Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) (Movie Review)

 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” was intended as a starting point for a new live action films series centered around our favorite web-headed hero, and truthfully, I was on board with it. Unfortunately, it didn’t amount to more than one sequel, which got mixed reviews and made less money at the box office then any of its predecessors. Thus, the damage was done, the series was canceled, and it meant rebooting the franchise once again, which really annoyed me at first. I hated the thought of starting the hero’s story over again from scratch, for a third round, and in a very small-time span. 

The one difference between this third Spider-Man and his two predecessors is that he would be part of Marvels Cinematic Universe, and the thought of seeing him alongside the likes of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and The Hulk seemed promising. Tom Holland then made his triumphant debut as the wall crawler in the 2016 movie “Captain America: Civil War”, and even though he was only a side character, I immediately fell in love with this portrayal and instantly declared him my new favorite Spider-Man. The following year of 2017 saw the debut of “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, the first of the web-heads new series, and strait to the point … this was his best movie since 2004’s “Spider-Man 2”. While I wouldn't call this the absolute best Spider-Man movie, but it was a welcomed change-up for the character, with a fresh personality, and has its own distinct fun-factor different from previous outings. 

 

 Back in “Captain America: Civil War”, the young Peter Parker was recruited by Iron Man to go on a mission. However, he wasn’t just selected for his amazing powers, as Tony Stark saw a truly selfless young man who’s just trying to do whatever good he can, even if it’s only in small measures. Now eight months later, Iron Man wants to keep some distance from the web-head, not out of disappointment, or lack of caring, but because he views the young Spider-Man to be a potentially better hero then even himself. As such, he wants him to just keep looking out for the little guys and help those that the Avengers can’t always be there for. On the opposite side of this coin, the larger-than-life events of “Civil War” have left Spider-Man wanting to do more, go on bigger missions, and finally prove himself a worthy Avenger. Thus, when he discovers a small band of thieves selling illegal weapons laced with alien technology, he takes it upon himself to put a stop to their enterprise, but in doing so, he ends up causing more problems than he solves. To make matters worse, his actions against the weapons dealings lead to our hero confronting his first real enemy, a deadly winged scavenger called The Vulture. Caught in the middle is his High-school life, best friend, and a girl named Liz, whom he has a crush on. The first thing I loved about this premise is that while it’s the first in a new Spider-Man series, the story isn't a re-tread of the same formulaic origin tale.

 Before I get lost in the many wonderful details of the film, lets first look at the hero himself, Tom Holland as Spider-Man. While I do still have a lot of love reserved for Tobey Maguire’s portrayal of Peter Parker, and Andrew Garfield's entertaining presence as Spider-Man, Tom Holland shines across the board and is perfect as both aspects of the character. He’s full of energy, full of heart, and is brimming with personality. His age also plays a big part in bringing the character to life. 

Even the new costume, beyond looking great, added some structure to the narrative, he lets the novelty and features of this new suit go to his head, and he ends up becoming a little reckless. We eventually get to a point where Iron Man takes the suit away from him, which forces our hero to go back to this pathetic old costume that isn’t as flashy. Typically, the big moral for Spider-Man is “With great power comes great responsibility”, but this film conveys something completely original ... “If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it”. That was so refreshing, and poignant to the narrative of our hero's story. What I love most about this film is the simplicity, yet relevance of Spider-Mans story. “Spider-Man 2” was all about the sacrifices a hero has to make, while “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is about never losing sight of what made you a good man to begin with. On a side note, I absolutely loved all the added details of Spider-Mans suit, including the stealth drone, taser webs, web-wind and A.I voice with a built-in personality, curtesy of the always welcomed Jennifer Connelly.    

  Naturally one of my favorite things to talk about in a Spider-Man review is the villain, and this time it comes in the form of The Vulture played by Michael Keaton. I was initially skeptical about The Vulture as a villain, because the concept of an old man flying around in a bird costume always came off as silly to me. Much to my surprise, not only did The Vulture surpass my low expectations, but he also added something to the film that was very refreshing and unique. 

Whenever he flies off into the night, he doesn’t really act like a super-villain, he doesn’t have any evil goals, he thankfully isn’t another victim of a science experiment, he’s just a normal guy trying to make ends meet, and by scavenging weapons, he makes some coin to provide for his family. That was such a welcome concept for a villain, and while it didn’t excuse his actions, it did make me identify, and even sympathies with him on some level. The Vulture costume itself was a terrific upgrade from the comics, but it still kept the same feel of the character. There were also some striking visuals, especially seeing him perched on the roof of a building like a predator ready to swoop down and strike at his prey. Of course, Michael Keaton of Batman and Birman fame knocked my socks off in this role. He was menacing, intimidating, but also kind of witty, and theatrical. This is one case in which the villain didn’t need to rely on a cool costume design to come off as exciting, because every second Michael Keaton was on screen, he just owned the spotlight. I loved his energy, I loved how he just threw himself into this performance, and very naturally he fit the role.

  My personal favorite addition to this movie was the care and development of Peter Parkers High School world. I absolutely loved this setting, I loved the personality of it, I loved all the different students, teachers and how they played off each other. In essence, Peters high school setting became a living, breathing character in of itself, and it gave the movie its own special identity. Even the setting of Queens felt like a character, and I enjoyed all the little details, like Peter being a close friend with the manager of a small corner store. Speaking of friends, let’s talk about Peter’s high school buddies, who all add something special to the experience. 

