The most anticipated movie to end the year 2021. Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the darkest, saddest, most emotionally draining entries in the MCU whilst still not losing sight of its humour and heart. Packed with action, emotion, and surprises, there is truly no dull moment in this cinematic masterpiece.

Stellar performances across the board are one factor of this. The new villains making their way into Peter's universe, particularly Wilem Dafoe's performance are excellent. They are given a new depth that was not explored in previous Spider-man films along with the nostalgia they bring. This is the root of Spider-man's success. Amidst the laughs and tears is a deep heartfelt empathy that felt like a missing ingredient in the preceding spiderman films. The empathy finds itself woven into the storyline in a way that doesn't feel overly didactic or pandering but instead truly drives home the ethos of Spider-man "With great power comes great responsibility" even when this can be burdensome at times.

This is also not a movie you should enjoy alone. The audience adds a whole other dimension. The gasp moments and the cheers (when an iconic Spider-man is brought back on screen) are just better in a collective experience. That is why we have cinemas. Saamresh, a student watching the movie with me commented "This movie is so special and the theatre experience makes it all so much greater. It brought tears to my eyes". No way Home also works best if you have seen the previous trilogies of Spider-man as only then you will understand and appreciate the prior characters' redemption. 

The sheer scale of Spider-Man No Way Home is wild. The vast majority of everything presented in this newest chapter works in such a way that you will leave the theatre both thrilled and counting down the moments until we see Peter again. As of December 30th, the movie is also Sony's highest-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office of $1.16B, already surpassing the grand total of its predecessor (Far from home) at $1.13B. It also has achieved top ratings from critics with an IMDb score of 8.9, the highest that any Marvel movie has ever achieved. 

Overall Spider-man: No way Home hits all the right notes as the MCU's latest title. Its impact on the universe as a whole as well as the overall emotional beats all feel earned. Everything about it will leave fans grinning ear to ear.