*Directed by Jon Watts
*Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Marissa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Tony Revolori, Laura Harrier, and Donald Glover
The Plot: Taking place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker is dealing with his personal life in high school as well as feeling out his abilities as Spider-Man. He's really shaping himself into becoming the hero people will eventually know and love and at the same time is trying to prove he can be a strong, responsible hero under the eye of Tony Stark, so that one day Peter can help serve with the Avengers. In the midst of all this Adrian Toomes aka the Vulture plans an operation with his team in order to obtain certain objects in possession of a secret organization under the Avengers and now Spider-Man must come in to prevent such events from happening.
It's been an interesting history with the Spider-Man film franchise because just when films after Raimi's Spider-Man 2 had promise they honestly didn't and when they tried to wipe the slate clean after the 3rd film with the two reboot films it got progressively worse and worse. Would I have loved to see a good continuation of Raimi's Spider-Man series? Absolutely, but instead if the plan is to reboot the character again I'd rather see the reboot done right and, perhaps, remind me why I love these characters and this world ever since I saw Raimi's first two Spider-Man movies.
Well considering I saw the first rebooted series do it wrong, which still hurts, a joint partnership between Sony and Marvel was in effect and there was definitely a great hint in Civil War that things were heading in the right direction for this character. Thankfully that is the case for this entire movie because Spider-Man Homecoming is everything I could have ever hoped for in a great Spider-Man movie.
Guys, I can't tell you how refreshing it is that I live in a world where I can leave right now and pay to see a great Spider-Man film in the theater as I'm writing this. It could be easy to say such things because I, personally, hated both Amazing Spider-Man movies and felt that this franchise deserved better instead of becoming a processed money making machine for Sony that doesn't feel like a movie rather than a great film that's still successful. One of the reasons why I felt this movie hit was because Peter Parker himself added so much weight and humanity to this entire movie.
I love Tom Holland as this incarnation of the character because he truly nailed the characteristics of someone in their youth who is trying to be the best at something he's passionate for and in this case it was being Spider-Man. He doesn't want someone else to put him down like Tony and take that away from him because it has meaning for him as he's trying to find himself as a person with the hero factor. There were also great moments of Peter questioning himself in regards to if he really deserved to be this hero.
It felt a little reminiscent to the troubles Peter was dealing with in Raimi's Spider-Man 2, but the film gave us a fresh version of Spider-Man that showcased a younger character dealing with these personal matters. It was at a time where he was still trying to understand what it takes to become a hero. For that reason I cared so much about how Peter succeeded in this movie and I think it was one of my favorite character arcs showcased out of all the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I also liked how different it felt compared to other Spider-Man movies in terms of how the film's screenplay was written and how flawlessly Holland executed that aspect in his performance.
Aside from Peter, I felt the other characters were just as strong in terms of being fantastic side characters to complement Peter himself. Jacob Batalon as Peter's best friend Ned was so hilarious and had a fun bond with Peter that I very much enjoyed seeing play out. Marisa Tomei was also a great supporting character in Aunt May. There was a great relationship there that you felt for. Zendaya as Michelle was a bizarre and unpredictable character, which made her also very hilarious and for that reason another very enjoyable character. Robert Downey Jr is obviously pitch perfect as Tony Stark, so there's not a whole lot to say that hasn't already been said about that performance. Also, don't worry Iron Man does not overshadow Spider-Man at all and is a side character that served well for the scenes he was in and not present for a majority of the film just a select few emotional key scenes.
Jon Favreau is always fun as Tony's assistant Happy, but I think the other truly engaging performance and big surprise for me was Michael Keaton as Vulture. I didn't necessarily think he was going to be bad in this film. I just didn't know what to expect. I think he was one of the best portrayed villains I've seen in a comic book film as of recent and I have a feeling he'll be one of the underrated ones. I really bought into his motivations and once you learn more about his character and those layers are pealed back it just made him more and more compelling as certain events played out.
As for the look of the film there were scenes where it harkened back to the style of a 80s/90s coming of age high school film, but in the end the turnout was more along the lines of being that lighthearted comic book movie like other Marvel movies. And that by no means makes the film demeaning in quality. I felt that worked for this Spider-Man movie because I've seen great grounded Spider-Man movies in Raimi's first two, but this time around to have it purely a little more fun and hilarious in the vibe of an Avengers or Iron Man movie was more than welcome in my book. It was a great little shift and I appreciated it for that reason.
Like any other Marvel it never fails on looking incredibly astounding from a visual perspective with always flawless visual effects to complement such well crafted action sequences. To be honest I think this movie had one of my favorite climaxes compared to other movies in the entire Marvel franchise. I was on the edge of my seat and the aftermath of such events was so satisfying that I couldn't help burst with joy as soon as the film ended. Also, the after credits scenes for this movie were pretty great, especially the one at the very end. That may have been the funniest one I've ever seen.
The only issue I can think of that's incredibly minute is that since this film is very high energy especially in the first act I felt that section of the movie's pacing was a little uneven. It felt a hair too quick that I just wanted to breathe as things got started. I felt as the film progressed there were more scenes that made me feel a little more in the moment, but other than that small gripe there's nothing I can say about Spider-Man Homecoming that didn't disappoint.
It looks and sounds great as it needed to be as a major standard in the summer blockbuster season, but more importantly this was a superhero movie that had heart to it and characters with purpose that didn't just turn into another mindless cash grab. Spider-Man Homecoming is everything you could ever want out of a great comic book film and so far some of the most fun I've had all year.
Verdict: A
Come to think of it saying this film is refreshing as far as incarnations of Spider-Man go is probably an understatement because I couldn't be happier with the end result of this movie. Definitely give Spider-Man Homecoming your time of day because this movie deserves it. I had so much fun watching this film in the summer season and in some ways reminds me why I love to see movies because of the amount of fun energy.
Stay tuned next week for my review of War For The Planet Of The Apes, which is one of my Top 3 most anticipated films of the year so far and speaking of most anticipated films Dunkirk is also right around the corner. I won't be seeing that film until the week after Apes, but in honor of its release I'll be releasing a Director's Ranked List Retrospective for Christopher Nolan's filmography similar to what I did for M. Night Shyamalan back in January before Split. Be on the lookout for those posts next week and for more updates follow me in the social media links below. Also, if you're curious about my thoughts on the previous Spider-Man movies links will be provided as well:
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Thank you as always for taking the time to read this review and have a great time with Spider-Man: Homecoming! You won't be disappointed! See some movies and all that good stuff!
Take care. :-)
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