Peter’s best friend Ned was a great addition, as he was charming, and I liked that he was the only one to know his secret identity. I really enjoyed Zendaya as the classmate “MJ”, who’s a socially awkward kid that no-one can figure out, and she’s always popping up at the most random places. At last, we have Peters high-school crush named Liz, and I really admired the simplicity of their relationship. I always felt that the previous movies shoved the romance in my face, while this relationship was still relevant, but kept to the side lines, and it just made me care more. There was something sweet about their brief interactions that made me genuinely want to see them get together. 

  Of course, one of the key ingredients to any Spider-Man film are the action scenes, and once again, this is where “Homecoming” stands apart from the other films in series. This time the action is framed more around desperate situations as opposed to straightforward fights with a villain. 

My favorite action set-piece of this movie is when Peter’s friends are trapped in an elevator at the top of the Washington monument, and we see Spider-Man desperately racing to the top to save them before the elevator supports give way. Truthfully, I was far more engaged just by watching Spider-Man attempt to scale this tall building in an effort to rescue his friends then most of his traditional battles. It was tense, suspenseful, and still featured all the cool acrobatics and fun you’d expect from the character. There's also a fun chase in which our hero is stuck in an area without any tall buildings to web-swing through, which was both funny and a unique situation that we’ve never seen him in before. The closest we get to a traditional Spider-Man action set-piece is the battle on the boat, which was cool, but truthfully, I didn’t like it as much as everything else that came before it. 

  While this movie absolutely works as a standalone Spider-Man movie, it also works great as part of Marvels Cinematic Universe. It’s all shown from a unique perspective as The Avengers aren’t the focus, yet we see the impact they made on the world around them. It’s so cool to see how the little people of the world view the superheroes that live among them, and one of my favorite little details was seeing a small group of schoolgirl’s discuses which Avenger they’d want to date. 

It’s a side of this cinematic universe never explored before, and it made this world feel all the more real as a result. The film also makes terrific use of a Captain America cameo by having him appear in several amusing little high school PSAs throughout the film. At last, this film absolutely nailed Tony Starks involvement in the film as a father figure to Peter, without making this an Iron Man crossover. The marketing certainly made it look like Iron Man would play a big part, but he’s thankfully seen sparingly in the film, yet contributes just enough to be relevant to our hero's story. It was almost like a passing of the torch, as Iron Man was the golden child of the MCU, the one who started it all, but Spider-Man was always Marvels mascot in the comics, and now the web-head is ready to be the new poster boy of the series.  

 We also have common Spider-Man movie clichés that are given an effective retooling in this film. For example, we eventually learn that The Vulture is also the father of Liz, the girl Peter Parker is crushing on. While the concept of someone close to Peter also having a tie-in with the villain has been done to death, it was the execution of this revelation that was so effective. 

The scene in which the Vulture gradually discovers Peter’s superhero identity was riveting, and it leads to one of the most unique conversations I’ve ever seen between a hero and villain that I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie. While he threatens Peter the same way any villain would, he also talks to him the way a dad would talk to a young man dating his daughter. I liked that he was grateful to Spider-Man for rescuing his little girl and genuinely wanted him to treat Liz to a nice date, but he also won’t hesitate to kill him if he interferes with his plans again. It’s such an interesting dynamic, and it makes this one of the best hero/villain relations of any Spider-Man movie thus far. 

I also loved how the Vulture keeps us guessing in regard to what he’ll do next knowing Spider-Man’s identity. We see him keep the secret to himself from other criminals, but we don’t know if it’s out of a new formed respect or if he’s got a personal vendetta. By the way, the criminal who approaches him is one Mat Gargan, who we comic fans know as The Scorpion, whose one of my favorite Spider-Man foes, and have been waiting to see in a movie for the longest time ... regretfully, this series made me wait even longer before we actually see him adorn his Scorpion armor. The Shocker is also present as a small B-Villain, which is okay, but not very memorable. 

 Even the climax is very unique, as it progressively builds, and covers a range of different locations. Things kick-off at the high school Homecoming dance, then escalates into a scuffle in the parking lot with Shocker, then a car chase to the Vultures base and the action just keeps building from there. This finale also replicates a famous moment from the comics in which Spider-Man is trapped under fallen rubble and emerges triumphantly. It's a well-acted scene but this feels like the wrong movie to replicate such a powerful moment from Spider-Man's legacy. It really should have been saved for a more serious film. Naturally, everything escalates into a big showdown in the sky, with a clocked ship being the main set-piece. It’s absolutely riveting, and it presents our hero with yet another unique challenge, as his powers are severely limited when combating the tense wind conditions. The two then wrap up their battle on the beach of Coney Island, which is effective enough, but personally, I’d have preferred the theme park itself as the setting as opposed to the beach. Still, this was still a riveting final battle that stands apart as a great one in the Spider-Man series.    

    

 In the end, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” doesn’t reach the same emotional highs, or even subtext present in other Superhero or Spider-Man offerings, but I still find it to be one of the most “fun” of the web-heads movies to date. It’s colorful, funny, exciting and effectively fits within Marvels Cinematic Universe, while never losing its identity as a standalone Spider-Man movie. Truthfully, Spider-Man was always the superhero of my childhood, and I don’t think any other Spider-Man movie has made me feel more like a kid again then this film did. Despite being limited on memorable battle scenes, it’s still a lot of fun, and just a real delight to experience. The cast is great, the villain is memorable, and it's a winning start to a new series. Let's just hope the sequels can maintain the same spirit and charm that makes “Homecoming” a strong entry in this lone running franchise.

Thanks for reading my review of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!   

Up Next a review of "Spider-Man: Far From Home"