Spider-man: Far From Home takes place after the snap and after the second snap when everyone was brought back. Spider-Man is having a hard time with Tony’s death. And he just wants to be a normal kid, but that is going to be too much. He has grand plans for his schools trip to Europe, getting closer to MJ and just enjoying life without the responsibility of being Spider-Man. But a phone call from Nick Fury changes that all as he has to team with Quentin Beck to defeat elementals that are destroying cities. How can Peter Parker balance being Spider-Man, but also just live his own life and not feel like he has all the pressure int he world?

This movie reminds me of Iron Man 2 in a good way. While I think they nail the bad guys better than they do in Iron Man 2, this movie is more about Peter determining what type of hero he is going to be. And it’s about him feeling and failing to live up to what he thinks Tony Stark would want him to be. And I think that it does a good job of that, you feel so much for Peter because of what has happened in Endgame, him losing his father figure in Tony Stark. It comes across that Peter almost feels guilty for it having happened, though there was nothing he could have done about it. You really get how much he’s missing him, and how much being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man reminds him of Tony. Obviously with the suit being Tony’s tech that’s a big thing. And you can feel him trying to escape that super hero pressure mantle and just be a teenager and tell MJ that he has a crush on her. And that is a fun theme to explore, the super hero who doesn’t want to be, or can’t be the hero that they need to be or the hero that they want to be.

The acting in this film really pulls it off. Tom Holland does a great job of being that nerdy teenager who is ready to make a quip to hide his emotions, but still have to confront them. We get to see a whole lot more of the nerdy side of Peter Parker in this movie, and it’s a lot of fun. And I’m not the biggest Jake Gyllenhaal fan, mainly because of his work when he was younger just wasn’t that interesting to me. But in the role of Quentin Beck, he does a very good job. You feel the emotions that he’s feeling and they all make sense. I wasn’t in love with the casting of him as Beck, but it turned out to be a really good choice. The rest of the cast is solid around them as well, but Gyllenhaal and Holland really shine in this movie.

Now, I’m not going to spoil anything, but this movie does tie into a lot of the other movies. Some of them you don’t get the payoff until the end credits, but it sets up a launching point going forward. Now, I don’t know how they are setting it up tot use them, but things change for Peter but also some other characters in unexpected ways. Homecoming definitely feels like an MCU movie, but that one doesn’t do much more than mess up the timeline for the movies, Far From Home, on the other hand is going to make differences going forward and they could be a big changes and stories for upcoming movies. So if you were thinking about putting this one off, I wouldn’t wait too long. Spoilers, I’m sure, already exist in abundance but they are only going to be become more common place, the further from the movie.

This movie isn’t perfect, and I need to think about where I rate it in Marvel movies, but it is really good. The main issues are that it sometimes is a bit heavy handed in it’s plot. The plot is well done, but sometimes it drives home a point a bit too long, or makes a point a bit too obvious. However, it does create one of the most complex villains in the MCU. I’d put the villain after Killmonger from Black Panther and Thanos from Infinity War/Endgame in terms of good villains in the MCU, which is awesome. I love a good villain to set off against a hero, and in this case, you get a good hero performance, something that I felt like we were lacking some in Black Panther.

Definitely check out this movie if you are a Spider-Man fan, if you are an MCU fan, you will most likely enjoy it. I don’t know that you need to have seen Endgame to know what is going on, but it would help make things a whole lot clearer. And I think what you’d miss does make the story stronger, but I think it would be possible to watch it without having seen the rest. I’m going to be figuring out where I rate it in the movies, coming up here soon, so that’ll be interesting to see, but for me, this is a definite top half Marvel film.

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Hanabi

Why? Hanabi is a fast game that works well for groups as small as two and plays up to four people. It is a deck of cards, and you could easily play it sitting on the ground or at a picnic table. It comes in a nice compact box, as it is a card game, and is fast to pick-up and difficult to master. It’s a memory based game where you can give clues to your fellow players about what cards they have in their hands, and they i n turn do that for you, as you try and complete a collection of fireworks. It is a fun and different game in that you can’t see your hand, so you need to remember and have a bit of luck.

Zombie Dice

Why? It’s another small game that comes in a tube that can easily fit into a couple holder. You are playing as a zombie trying to collect up thirteen brains. You draw three dice at random, roll them, and any brains you can keep and add to your collection, but you have to decide how much you want to push your luck. If you roll three shotgun blasts, you are dead(er) and the brains that you collected that round go away. It plays fast, the rules are simple, and anyone can pick it up. No table is needed just a flat enough surface to roll some dice. You could even play this in a car, just get a dice tray and you have a good safe spot to roll for your BRAINS!

Love Letter

Why? This game comes in a tiny little bag and you can easily fit it into your pocket. Waiting in line for a concert, but the gates don’t open for a bit? Sit on the ground and play a few hands of Love Letter. Now, Love Letter does come with some little cubes that can be used to help keep track of score, but people should be able to remember who is in the lead and who is trying to catch up. It’s a game of deduction and seduction as you work on eliminating the other players each round while trying to stay in the game and have the highest value character card at the end, so you can get your Love Letter to the Princess. It’s fast and easy to play and a lot of fun, definitely very high on my list of travel games.

Sushi Go!

Why? Sushi Go! is a game that I have not played yet, but having watched it on Table Top and given it to a friend who hasn’t brought it over to be played, it looks like a good game. You need a little bit of space as you draft cards to make sets and get the most points, but the box is compact and it would be an easy game to play while sitting on the ground, so you don’t need a table for it. The art is very cute, and  it’s a game that can require some strategy, but is very fast to play.

We Didn’t Playtest This

Why? It’s a very fast game and a small deck of cards. It is also a good game for if you are traveling with a large group. While some of the other games have player limits, We Didn’t Playtest This really doesn’t have those limits. The game goes so fast, and people get eliminated so quickly that you can play multiple rounds and just hope that everyone can get a turn in those games. It’s a silly game with odd rules and some fun expansions. I’d lean towards recommending We Didn’t Playtest This Legacy as that has lasting affects that continue from game to game that just make it weird.

Cards Against Humanity/Apples to Apples

Why? It’s a bunch of cards in a box, you don’t even have to take them out of the box to play, you just need to remember which side of the box you are drawing cards from. I went with both games here because if you are traveling with your family, you might be more apt to bring Apples to Apples. If you are traveling with your friends, Cards Against Humanity would probably be the preferred game. Both games work off of the same premise of someone is it, says a word or a phrase, and people have to try and get the person to pick the card that they lay down which can describe, be similar, just be funny, or just be oh so wrong when answering the question or matching up with the phrase.

There are a good number of games that you can take with you while you travel. What is your favorite game to bring in vacation?

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