Review: Spider-Man Homecoming Has, Uh, Come Home
- Jul 7, 2017
- 2 min read
After years of leaked emails, hype, theories, and last year's Captain America: Civil War, Marvel has their very own Spider-Man movie. In Tom Holland's second on-screen outing as Peter Parker, he delivers a perfect blend of the elements that make up this iconic character.
We've heard this story before - Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is an average high school nerd who secretly fights crime as Spider-Man. After Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) brings him into the Avenger's very own Civil War, and gives him his own technologically enhanced suit, Peter waits for months for his chance to flex his webs again. And then he stumbles across a gang of ATM thieves with high-tech weaponry that he must go against Iron Man's wishes to investigate.
It's nice to see an actor, writer, and director all just get what Spider-Man's about. By taking him back to high school, the team has a chance to explore the world that formed Peter Parker, and it does a stellar job doing so. The movie is quite obviously trying to set up this new world of characters, but it's so much less in-your-face than Sony's last attempt at a Spider-Man cinematic universe. Rather than cringing or not even caring, I actually enjoyed spotting Betty Brant as a high school reporter, or Mac Gargan as the Vulture's second buyer.
Which brings me to the villain - Adrian Toomes ( Michael Keaton) as the Vulture. Initially I was frustrated that the villain was looking like yet another mechanical version of a classic character (see ASM2's Rhino), but it really turned out for the best. There are some stunning shots and sequences featuring the mechanical wings, and the original look of both Vulture and Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine) stuck around through the jackets the characters wear. And of course, Keaton is a joy to see as Toomes, and a fairly sympathetic character at that.
The film may be one of my MCU highlights, but it isn't perfect. I'm torn about certain elements, such as the similarities Spider-Man's suit shares with the Iron Man armour, and a couple of minor plot twists towards the end. And don't even bother sticking around for the post-credits scene (the mid-credits scene isn't awful though). But Spider-Man Homecoming is hilarious, possibly the best Spider-Movie yet, and the plot was surprisingly good fun - the transition into Act Three of the movie is a clever surprise. Props to the actors and the writing team for their fantastic work.
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