So this is really a hashing of One More Day only done not stupid. Yeah I said it. No deal with the devil, no killing of Aunt May only to retcon it, an actual One More Day thing that makes perfect sense in universe context.
Starting from the word go, we see that Peter and friends are just trying to live their lives post-Mysterio huggery. And boy is that some continuity. I loved it. Seeing how the world of the MCU is divided in half over this, it's kinda amazing. Though I would've loved a Nick Fury cameo to round out the interrogation scene. And Ned, oh Ned. Why can't you keep your mouth shut? Loved that.
Moving on, the first day back at school post Mysterio, I loved Betty out there and my god Flash....I've hated this interpretation of the character since the the word go and this third outing didn't change that. I love it I really do. He's such a god damn swarmy and annoying and claiming he's Peter's best friend when it was clear he could get something was great. Also how the hell did he write that book so fast? That had to have at least 300 pages in it.
Ok so meat of the story isn't Peter trying to get things back on track or anything, it's getting his friends into collage. That's it. It's nothing super selfish or anything, just a kid trying to clean up a mess that wasn't even of his doing. That I think is just the epitome of Peter Parker. That said, I really think his attempts to change the spell MID CASTING! was dumb on Strange's part. Really should have explained things prior to casting.
The old villains coming in just seconds before they were going to die was....well kind of depressing. But I did love Flint's introduction. I knew they grabbed Jamie Foxx, William DeFoe, and Aflred Molina to reprise their roles but Thomas Church and Rhys Ifans coming back to voice their characters was a nice surprise. Especially Sandman's intro as an ally because well, this is happening just prior to their deaths so yeah he was an ally to Spider-Man. So that got us our villains and well, them being subdued was pretty neat. Though I would've loved to see Strange's battle with Lizard. That looked like fun.
So second act was Peter taking responsibility for "curing" the villains because he feels really bad he's sending them back to die. Which is adorable and once again rehashing the fact that a Peter just takes on responsibility for jive that HE REALLY SHOULDN'T! But we have to have some mega conflict and predictably, it's Green Goblin who hugs everything up. Honestly after they "cured" Doc Octopus, I kinda felt that Gobby wouldn't be "cured" that easily. But holy crap that fight in the condo was...amazing. Just amazing. Powerbombs, spine busters, Irish Whips, and everyone against Peter. Well, Lizard and Green Goblin against Peter as Electro hugs off, Doc Oct is incapacitated, and Sandman just...poofed was an interesting thought but probably to save on the special effects budget.
AND SPEAKING OF! The killing off of Aunt May was....amazing. I'm not gonna lie, I've always assumed it was Uncle Ben's death that put Peter on the path but I'm starting to think MCU doesn't have an Uncle Ben and never did. Instead, it's Aunt May who fills that role. And by god did she fill it. Even though Goblin killed her, and yeah he did, she still thinks trying to cure them was the right thing. And I guess it was but my god, the emotional impact of that scene can't really be described. Just that it...well it hurt. It hurt a lot.
That said, the introduction of the other Spider-Men proved a point I've said for year's. Toby made a great Peter Parker, Andrew was a great Spider-Man. The costuming choice proved my point and speculations and I am here for it! Now if only I cared enough to watch Amazing Spider-Man outside of youtube clips. Hmmmmmm....
Third act fight was great but I really wanted more Goblin. Just because I think the MCU costume he came up with was awesome looking. It honestly reminded me of Harry's Goblin costume from 3. So I guess apple doesn't fall far form the tree maybe. But yeah, it was great. Especially when Max saw Andrew's face and then started wondering if there was a Black Spider-Man out there and I giggled. Kinda hoping we get some sort of cross over in Into the Spider-Verse part 1 with that. But that's just me wishing.
Ending of the movie though, perfect One More Day with the added bonus that while we didn't forget Spider-Man, Peter Parker was forgotten by everyone. And everything it seems. Hence the comic accurate costume at the end because I'm pretty sure his StarkTech doesn't recognize him at all. And I loved it. They finally got out of the corner they put themselves in ever since Spider-Man showed up in Civil War. They got him away from Stark and put him back in the neighborhood and I think that, that was perfect. No more toys, no more super tech, just Spider-Man, his smarts, and well, his shitty apartment. That's Spider-Man to me. And it only cost him his best friend and the love of his life. Kinda hoping the next trilogy they got Nedd and MJ to sign new contracts for the next trilogy because I kinda wanna see that relationship begin again. Ahh well.
