Spider-Man: No Way Home Critic Reviews Are Here

John F. Trent |

Dec 15, 2021

Spider-Man perched atop a light in Columbia Pictures' SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.

Critic reviews for Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home film are rolling in and there’s a lot of praise for the movie.

Rotten Tomatoes

On Rotten Tomatoes, as of writing, the film has a 94% on the Tomatometer with an average rating of 7.8 out of 10 from 106 reviews.

The Top Critics score is slightly lower at 91% with an average rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 32 reviews.

Here’s what some of the critics are saying:

Evan Dossey at Midwest Film Journal gives the film a fresh score. He writes, “Deftly mixes multiverse shenanigans with one of the most grounded emotional arcs for the character to ever grace the big screen. A nice return to form for Marvel after a rocky year.”

Bill Goodykoontz at Arizona Republic gives the film a fresh 3.5 out of 5. He writes, “Watts keeps things moving, and Holland makes the character his own.”

Jack Hawkins at HeyUGuys gives the film a rotten 2 out of 5. He writes, “The hype may prove infectious on occasion, but No Way Home has reduced the franchise to a rabbit hole of insufferable ‘geek culture’.”

Jim Slotek at Original Cin gives the film a B. He writes, “Spider-Man: No Way Home is a comfort-food gift to long-time fans, like a cross-over episode of two or more beloved TV series, with winks, call-backs, trivia, cameos, super-villains and copious destruction.”

Nicola Austin at We Have a Hulk gives the film a perfect 5 out of 5. She writes, “Watts and the cast triumphantly pulls off one of the most ambitious (and heartfelt) instalments yet for a near-perfect Spider-Man flick.”

Cary Darling at the Houston Chronicle gives the film a 4 out of 5. He writes, “A deft, funny and surprisingly emotional superhero adventure that manages to provide both fan service for the Marvel faithful and breezy entertainment for those who wouldn’t know Peter Parker from Peter Jackson.”

Neil Smith at Total Film gives the film a rotten 3 out of 5. He writes, “Though delightful in places, the third entry in Sony’s third Spider-Man cycle feels both overstocked and underwhelming.”

Charlotte O’Sullivan at London Evening Standard gives the movie a perfect 5 out of 5. She writes, “Clever, tender, funny and rousing, No Way Home is an instant classic.”

Donald Clarke at Irish Times gives the movie a 4 out of 5. He writes, “The new film – despite some dreaded ‘darker’ moments – remains much lighter on its feet than 90 per cent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Robert Kojder at Flickering Myth gives the movie a 4 out of 5. He writes, “There is a witty and emotional thoughtfulness to the interactions between this crowded cast of characters, making for a thrilling experience with bold moves, personal stakes, and intelligent fan service.”

Roger Moore at Movie Nation gives the film a 2.5 out of 4. He writes, “Gimmicks don’t electro-shock the moribund storytelling, the not-quite-witty dialogue, don’t create chemistry between our romantic leads Holland and the latest MJ, Zendaya. But the effects are off-the-chart dazzling.”

Radheyan Simonpillai at NOW Toronto gives the film a 2 out of 5. He writes, “The latest, laboured movie in Tom Holland’s up-to-this-point winning iteration of the web-slinger is all about webbing characters through multiverse magic from previous iterations of the franchise to deliver fleeting dopamine hits.”

James Mottram at South China Morning Post gives the movie a 4.5 out of 5. He writes, “No Way Home is as funny as its predecessors, but far more poignant – there’s real emotion underlying the story as Parker comes to fully realise the sacrifices it takes to be on the frontline.”

Jake Cole at Slant Magazine gives the film a rotten 2 out of 4. He states, “There’s no attempt to hide that the film is pure fan service, a greatest-hits mashup of Spider-Man’s cinematic legacy.”

Grace Randolph at Beyond the Trailer gives the film a fresh rating. She says, “Starts strong, ends strong – but SNL sketch meets theme park ride in the middle. Multiverse aspects are actually weakest, but Holland finally becomes Spidey from the comics.”

Metacritic

At Metacritic, the scores are much lower than Rotten Tomatoes with a Metascore of 71 from 32 reviews. There were 27 positive reviews and 5 mixed reviews.

