How To Make Spider-Man Boring - Far From Home

Spider-man Far From Home had a critical flaw that held back the movie. In this video essay I analyse what it is and how it could have been fixed...

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[TheCloserLook]

Hey guys,

I thought I'd make this comment here because I'm seeing a lot of confusion as to the idea of what a want and need exactly are. I think I was unclear when I explained the concept so let me elaborate here.

The base idea of want: a want is exactly what it sounds like, it's what the character wants at the start of the story. However a need is something the character DOES NOT want at the start of the movie, but it is something they need, and it is pretty much always something they are unaware of/do not appreciate.

The base idea of need: the character's needs is to learn a lesson e.g: they need to learn to stand up for themselves (e.g is George Mcfly), they need to realise that being around loved ones is more important than privacy (e.g. is Shrek), they need to learn that family is the most important thing in the universe, and nothing is more important than it (e.g Darth Vader in 6).

Fundamentally, any character arc is the character learning a lesson, and using want vs need is a more specific way of formatting exactly what that lesson is, and how that character learns said lesson and thus, goes on said arc.

I hope I cleared things up,
- Henry

[poweroffriendship.]

*Thanos:* _REALITY CAN BE WHATEVER I WANT..._

*Mysterio:* ｐｉｚｚａ　ｔｉｍｅ

[hugoalynstephens]

Lest we forget from Homecoming:
"I understand. I just wanted to be like you."
"And I wanted you to be better."

[GoodXylophone]

The jet scene is so weird to me. Happy tells him to not have to live up to Tony, but at the same time, they play ACDC, mirroring him to Tony. It feels contradictory. Like they don't know if they should fully go with the idea of Peter becoming his own man or fully embrace the idea of Peter taking over for Tony.

[colinmast]

“You’re not supposed to be the next iron man”
Next scene is him building a new suit with stark tech while acdc blasts in Happy’s spaceship 😑

[gorehound]

Spider-Man “needed” to get over the death of Tony. But the film didn’t explore that enough.

[TomTopics]

You can’t talk about good films without including shrek

[hunterb]

The problem with the closer look is that he always has a better version of what the movie could be and we are all left without that better version in our lives.

[thescholarofAK]

Another issue that the movie had that I would like to bring up is this: tech vs. tech instead of tech vs. skill. They introduced all this fancy tech w/ drones and AIs and EMPs, but when it came to the skills, you get a *single* statement of the “Peter tingle” as a passing joke and then at the end, he uses it *flawlessly*. What was needed was a dichotomy: his tech telling him one thing and his skills/instincts telling him another. His tech telling him danger but his skills telling him safety. His skills telling him danger but his tech telling him safety. But over and over again, we only saw tech, tech, and more tech. We didn’t see his skills/instincts come in contrast to the tech until the last moment. If we had had one instance of the “Peter tingle” not telling him danger from the illusions or informing him of real danger from the drones at any point in the movie yet he ignores it for what his jammed/ broken tech tells him, then the final fight wouldn’t seem so odd in contrast to the movie. We’ve seen in the comics/other shows over and over that the spider sense is able to detect even hostile intent, yet throughout the movie, all we see is tech vs tech. His OG suit vs the drones leading him to get hit by a train, his new suit vs the drones causing EMPs to stop the drones. We never see his spider sense until it is way late into the movie and any chance to explore it is gone. This is what I liked about the first film better: *he didn’t need the suit*. He could have a hoodie, wool mask, goggles, and he could still kick butt as Spider-Man. And this was well established. The ferry splits apart, tech doesn’t work, so raw strength it is. The monument explodes, tech can’t help, but his intellect and skill can. That was what made the climax so powerful: without his tech, without his fancy gadgets, he lifts an entire building off himself using nothing but his determination and strength, things that have been established throughout the movie. Now look at the new movie and it’s heartbreaking to see how far Spider-Man has fallen. Every scene where there should be a tech skill dichotomy, reenforcing the idea that this is Spider-Man, not Iron Man, you see Stark Tech vs Stark Tech. It’s only at the last possible moment that Peter actually goes back to his skills to be the Spider-Man we know and love. That was what made the bridge scene the only Spider-Man moment in an otherwise Iron Man filled movie.

