‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ 4K Ultra HD movie review

Even during a pandemic, movie audiences amassed in theaters to the tune of almost a $2 billion box office to appreciate Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest sequel starring comic bookdom’s beloved web-swinging wonder.

Now offered in the ultra-high definition disc format, Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Picture Home Entertainment, rated PG-13 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 148 minutes, $45.99) will dazzle home theater fans in a package boasting a character-loaded, heart-tugging story with incredible visuals and loads of extras.

Viewers will remember in the 2019 film that after Spider-Man’s fatal encounter with Mysterio, his secret identity was revealed and now ruining Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) life as well as his friends M.J. Watson (Zendaya), Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and Aunt May Parker (Marisa Tomei).

A distraught and surprisingly naïve Peter asks Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to tamper with the space-time continuum to make the world forget that he is Spider-Man. Of course, the spell goes wrong and instead of brainwashing the entire world, it creates a rift in the multiverse and everyone now ever associated with any Spider-Man in any dimension is now entering his realm.

Director Jon Watts and filmmakers offer the most clever of possible plot narratives as not only do villains from previous Spider-Man alternate film franchises show up to cause trouble but some very special familiar friends stop by to help Peter save his universe.

Comic book movie lovers and pop culture-salivating viewers will relish the return of such archenemies as Dr. Octopus aka Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin aka Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe) and Electro aka Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) as well as the blowhard news editor J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). All have been seen in previous Spider-Man film franchises from the 2000s.

Although I am sure most viewers probably already know about all of the surprises packed into this film, I will still keep the spoilers out.

I’ll just state that “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is by far one of the most entertaining additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as one of the most endearing superhero films ever made.

4K in action: Despite getting only an upscale from the 2K digital intermediate, the visuals come to crisp and colorful life, thanks to cinematographer Mauro Fiore capturing imagery via pixel-overwhelming 4.5K ARRI ALEXA cameras.

The results are details such as examining the finest of tentacled web threads shot from our hero, the swirling particles of Sandman forming and dissipating, the crackling bolts of Electro and, best of all, the sheen, soft dimpled cloth, beveled web and spider designs and metallic textures present in every iteration of Spidey’s traditional and high-tech costumes.

Colors explode when appreciating Dr. Strange’s spell casting that opens a void filled with purples and blues amid a fiery orange framework of his magic, or the equally saturated and twisted presentation of his Mirror Universe, or the simple beauty of an illuminated nighttime New York City skyline.

Best extras: Viewers get a collection of roughly 80 minutes of bonus content.

Featurettes, averaging seven minutes each, offer the choreographed effects magic of George Cottle; an appreciation of Tom Holland and his 7-year Spider-Man journey (with kind words from cast and crew); bringing three Spider-Man iterations to the screen; the return of Mr. Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange; how director Jon Watts orchestrated and evolved the trilogy (embracing a John Hughes vision); and an overview of the movie’s villains.

Best of the bunch are two, too-short roundtables: one with Mr. Molina, Mr. Defoe and Mr. Foxx talking about replaying their favorite villains and one with Mr. Holland, Mr. Garfield and Mr. Maguire talking about their Spider-Man experiences. Both segments feature plenty of laughs and geek-tingling moments.

Viewers also get a fleeting look at some Easter Eggs in the film (spotlighting Matt Murdock aka Daredevil’s appearance and pointing out a Kraven the Hunter silhouette seen in the rift); the choreography walkthroughs behind a pair of fight scenes; and J. Jonah going on a few rants.

Also, use the included code to access the movie digitally to find a special version of the film on the Amazon Prime streaming service. The dubbed “X-ray” version includes a cascading row on the left side of the screen that offers text facts and nostalgia nuggets as well as the cast names and images as they appear in scenes while the movie plays.