Peter Parker has returned in front of our bespectacled eyes yet again, as Spider-Man: Far From Home is ready to throw Spider-Man headlong into a 3D adventure that could be quite as, if not more impressive than when he swung our way in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Which all ties into the landmark question of the moment: to 3D, or not to 3D?
If you’re curious as to what our feelings on the film are, you can head over to our official review to find out. Otherwise, put on your 3D glasses and grab your passport, because it’s time to see if Spider-Man: Far From Home delivers the third dimensional goods or if you’d be better off saving up for some modifications to your Spider-suit.
3D Fit Score: 5/5
Marvel at marvelous Marvel, baby. To put a movie like Spider-Man: Far From Home into a 3D conversion is printing money at this point. The visual thrills, and the unique action that accompany Peter Parker’s perils are natural fits for third dimensional enhancement.
Even in his everyday life, there’s enough going on in Peter’s everyday life, as well as his heroic double life, to make a potential 3D conversion worth the effort. With the right effort, you could have a stunning film on your hands.
Planning & Effort Score: 4/5
Overall, the planning and effort work on Spider-Man: Far From Home has lead a pretty bang-up job. When the film is at its best, the 3D thrills are nothing short of spectacular, as most common gripes about the medium are dispelled.
There are a couple of shots that break the total spell that the film casts on its audience, with those moments running in what looks like a 2D version of their contents. But on the whole, the work on display is impressive.
Before the Window Score: 4/5
Watching Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio display his powers alone makes Spider-Man: Far From Home’s efforts to break out of the screen worth it. There is a strong presence of assets being thrown at, projected towards and shot around the audience’s view of the action.
This is even more critical with the various segments of Peter Parker’s web-swinging antics, as well as his trademark web thwips, both of which are displayed at an impressive rate. If it wasn’t for those scenes that look totally 2D in execution, this would have been a perfect score.
Beyond the Window Score: 4/5
In a similar vein to how Spider-Man: Far From Home breaks through the window and into the audience, its ability to draw everyone’s focus into the background is something to behold as well. There’s near infinite depth in the images on display, making Europe and New York feel quite spectacular in scale.
But even in enclosed spaces, the depth between characters and their environments, as well as each other, is amazingly well drawn. Sadly, this is another score that lost a point, due to the 2D scenes that snuck into this otherwise amazing conversion job.
Brightness Score: 3/5
You probably saw this coming from a mile away with your Spidey-senses, but the screening of Spider-Man: Far From Home observed for this evaluation was really dim in presentation. Your mileage will vary from theater to theater on just how well the brightness factor holds up, as not every theater maintains its projection rig properly.
That was definitely the case in this screening, as Spider-Man: Far From Home was a pretty washed out affair, coated with more than the usual light grey dimming 3D glasses lend to a picture.
Glasses Off Score: 4/5
With the lack of brightness in a film like Spider-Man: Far From Home, there’s a lot of temptation to remove once glasses and look at the screen. Not only will you notice how much brighter the picture is, but you’ll also notice the blur that helps trick the brain into thinking it’s seeing a 3D image.
For Spider-Man: Far From Home, a lot of that blur resides in the background, using characters and their immediately present objects as a sort of 2D anchor point. The blur is strong enough to get the job done, as most of the film’s contents are 3D ready. But those couple of scenes that felt like 2D images contained very little to no blurring whatsoever.
Audience Health Score: 5/5
For as fast as the action plays in the critically acclaimed Spider-Man: Far From Home, the visuals are still pretty smooth to watch as it all unfolds. The usually problematic quick panning shots aren’t as present in this film, and there’s only a minor bit of wonkiness in one shot towards the end of Peter’s big third act battle.
However, it’s the dimmed brightness that this screening possessed that knocks this score down to its current levels. If you’re watching that dark of a picture for an extended period of time, your eyes are going to feel tired.
Spider-Man: Far From Home continues Sony’s impressive work with 3D effects, providing some primo visuals and a clear understanding of the medium. But there are points to be docked for leaving some pieces of the film virtually untouched, and the brightness issue should be crucial to your decision to see this film in 3D.
With this caveats in mind, there’s a lot of wow factor for you 3D devotees to indulge in. So if you have a particular theater you trust to maintain their equipment, then you should most definitely check this one out.
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Be sure to visit our full To 3D Or Not To 3D Archive.
