'Far From Home' presents a brave new post-Iron Man world

Spider-Man: Far From Home didn't need to be this good. Any Marvel movie at this point mints money and its coming off the most successful film in the franchise's history -- Avengers: Endgame. But the creators of this film took just enough care to make yet another film starring the webslinger (there have been seven sand-alone's since 2002) interesting.

This  no small feat since last year's Oscar winning Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse felt like the definitive version of the character's story.

This film purposely takes place in the shadow of went down in Endgame, where SPOILER ALERT, audiences said goodbye to several beloved characters including Robert Downey, Jr's Iron Man. Now, it's Peter Parker/Spider-Man's (Tom Holland) opportunity to step into the void to be a "leader" sort to speak of the Avengers. It's a role he aggressively doesn't want ant the movie effectively conveys that natural tension between Parker's desire to live a normal life versus saving the world.

That normal life gets a charming amount of screen-time in this movie, so much so that you don't necessarily miss the pyrotechnics of Holland in the signature costume. His budding romance with M.J. (played very well here by Zendaya) is very cute and almost feels real, and it's a treat to see his rotund sidekick Ned (a hilarious Jacob Batalan) back by his side.

There's also Nick Fury (a doughier Samuel L. Jackson, finally getting to consistently inject more of his own special charisma to this character), Happy Hogan (a game Jon Favreau) and Aunt May (the always luminous Marisa Tomei) rounding out the cast.

But the most interesting performance in this movie may come from one of Hollywood's most eccentric leading men -- Jake Gyllenhaal. He's like an alternative world Tony Stark, with a hint of his Nightcrawler obsessive-compulsive creepiness.

His character, who comes to be called Mysterio, has a very intriguing arc and his storyline which includes a pretty subtle knock against the very real problem of alternative facts and fake news.

Following Michael Keaton's bravura turn in Spider-Man: Homecoming, this is the second Spider-Man movie in a row to have a really dynamic villain with a clear and relatable motivation. Let's hope this trend continues in upcoming Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther films.

The movie is also very funny throughout (although sadly, it is the first Marvel movie without the late Stan Lee) and its first -- surprisingly plot-advancing -- post-credit scene which features a pretty spot on parody of Alex Jones with a nod to the original Tobey Maguire era Spidey films.

All in all, this was not a genre re-defining enterprise like last year's Black Panther, but it is strong proof that these movies have a lot more to say and do in a post-Iron Man Marvel universe.