By Steve Crum
“People nowadays, they believe anything.” This quotation from a character in Spider-Man: Far From Home is both timely and telling. The believability factor, even in a Marvel superhero flick, needs to exist if for no other reason than to contrast reality with superhuman acts. That mesh of science and science fiction can be full of wonder and fun. So it is with this wonderfully fun Spider-Man escapade, a sequel to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, also directed by Jon Watts.
The believability aspect is central to Far From Home’s plot, carried forward to the movie’s end, and even to the end credits’ finale. (Stay seated in the theatre, and you’ll get a double punchline.) Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers deliver a doozy of a story packed with visual surrealism and clever plot surprises.
The plot involves a two-week high school class trip to Europe, wherein Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) is traveling with a group of his fellow classmates from the Midtown School of Science and Technology. Fellow travelers include Peter’s best buddy Jacob (Ned Leeds) and MJ (Zendaya), Peter’s love interest.
Once in Venice, the first tour stop, Peter is contacted by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, of course, for any knowledgeable Marvel Universe fan). Fury wants Spider-Man to aide a newly introduced superhero, Mysterio aka Quentin Beck (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), in defeating a group of literally stormy weather villains from destroying Earth. The villainy appear as gigantic hurricane-like beings, 
representing wind, fire, and ice. They are appropriately called the Elementals.
The death of Tony Stark/Iron Man (see Avengers: Endgame) is acknowledged throughout the film, and becomes a major plot element due to a gift Tony has designated for Peter. The “gift” is the crux of much of the film’s laughs as well as violent action. Speaking of the late Tony Stark, his long time head of security, driver, and bodyguard “Happy” Hogan (Jon Favreau) returns…as driver and bodyguard to Peter Parker.
As usual, Peter Parker multi-tasks as both a “friendly, neighborhood” superhero and a regular high schooler, now more than ever on the make for MJ. He just wants to fit in, have a girlfriend, and see the sights of Europe. And when he’s not doing that, he’s helping save the planet with his new Marvel guy, Mysterio. What a vacation!
Storyline aside, bravo for the casting of the current Spider-Man franchise—or is it sub-franchise? Since there have been several Spidey movies as of 2019, with three actors portraying Parker/S-M over the years, it is awkward to call the series a franchise unto itself. What I am trying to say is that the current casting is THE best ever, with actors of old (Jackson, Favreau) perfectly jelling with the younger whippersnappers. (Yes, I just summoned the spirit of Gabby Hayes.) Besides superbly acting their roles, the current leads (Holland, Zendaya, Batalon) actually LOOK their high school parts—even though they are respectively 23, 22, and 22.
Well worth mentioning are J. B. Smoove and Martin Starr, who portray the group’s chaperones. They help provide comedy relief, and remind me of myself when I chaperoned high schoolers on various trips. No doubt I was as dorky as these two guys.
Finally, a note about the casting of Aunt May. In the comic books and early Spider-Man movies, she was always appropriately portrayed as a sweet, little ol’ lady with gray hair in a bun, and wearing a granny dress with long sleeves. Now we have the cute and sexy Marisa Tomei as Peter’s Aunt May Parker. (Tomei is a 54 year-old who looks maybe 40.)
Va-va-voom for Aunt May! Now there’s a senior citizen reaction the late Stan Lee never originally envisioned.
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GRADE, On A to F Scale: A