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Spider-Man: No Way Home has managed to string a cord with the critics, and despite the initial fears that the much-anticipated film would fail to impress, it surely delivered an above-par performance. The third installment in the series starring Tom Holland has now arrived with plans to be a blockbuster, and guessing from the reviews it has been, garnering the film will definitely stay around the cinemas for a while. 

The film is almost a franchise reboot taking everyone's beloved Spidey on a ride having to deal with all the Spider-Man villains his predecessors had already fought off. Director Jon Wyatts managed to build a web intricate enough for the ninth film in the franchise without having to overdo just too many things and making it seem like a flashback to all the other Spidey films the audience has seen until now. The film is light and dark just at the right times, with enough nerd stuff added for the die-hard fans to have a go at the film theories for a long while. Decidedly, the film also manages to lay a lot of cliffhangers of the franchise to peace at last.

Of course, fans were right all along, and No Way Home is a multi-verse entry of the film, letting a little too many of the Spider-Man universes run along parallel lines of existence with varying results arising from each decision and moment of conflict. With bringing the multiverse plot into the latest film, Sony has smartly reverted to create its own closure about the time Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield got to spend helming the series. 

Notable of a mention, Holland is left off to fend off the villains of the previous two Spider-Men owing to the failure of a plan he had churned alongside Dr. Strange to avert a problem. Every fan remembers that Mysterio, the villain in the previous movie, had managed to steal Spider-Man's secret identity and reveal that Peter, in fact, was Spider-Man. 

Desperate to make people forget his alter ego, he asks Dr. Strange to perform a mass memory-erasing spell, but it ends up going wrong only to remind everyone that ever knew about his identity hurtling into his Spider-verse. Fortunately or unfortunately, only the villains seem to make the trip, and Holland has to contend with defending himself against six formidable foes. 

It was almost difficult for the franchise to get hold of all the actors who previously portrayed the villainous characters, but they did manage to reprise Alfred Molina as Doc Ock, Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin, Jamie Fox as Electro, Thomas Haden Church as Sandman, and Rhys Ifans as The Lizard. Maybe because they had to trek into an entirely different universe, the foes seem to have lost a bit of their touch and are not as murderous as before. 

Not indulging in all the teensy details and spoilers about the movie, Peter's decision for the way he wants to deal with the villains reflects immensely on the way our society has evolved from the first time these films were released to the way we see villains today. It is interesting to see a character move forward from cold-blooded inhalation of villains and actually address the root cause that the villains became who they are. 

Not only is Peter a goody-two-shoes looking for the best in everyone, but being a real character with thoughts more than a single film can expand on, the decision shows how he is coping up with the death of Mysterio. It is not easy to always play the hero and save the world, because in the end, when Spider-Man takes off the mask, he is as much as a normal human with fears, anxiety, and pain like everyone else. 

The film also addresses issues that the previous films failed to deal with and makes humor of elements that were worn out and barely thought about. The film allows not only the hero but also the negative characters or the villains to take a break and heal from the mental stress inflicted upon them. 

The third Spider-Man film with Tom Holland stars Zendaya as MJ; Credits: Variety

Still, do not fear that the film is two hours of forgetting and forgiveness and some zen talk about healing everyone. It has all the action, spice, and drama you would associate with Marvel and does a great job at carrying on the legacy of a franchise that has strived to entertain generations to an end.