Our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is back in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Shortly after the events of Endgame, an event the students at Midtown call “The Blip”, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is preparing for a few weeks of not being Spider-Man as him and his classmates embark on a two week field trip in Europe. Peter’s plans on the trip include having fun with his friends and telling MJ (Zendaya) how he feels about her. It’s what an ordinary high school kid would do.

It’s not long before Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) interrupts Peter’s plans. Fury needs his help to stop beings from a different reality, known as the Elementals, from destroying Earth. That’s when Peter is introduced to Beck aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), a man from one of the many realities in the Multiverse. Beck’s faced the Elementals before and wants to help Nick Fury and Spider-Man defeat them.

Poor Peter wants to spend time with his crush and tour Europe. Instead, he’s roped into the saving the world again and trying the fill the shoes Tony Stark left behind.

Far From Home is a blast. It’s a high school romance movie with superhero sequences sprinkled throughout. Zendaya and Tom Holland have incredible onscreen chemistry. Zendaya is a great quirky MJ. She’s just the right amount of awkward with the perfect quick-witted responses to make MJ standout in this sequel.

Holland continues to be the best Spider-Man. He’s believable as a nerdy high school kid mustering up the courage to tell his crush how he feels. He’s also believable as a graceful superhero trying step up and be an Avenger. Even when Holland isn’t in the suit, Peter talking about the weight of being superhero feels authentic in a way it hasn’t with previous actors. He has a great scene with Happy (Jon Favreau) discussing how much he misses Mr. Stark. It’s a teary-eyed heartfelt scene that fits perfect with the character and the film.

Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic as Mysterio. The script allows for Mysterio to have a much more layered back story and for Gyllenhaal to be as animated as he wants to be. It was good to see Gyllenhaal finally make an appearance in a Spider-Man movie and it was well worth the wait.

Marvel Studios does a brilliant job of tying their films together and making them feel like one continuous story. There are threads from Endgame and previous Marvel movies all  throughout this film. It’s a crafty way to keep audiences involved and feeling like there’s a payoff for investing in these stories.

Aside from the great performances and engaging story, Far From Home has some of the best Spider-Man action scenes. There are sequences that are peeled right from the  comic books. The third act has a few scenes that are as intense as they are imaginative. Director Jon Watts does an amazing job capturing the feel of the Spider-Man comics and plastering it on the big screen. The story is always moving and is the perfect balance of action and comedy.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is an excellent follow up to Endgame and a the perfect sequel to Homecoming. Everything is bigger and better. It’s a skillfully told story that showcases Holland and Zendaya’s acting and onscreen chemistry. Holland could play Spider-Man until he’s 40 and everyone would be OK with it. The two post credit scenes leave the door wide open to whatever challenges will be facing Peter Parker next.

Grade: B+