After hitting theaters, the highly anticipated “Spider-Man: No Way Home” blew away super-fans and casual watchers alike with its skillfully crafted characters and twisty, action filled plot. 

After his identity was exposed by Mysterio in “Spider-Man: Far From Home”, protagonist Peter Parker turns to drastic measures to protect the people he loves. Parker then faces new villains alongside old and new friends, resolving conflicts and creating new ones along the way. 

The perfect mix of emotions, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is an absolute rollercoaster. Screenplay writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers carefully offset the darker themes this movie takes on with their use of comedic timing and heartfelt moments between the characters. However, no movie is complete without heartbreak. This one is definitely not lacking in that department. With convincing performances from the actors, it’s impossible not to cry at the right moments. 

New and old, the acting throughout the movie was phenomenal. Actors Zendaya and Tom Holland, who portrayed MJ Jones and Peter Parker, did an immaculate job of expressing their characters’ blossoming love without it being too forced. Jacob Batalon provided comedic relief, but without being too cheesy. 

One of the many reasons this movie was so highly anticipated was because some actors such as Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe returned to reprise their former roles of Doc Ock and Green Goblin, respectively. Their performances were even better than before and added to the complexity of the movie as their presence opened a world of possibilities for Marvel movies in the future. 

Costume designer Sanja Milkovic Hays did a spectacular job of capturing each characters’ essence through their clothing. Throughout the movie, Peter Parker is seen in a variety of Spider-Man suits. As Parker changes as a character, so do his suits – when he is at his lowest, his suit appears more tattered, whereas in the beginning of the movie, his suit was close to pristine. The costume changes he goes through throughout the length of the film can only be interpreted as a deliberate choice of costuming genius. 

Between the monstrous villains, near impossible stunts, and magic fight scenes, it’s very apparent the visual effects team poured their very best into bringing this film to life. The use of 3D models and CG digi-doubles – among various other techniques – are what take these creative concepts from the creators’ minds to the screen. 

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” featured a variety of music ranging from pop songs to songs used in the original Spider-Man movies: “Spider-Man” and “The Amazing Spider-Man”. The clever placement of these different tracks helped draw the watcher in with current songs, then play on their nostalgia with songs of the previous Spider-Man movies. 

All in all, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” deserved all the hype it received – from writing, to visual effects – there was very little room for improvement.