Here’s what the critics on Metacritic are saying:

Michael O’Sullivan at The Washington Post gives the film an 88. He writes, “For more casual consumers of the costumed comic-book superhero’s exploits, mileage may vary. But there’s a whole lot to like here.”

Johnny Oleksinski at the New York Post gives the movie an 88 as well. He says, “It’s the gargantuan and deeply satisfying Spider-Man: No Way Home in which the former Billy Elliot proves he’s more than a teen idol with a perfect American accent. This time, his Peter’s got gravitas, emotional oomph, brutality, believable love, an anguished scene in the rain! The movie is the actor’s best performance yet, in anything, Spandex or no.”

Brian Truitt at USA Today also gives the movie an 88. He wrote, “Director Jon Watts’ third Spidey film is a rousing entry that doubles as a love letter to the comic-book character, a film very much about second chances and a cleverly crafted reminder of that famous adage: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’”

Jennifer Bisset at CNET gives the movie an 80. She writes, “And if you’re not intimately acquainted with two decades of previous Spider-Man films? If you’re here for simply a well-oiled and entertaining Marvel (and Sony) flick, you won’t be disappointed.”

Peter Debruge at Variety gives the movie an 80. He says, “Returning director Jon Watts — whose bright, slightly dorky touch lends a kind of continuity to this latest trilogy — wrangles this unwieldy premise into a consistently entertaining superhero entry, tying up two decades’ of loose ends in the process.”

Brian Lowry at CNN gives the movie an 80 as well. He notes, “Briskly balancing a dizzying assortment of parts, Marvel’s latest (by way of Sony) looks destined to do what only a spider can — namely, lure vast numbers of fans into its web.”

Mike Ryan at Uproxx gives the movie a 75. He writes, “It’s the giving season, so, sure, give us some fan service. But the story is still there (though the second act does start to feel a bit long) and I felt some actual emotion, even with all this chaos swirling around. And in the end Spider-Man: No Way Home somehow finds a way to keep it all together.”

Justin Chang at the Los Angeles Times gives the movie a 70. He says, “For all “No Way Home’s” vertiginous heights and precipitous drops, few things here shake you more fully than the anguished closeups of Holland, in which Peter’s genetically modified strength — and his all-too-human vulnerability — are on tear-soaked, grime-smudged display.”

Hoai-Tran Bui at Slash Film gives the movie a 70. She says, “If you poke too many holes in the narrative, Spider-Man: No Way Home starts to become undone. But if you take it at face value, it’s a sweet, moving swing of a “Spider-Man” film that (mostly) manages to land.”

Alsonso Duralde at TheWrap gives the movie a 70. He writes, “The most superheroic feat on display might be the film’s ability to keep human-sized emotions and relationships front and center even as the very fabric of time and space twists itself into knots.”

Rodrigo Perez at The Playlist gives the film a 67. He says, “Spider-Man: No Way Home is maximalist, chock full of familiar characters and callbacks, and sometimes all that greatest-hits reminiscing is diverting and and entertaining. But it’s also not very necessary, making for a very regressive, fan-service-y ‘Spider-Man’ legacy-sequel that’s overly nostalgic for its heydays.”

Katie Erbland at IndieWire also gave the film a 67. She wrote, “The road to the closing moments of “No Way Home” — both warm-hearted and heartbreaking — might have hit a few bumps, but the darkness is worth it. After all, when was the last time the third film in a franchise got audiences truly thrilled for what comes next?”

Robbie Collin at The Telegraph gave the film a 60. He wrote, “It is what these films always are – source material for its own advertising campaign – but in this instance, it’s little more, which might have been a problem if said campaign hadn’t already proven such a roaring success.”

Richard Lawson at Vanity Fair gave the movie a 60 as well. He said, “What I will say is that director Jon Watts handles this grand convergence of properties old and current with enough verve to almost sustain the long run of the film. But there’s so much brand Frankensteining to be done that there’s really no time for quirk and texture; much of the bounce and sparkle of the past two Holland films is lost.”

Benjamin Lee also gave the movie a 60 at The Guardian. He detailed, “It’s flawed for sure but still moves with more deftness than most (arriving after Eternals is a blessing for any Marvel film) and there’s an ending that suggests an awareness of its roots (post-credits scene aside), hinting at a promising way forward rather than back. Consider the curse of sorts sort of broken.”