In a world where we have already had two different actors portraying the neighbourhood friendly web-slinger, you can understand why fans may have been skeptical about Tom Holland taking the reigns. But after his appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ fans were relieved at this charming and relatable portrayal of Spider-Man. Now with his standalone movie in the MCU, ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ proves that Marvel knows how to handle their comic-book characters best.
‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr., is the 16th entry in the MCU and easily the best ‘Spider-Man’ movie since ‘Spider-Man 2’.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has just completed his first mission with the Avengers and is now waiting around for his next assignment. Under the watchful eye of his mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), he tries to balance his time as a typical high-school student in Queens and being a superhero. But when a new villain (Michael Keaton) comes into play, Peter finds himself on the trail to prove that he has what it takes to be a superhero.
I know, yet another review for a movie that came out a few months ago. I’m sorry that I didn’t have the time to see all of these movies in their time at the cinema. But now I’ve seen them, including this, I’m ready.
HEY, HO, LET’S GO!
First of all, ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ is a f#^$&*@ great Marvel movie! From the hilarious opening scene that chronicles Peter and his time in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ to all the scenes with him in and out of the Spider-Man suit, this is some of the most fun you will have with a movie this year.
After seeing Tom Holland portray Spider-Man/Peter Parker in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ I was keen to see how he would go in his first standalone ‘Spider-Man’ movie. I can tell you that he nails the role so well that he has become my favourite portrayal of the web-slinger (Sorry Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, Tom is better). He manages to make Spider-Man the relatable superhero and makes us happy everytime he is on-screen. His friendship with Ned (Jacob Batalon) is also one of the best things to watch blossom over the course of the movie. Ned is a funny sidekick and also has one of the best jokes in the entire movie.
Laura Harrier was also great as Peter’s crush. Her character had a lot of development and I hope that she appears in the sequel. Zendeya was also another funny character in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ as a ‘friend’ of Peter and Ned. She was as funny as she was weird and I loved it. Of course, I should mention Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, who is also great to watch. Her protectiveness of Peter is another highlight in the movie and her portrayal as a younger Aunt May is a great addition to the MCU.
I should also mention that the use of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in this movie is handled with perfection. One of my biggest worries going in was that this was basically going to be ‘Iron Man 4’ but it’s not. He is only in a handful of scenes and he’s brilliant in each of those scenes. So a big thumbs up there.
One of the things the MCU usually struggles with is its villain. Usually, they are one-dimensional and never make a lasting impact on you (Except for Loki, he’s awesome). Thankfully, Michael Keaton as the Vulture is easily the best MCU villain since Loki. Michael brings out the humanity in this character and with the help of the great script (I’ll get to that in a minute), makes him a three-dimensional character that you’ll remember long after seeing it.
As I was saying, the script is great. Although it’s definitely not as zany and out there compared to some of the latest MCU movies (I’m looking at you Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok), this is one of their best yet. With some of the best MCU comedy ever, as well as amazingly written characters and a great plot twist, ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ is well written.
The directing from Jon Watts is also great. He makes a dramatic change in tone from the previous ‘Spider-Man’ movies as he decides to go on a more light-hearted note. This change in tone works great! Well, it definitely works a lot better than the serious nature of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ movies. With this, we get a much more relatable Peter Parker and just a fun movie in general.
The soundtrack is also great, as well as the bright cinematography, but I won’t go into much detail on this.
The only real negative I had with this movie is that it didn’t really feel like anyone was in danger. This is a typical problem I have with most MCU movies and it happens here too. I wish there was more intensity to the action scenes as they were more enjoyable than there were brutal and intense.
Overall, ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ is a great return for our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Although you don’t feel like any of the characters are in danger and it does reference other MCU characters a lot, it has amazing performances, well-written characters, and great direction. This is definitely one of the best MCU movies to date and is easily the best ‘Spider-Man’ movie since ‘Spider-Man 2’.
Rating: 4.2/5
andycritiques 