Movie Review: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Disappoints

They had a sweet thing going with Spidey and MJ, but no more. The new one should have been called Spider-Man: Homewrecker.

Spider-Man: No Way Home feels as if it was born of writers who tried to cobble together all the “Wouldn’t it be cool if?” ideas they found on some fangirl message board. After the outstanding Spider-Man: Homecoming and the mostly solid Spider-Man: Far from Home, this Spidey loses track of what made the other two efforts shine: It was the charm. The humble setting, the amusingly quirky characterizations, and the funny dialogue all gave us an emotional stake in these high-school students. The love story between Spidey and MJ was adorable, and even the villains were sharply etched.

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Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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They had a sweet thing going with Spidey and MJ, but no more. The new one should have been called Spider-Man: Homewrecker.

Spider-Man: No Way Home feels as if it was born of writers who tried to cobble together all the “Wouldn’t it be cool if?” ideas they found on some fangirl message board. After the outstanding Spider-Man: Homecoming and the mostly solid Spider-Man: Far from Home, this Spidey loses track of what made the other two efforts shine: It was the charm. The humble setting, the amusingly quirky characterizations, and the funny dialogue all gave us an emotional stake in these high-school students. The love story between Spidey and MJ was adorable, and even the villains were sharply etched.