'Spider-Man: No Way Home' finds the sweet spot in Marvel's multiverse

After the lengthy buildup, array of teases and alleged leaks, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" impressively lives up to the hype, delivering the kind of unabashed big-screen fun for which theaters have been hungering. Briskly balancing a dizzying assortment of parts, Marvel's latest (by way of Sony) looks destined to do what only a spider can -- namely, lure vast numbers of fans into its web.

Perhaps foremost, this third entry in the series (again directed by Jon Watts) is extremely funny, while providing enough callbacks to the character's screen history to qualify as a graduate-level course on the subject. The extent to which viewers come armed with that knowledge will surely enhance their enjoyment, but the movie has been structured carefully enough that two decades of Spider-Man viewing isn't necessarily a prerequisite.

Picking up where the previous "Far From Home" left off, poor Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has had his identity revealed, throwing his life into utter chaos. That includes being hounded by the Daily Bugle's J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), whose crusading shtick has received an identifiable upgrade for the digital age.