SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING review

Spider-Man has had a very wild cinematic life. Since 2002 there are now 3 different versions of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. While there’s a lot to like in both Sam Raimi’s and Marc Webb’s versions of Spider-Man (I think Raimi had better movies but Andrew Garfield in Webb’s was the better Peter and Spider-Man), I don’t think either versions really got the complete package. Most recently, Sony really messed up with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which was way too busy trying to set up an extended universe than making a good movie. Fans voiced how disappointed they were and as a result, Marvel and Sony came up with a deal to allow the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to join Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. And he made his appearance in Civil War and people lost their minds.

I’ll just get it out of the way, this is the best Spider-Man yet. It’s not even a question. Most people claim Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 is not only the best Spider-Man but one of the best superhero movies of all time. I used to agree with that until I rewatched it recently and realized that a lot of things in that movie are just silly or don’t make any sense. But I digress. Spider-Man: Homecoming the best Spider-Man movie and one of the best in the MCU.

One of the best things Homecoming has going for it is we don’t have to do the whole origin story again. Everyone already knows Spider-Man’s origin so we do not need to go through it again. We’ve already established Peter and Spider-Man in Civil War so we can move on from there. And it works. Spider-Man has been around for a while. The people of New York are kind of bored of it already. I love how people in New York see Spider-Man, call out to him, then just go back to their daily lives. As much as I like the majority of the MCU movies it is refreshing to not have to go through yet another “this is how the hero became the hero.”

How this also helps Homecoming is it takes out a lot of the moodiness and depression out of a Spider-Man movie. Peter Parker has a tough life. His story is filled with death and dread. But Peter does a great job of maintaining a happy-go-lucky outlook on life. And FINALLY we get that in a movie. Peter is stoked to be Spider-Man. He loves it. It’s a great juxtaposition to the majority of the MCU who feel their powers are either a burden, a curse, or just something they don’t want. Nothing is more exciting to Peter than being Spider-Man. And it makes it fun for us to watch Peter be Spider-Man.

This also plays into Peter’s character arc. We must remember, Peter is still in high school. And he actually looks like he’s a high schooler. In a school that feels like a real high school with other kids who feel like real high school kids. Peter is a kid with these incredible powers that he doesn’t yet have the maturity to know how to handle it. Then you add in the suit that Tony Stark gave him in Civil War and you’re giving a kid the keys to a Ferrari before he even got his driver’s license. And Peter makes mistakes. He’s so eager to help out that he doesn’t realize that he is just a kid and in way over his head. This does lead him getting into some serious trouble and puts others in danger. Luckily, Tony is there to help out a few times. Luckily this doesn’t feel like it’s forced. It’s set up quite nicely and does work quite well.

Speaking of Tony, one thing a lot of people were worried about was how involved Tony Stark and Ironman would be in Spider-Man’s movie. This is supposed to be Peter’s movie but the trailers were showing an awful lot of Tony. I’m happy to say that Tony is in here just enough. Since we aren’t getting yet another Uncle Ben, Tony Stark has become the new fatherly figure in Peter’s life. It works incredibly well not just in the bigger picture of the MCU but for this movie on its own. At no point does Stark’s presence become overbearing or intrusive. He only shows up when he needs to and leaves no later than his welcome demands. It’s easily the best use of character crossover used in the MCU yet. Same goes for the Captain America videos the high school uses. Those were quite brilliant.

What isn’t so brilliant is the use of the love interest. Actually, the love interest is used well, but the love interest herself is pretty boring. It’s not a knock on the actress who plays Liz, she does a fine job. It’s just that she doesn’t have much personality and she’s really only in the movie to be motivation for Peter. There is a well-written female character, Michelle played by Zendaya, who might be my favorite character. But she’s barely in the film. She pops up every now and then to make a snarky quip and give some nice relief to a scene. I’m pretty sure she will be a bigger part of future Spider-Man films. In fact, I’ll put money on that.

One of the biggest problems in the MCU has easily been the villains. Take a moment and try to describe a villain from the MCU. Other than Loki. Go ahead. I’ll wait…

Spider-Man: Homecoming finally gives the MCU a good villain. Adrian Toomes, played fantastically by Michael Keaton, is not only a very menacing villain but he’s relatable. You understand him and what he’s trying to do and even sympathise with him in a way. He’s an everyman. A guy who was just trying to make an honest living before things are taken away from him and he’s forced to go in an unfortunate direction. And without giving too much away he single handedly gives one of the most tense scenes in the entire MCU.

I’ve been praising this movie a lot but I do have one really big complaint. There’s a really annoying cliché where if character just listened to someone than something bad could have been avoided. There are two really big set pieces that could have been completely avoided had someone just listened to Peter’s warning. I hate this cliché so much. They do have a nice flip on this for one set piece, but it also suffers from lack of communication between characters. So, 3 of the big set pieces could have been completely avoided had characters actually listened to each other.

Other than that, my other main grip is that at no point did I feel a strong emotional moment that sucked me in. But I did feel at time that Spider-Man was in genuine trouble. I had enough emotional investment to care about the characters. Just enough. But most of all Spider-Man: Homecoming knows how to have fun. The action is well staged and exciting if a tad overblown in the finally with some slightly distracting physics issues (they establish something then immediately forget about it less than 2 minutes later) and the comedy is gut-busting. I can remember 3 big moments off the top of my head that had the entire theatre roaring.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is my favorite Spider-Man movie yet and one of the best in the MCU. It’s a near perfect Spider-Man film even if it has some slight missteps. But almost everything is forgivable since there’s so much charm and it’s just a blast to watch. I saw it in IMax 3D but the 3D really didn’t add anything to the film. Nor did the IMax format. There were a few IMax sequences but I don’t think it really helped the film much. I can’t wait to see this again. Definitely going to make my top 10 this year. Quite possibly my top 5.

9.5/10