses alternate realities as setup for spectacle, Everything Everywhere uses them to explore the lives we didn't live and the people we might have become.

A multiverse film that actually earns its multiverse. Dazzling action, philosophical depth about parallel lives and regret, genuine emotion that hits harder than anything designed to hit hard. Wildly inventive without being exhausting.

But The visual information is dense and sometimes overwhelming. It's chaotic by design. The emotional core asks you to sit with grief and disappointment rather than resolve them neatly.

Everything Everywhere All at Once poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production

Recommended by

Spider-Man: Homecoming