The short review - Spider-Man: Homecoming is great, definitely the
best Spidey movie overall and it sits comfortably within the top 5 MCU (Marvel
Cinematic Universe) movies. This is due to the film delivering the truest
version of the character on the big screen we’ve seen, together with a truly
great coming of age story.
Before I go in to more detail I’d like to give a bit of context to
my Spider-Man fandom… Spider-Man is my joint favourite superhero (Batman being
the other). I’ve read a lot of the comics but primarily my love started with the
90s animation, which I watched religiously as a child. In terms of the films, I
really enjoyed the previous incarnations, however both have issues.
The first two Raimi Spider-Man films had great stories, but the
main problem I had with these films is that I never really warmed to Tobey
Maguire’s version of Peter Parker or Kirsten Dunst’s version of Mary-Jane. The
less we say about Spider-Man 3 the better…
The rebooted “Amazing” films were almost the exact opposite, they
had a great central relationship with Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey (played by
the very likeable Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone). Yet the stories were all
over the place, with gapping plot holes and inconsistencies. If it wasn’t for
the great performances and chemistry between Garfield and Stone these films
(especially the second) would be almost unwatchable.
So this brings us on to Spider-Man: Homecoming, which has the best
of both; a great story and interesting likeable characters.
Let’s dig into the details…
Peter Parker is the soul of any Spider-Man film, and in my opinion
Tom Holland is the definitive version that most closely resembles the character
from the source material. He balances the socially awkward / geeky personality
traits, whilst still being charismatic and likeable. He’s great to watch, owns
every scene he’s in and never gets upstaged by the more experienced actors
around him.
The fact this movie is mostly set in or around High School also
means Peter finds himself in situations much more in keeping with the original
stories, i.e. being late to class, having to leave a party early, fighting
petty crime after a day at school, etc. It really is the Spider-Man you read in
the comics come to life, balancing academics, friendships and his superhero alter-ego
antics. But would you expect anything less from a film made by Marvel Studios?
You could argue that the other characters are less faithful to the
comics, Vulture / Adrian Toomes being a prime example; No longer a frail and
old billionaire, here we have the everyman just trying to get by. Flash Thompson
is no longer the jock, but a rich arrogant nerd. Aunt May is now young and feisty,
etc. Yet, it all just works and services the story.
Although the film doesn’t tell the traditional origin story, we
are still early in Spidey’s career. To compare it to a famous Batman story,
this is very much Spider-Man: Year One. Peter is still learning his way around
his powers, how and when to do the right thing, and all whilst trying to
balance his personal life.
The action scenes are also great, but very different to how we’ve
seen Spidey before. There are no huge swinging by sky-scrapper type sequence
(which I missed a little as I loved them), they are grounded in (some form) of
reality, with Peter being forced to run when he can’t get a decent height to swing.
However this works, as this is a new hero, he’s learning the ropes (literally).
Disappointingly, the two stand out sequence have mostly been
revealed in the trailers (Washington Monument and the Stanton Ferry). That
being said there was a lot more Spider-Man going about town tackling petty
crime, which was great. I loved this type of stuff in the comics and the
previous films always skimmed over it. I was surprised that the climax didn’t feature
the proper Spidey suit, but this does fit with the overall themes of the movie
so it works well.
There’s great comedy throughout, with a mix of witty dialogue,
character interaction and physical / slapstick humour. I particularly enjoyed
when Spider-Man sneaks up on a few bank robbers yet takes time to consider what
pose he should be in before he alerts them. These few seconds build so much
character and understanding of our hero’s motivation, it’s fantastic. The film
is filled with stuff like this.
I really liked how the villains fit into the story. The Vulture’s
motivations were developed effectively and the fact he was fully formed within
the opening minutes work well for the film – it meant no time was wasted
setting up his origin so we could focus of Peter. Likewise the side villains of
the Shocker and the Tinkerer also worked well by having them all be part of the
same group from the start.
The links with the MCU (of which there are quite a few) feel very
organic to the story, and never feel shoe-horned in.
The fact I’ve yet to mention Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, really
says it all. Despite what the marketing would have you believe, this is truly a
Spider-Man film. It just happens to have an Iron Man cameo – in no way is it a
team up movie. The relationship between Peter Parker and Tony Stark is a main
part of the story and drives many of Peter’s decisions, however it’s minimal in
terms of actual screen-time between the two. All of Tony Stark’s scenes (apart
from one) are in the trailer. Happy Hogan actually gets the most of the screen
time and acts as a liaison between the two.
I could write more, but I think that’s the main points covered.
In summary – I loved it.
9.5/10
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