[m.cproductions]

He NEEDED to stop living in Stark's shadow, and become his own true-self.

[AndresGarcia-qksj]

When I watched the film, it was a weird feeling.
After the movie ended, I liked the movie, but not that much. I didn’t think the movie was that great. Then I was surprised when I heard everyone talking about how cool and a masterpiece it was

[alexgustavus]

want: to stop being spider-man. need: To remember/realize his responsibility

[ellebelle]

Well said. My major issue with the movies lately is that every single time they do a Spidey franchise, the story either is flimsy or mediocre. Or it gets progressively worse over time. It’s like the writers bank on the fact that THIS IS SPIDER-MAN, but they aren’t writing about WHY Peter is Spider-Man, and I think that’s what is inherently missing.

[nikstar.x]

The moral of the story: the film 'd be better with shrek as spider-man

[xzero]

It is illegal to point out legitimate flaws in a Marvel movie, sir.

[onerandom]

I always thought Peter’s want was to be normal and shrug off the expectations, but he needed to step up despite never truly replacing Tony.

[Simbabweman]

One of my thoughts is that he's just constantly going "whoaaaa", "aahhhh", "oh noooo" "holy...", "that's so cool" and "how did I do that". It's like he's just reacting all the time and that's not interesting (I know tell that to the react channels on YouTube)

The Spider-Man most of us know makes constant jokes and turns the situation more light hearted. Yes, there are big stakes and dark moments but it's just a bit boring watching someone doing all these great things and being confused at it the whole time.

It's much more entertaining seeing someone know their abilities and reading their enemy, knowing their next move or making a joke out of them. That's what Spider-Man is good at, he is a genius and makes his enemies feel inferior, he toys with them and he makes them predictable. Watching him get confused about everything and everyone creates a much more dull experience.

[nothisispatrick]

Toy story 1: I need to be there for My kid no matter what.

Toy story 4: imma head out

[goldenaries]

I would argue that Peters “Want” and “Need” in _Far From Home_ are different than the ones proposed in this film.

Peter’s want in this film is his desire to be with MJ. It is expressed a multitude of times that Peter merely wants to be a “normal” kid, dating a girl he likes and so on and so forth. Peter is a young boy in this film who had experienced concepts far beyond his comprehension. He’s been to space, watched his second father figure sacrifice himself for the sake of the universe etc. The fact that the film, or rather Peter ignores this need is what highlights his struggle throughout the film. Peter attempting to juggle fighting both the Elementals as well as his personal life is a more implicit representation of the Want vs Need struggle.

As a result of this conflict, Peter nearly causes the death of two of his friends in the fight with the fire elemental, gets hit by a train due to his desire to save a fake MJ, and more explicitly: his Spider Sense goes on the fritz. Of course these sentiments could indeed been more actively portrayed in the film, which I in turn do agree with. However Peters passive nature in this film are required to set up for the conflict of the film, as having Peter actively seek his “need” in this film would thus result in many of the conflicts either not occurring or being solved outright.

This particular essay refers to Peter as Spider-Man the entire time, which I find rather interesting, _Far From Home_ hardly seemed like a Spider-Man film, _Into the Spiderverse_ was a Spider-Man film: as it goes over not only various backstories as well as being a character study in what it means to be Spider-Man. _Far From Home_ is a Peter Parker film, as it is the stories events do not portray a character study - but a representation of how one’s Wants vs Needs can henceforth, create further conflict. Passivity is what causes Peter to fail in his romantic and superhero ventures, and actively pursuing the process ends up leading Peter to becoming Iron Man - when he clearly isn’t ready nor fit for the role.

I do indeed want to go into further detail with my opinions on the subject, but I would need to get my work together as well as attempt and type in a PC as opposed to a mobile phone. Hopefully I can get someone else’s thoughts on this subject to better my writing and analysis.

[Iam]

What i've learnt from this video: *Shrek is a masterpiece*