I reviewed the much-anticipated NO WAY HOME when it came out last December, and watching it again I was still immensely entertained, even though I am one of the first to admit that I am pretty tired of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. The recent DR. STRANGE picture, which is connected to this one, was a reminder of all of the sameness, but here in the SPIDER-MAN world there’s a lot of fun to be had with the adventures of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) at wits with the multi-verse, other Peter Parkers and all of the villains from the previous movies that you can handle!
The MCU may be on overflow right now, yet something about the SPIDER-MAN series still makes me feel like a kid again and are far more accessible to mainstream audiences. You could even go into NO WAY HOME pretty unfamiliar with the entire 25+ film series and not be totally confused about the goings-on. Though seeing all of the movies DOES help, of course.
About the 4k release:
I saw NO WAY HOME in a 4k digital presentation along with seeing it again in an IMAX presentation where the image was “full-screened” to the digital IMAX dimensions of 1.90:1. I absolutely preferred the scope 2.39 framing yet again which is what the filmmakers framed the movie for the majority of its release.
Here, this transfer on disc retains its original 2.39 aspect ratio, in which the movie was composed for. With recent releases on 4k like DUNE, I quite prefer keeping the intended ratio instead of lots of dead-air at the top and bottom of the screen. That effect works better if you are directly in an IMAX auditorium, of course, but on a Home Screen the wide framing is more of the actual vision of the movie and your eyes lock right in on the image.
Overall, the image is pretty outstanding from start to finish. Like with most Marvel movies this is shot digitally and some sequences certainly do show it, especially a lot of interior scenes like an early one inside Peter’s apartment where some noise is apparent. But when it cuts to the outside action it really shines. The best sequence on the 4k disc is the bridge/Doc-Ock fight with very strong colour and detail. Fans of the film and ultra-high definition presentations will be very pleased with this disc.
The soundtrack is in full Dolby Atmos (which was 7.1 on my home system) and there’s a very loud presence at times, strong surrounds throughout and clear dialogue. It’s pretty much what you would expect, and as always be sure to play it loud!
On the special features front, all loaded onto the included Blu Ray disc of the movie, it is mostly production featurettes on the movie, which are pretty standard along with bloopers, a gag reel and a few other odds and ends. I didn’t really feel it added much overall to the presentation and I would have LOVED a commentary by Jon Watts on discussing this popular trilogy. For reference, the full list of features:
- Bloopers & Gag Reel
- Alternate Reality Easter Eggs
- 7 Behind the Scenes Featurettes
- Action Choreography Across the Multiverse
- A Multiverse of Miscreants
- A Spectacular Spider-Journey with Tom Holland
- Enter Strange
- Graduation Day
- Realities Collide, Spiders Unite
- Weaving Jon Watt’s Web
- 2 Special Panels:
- The Sinister Summit – Villains Panel: Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx sit down for a roundtable discussion of their sinister characters.
- A Meeting of the Spiders – Heroes Panel: The Heroic Spider heroes sit down for a roundtable discussion on Peter, Stunts, and skintight suits.
- 3 Stories From The Daily Bugle
- Spider-Menace Strikes Again
- Spider Sycophant
- Web of Lies
- 2 Stunt Scenes Previsualization
- Apartment Fight
- Shield Fight
There is also a digital copy included, yet in Canada it only redeems to 1080 HD in Google Play, as do all Sony titles in Canada. I seriously hope Sony/Columbia titles eventually can be redeemed or upgraded in 4k on Google in the future as this would be a great way to have a backup copy of the movie digitally.
Also recently revealed was an IMAX re-release in September for a newer version of the picture called THE MORE FUN STUFF VERSION with added and extended sequences. I am curious if a newer 4k release will come down the pipe, and this will be a lot of fun to see on the big screen again. For now, this 4k disc is highly recommended as a single purchase, and it’s also available now as a trilogy disc of all three movies.
SPIDERMAN: NO WAY HOME is now available on 4k disc and in all Digital formats. Many thanks to Sony and Taro PR for sending along a copy for review.