SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017) - The best one in 13 years

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the sixth in the long line of Spidey movies. The film is directed by Jon Watts and stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, John Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, and Robert Downey Jr., and follows Peter Parker as he undergoes his first "real" mission after the events of Civil War despite Tony Stark's objections while balancing his personal life and superhero life.

I'll just come right out and say this is easily the best Spider-Man movie in 13 years. While it's not quite as good as the original Spider-Man and doesn't even come close to challenging the incredible Spider-Man 2, it's still much better than the three movies that have come since. Tom Holland absolutely won me over (to my surprise) and might be even better than Tobey Maguire. While the movie isn't amazing by any stretch, it honestly did surprise me with just how much fun I had watching it.

The Story

The best compliment I can give Homecoming is that it feels just as if you're reading a Spider-Man comic. While Sam Raimi's films have worked great as films, this movie genuinely feels like Spider-Man comics set on the big screen. It's difficult to explain to someone who hasn't read the comics before, but it gives me a warm and familiar feeling every time a beat or scene in the movie plays out and I could almost imagine myself reading it as if in a comic book. There are even several visual references to the comics which made my inner nerd very happy (the part where you see half of Spider-Man's mask reflected with half of Peter's face being my personal favorite).

The movie is very much an origin story, just skipping the part where he gets his powers. It's a coming-of-age story that shows Peter learning how to be a superhero. He screws up pretty often in the movie, sometimes to hilarious effect (ever wondered how Spider-Man would have to travel if he didn't have tall buildings to swing from?).

The plot itself plays really safe and can feel pretty formulaic, although this isn't really a bad thing. It feels very much like a high school teen movie--a refreshing change in pace from past superhero movies we've had. Part of Spider-Man's appeal is that no other superhero has to balance their personal and superhero lives quite like he does, and it's a blast to watch Peter having to sneak away from his friends to change into Spidey and fight crime, or to see him mess up his obligations to friends and family due to troubles as Spider-Man (both of which are classic tropes in Spider-Man comics that we sadly don't see enough of in the movies).

My biggest complaint is that the movie never really reaches the emotional depths present in previous Spider-Man movies--Spider-Man 1 had the absolutely brutal scene near the end where the Green Goblin crushed and pummels Spider-Man almost to his death and Spider-Man 2 had that godlike train sequence. Homecoming does try to come close, but never quite reaches that level of emotion or awe. And while you might say it's unfair that I'm judging this movie so much on the previous ones, I feel that I have to because we've gotten some pretty bad Spider-Man movies these past thirteen years and I know just how good they have the potential to be.

Another thing I didn't like was the scene where the ferry splits in half. It looks amazing in the trailer, but the scene itself is actually kind of boring in the movie and feels very forced in. I honestly believe that scene was just put in so we could have that cool shot in the trailer.

Yeah this? Really wasn't that cool in the movie. 

The Characters

As I've mentioned before, Tom Holland is fantastic and might be the definitive Peter Parker/Spider-Man for me now. Tobey Maguire was great, but his portrayals of Peter and Spider-Man weren't as accurate to the comics. Andrew Garfield didn't even feel like Peter or Spidey and I've already wiped him from my memory. Tom Holland's Peter is simultaneously awkward and lovable while his Spider-Man does feel very genuine to the original source. I was still iffy on him back in Civil War but I'm glad to say he's doing a great job with the character and I hope to see more of him in future movies. However, I really didn't buy the fact that he was a loser in high school. It's frequently mentioned that Peter is not popular in school and doesn't have many friends, and yet throughout the whole movie he is shown to be fairly charming and sociable. Even the academic decathlon team he's a part of seems to like him as a person and have high respect for his brains, so I don't really get how he's supposedly unpopular.

Michael Keaton plays the Vulture, the first truly grounded supervillain we've had in a long time. He's not a godly alien or a mercenary trained from birth or a high-ranking business/government official greedily trying to amass high-tech weapons; he's just a regular man who happens to be an illegal arms dealer (albeit alien arms). Interestingly, this is Keaton's third outing as a bird-themed character--he's previously played Batman in Tim Burton's classic Batman and Batman Returns as well as the Academy award-winning Birdman. Needless to say, he dominates every scene he's in and can be quite terrifying when he wants to be. He gets a couple minutes of backstory along with a very unexpected twist halfway through that sets him apart from other generic villains and gives him a more personal connection with Spider-Man that I quite enjoyed. In many ways, he reminds me of the Green Goblin in the first Spider-Man.

Ultimate Spider-Man's Ganke Lee vs Homecoming's Ned Leeds

Most of the movie really is only about Peter and the Vulture, so while the supporting characters don't really do that much throughout the movie, they do provide a solid support. Unlike the trailers, Tony Stark really isn't in the movie much (which I was very relieved to find) so there's no risk of him taking the spotlight away from Peter. Jacob Batalon's character of best friend Ned Leeds is fun and reminds me a lot of Michael Peña's character in Ant Man. The way he fanboys over Spider-Man and the Avengers is funny (and honestly what we'd all do if we were in his shoes anyway) and he plays great support later in the movie as the Alfred to Peter's Batman. I am a bit annoyed though because Ned Leeds in the comics is a completely different character and the one in the movies is clearly based on a character the Ultimate Spider-Man comics named Ganke Lee. I really don't see why they felt the need to name him Ned rather than just sticking to Ganke but whatever.

Other side characters from Peter's school are tweaked from the comics a bit. Liz Allen is black rather than blue eyes, blonde haired. Flash Thompson isn't a white jock, but now a rich, smart Guatemalan kid who still bullies Peter but on a less cartoony scale (interestingly he's taken to calling him "Penis Parker" instead of the classic "Puny Parker"). Betty Brant is no longer Peter's first girlfriend/coworker from the Daily Bugle but is now just another student at Midtown High. Marisa Tomei's Aunt May is--as we've seen already--much younger than she was in the comics, but I don't mind this either. These changes might bother some but I really don't care. What's important is whether or not they stay true to their character, and that's all that really matters to me. For example, if J. Jonah Jameson had been introduced as Peter's kind and happy principal, THEN we'd have a problem.

Zendaya's character "Michelle" has been a mystery every since she was first announced and we all guessed that she'd be a black Mary Jane, which both Marvel and Zendaya herself had adamantly denied. Whether she is or not, I won't spoil for you, but I will say she is pretty much just an extra despite literally being in the middle of the poster. She really doesn't do anything in the whole movie other than act like a weird outsider who "has no friends". I get that she's there to set up for future Spider-Man films but it's pretty much wasted time to introduce her and pretend she's important when she really doesn't do anything the entire movie.

Other Thoughts

The suit was cool. Don't bring it back.

I really didn't like Spidey's suit in the movie. The nifty gadgets are nifty but it really starts to feel more like Iron Man Jr. instead of Spider-Man, especially since he even has his own A.I. that he talks to. I was really hoping at the end of the movie he'd go back to a costume that looked the same but had none of the high-tech stuff. Unfortunately, the suit's here to stay so oh well. I'm also not a fan of the lines on the blue areas either.

Spidey fans will also recognize the Tinkerer, the Shocker, and Scorpion who appear as Vulture's associates. While Tinkerer and Shocker can be forgotten pretty quickly, I'm interested to see what Scorpion has in store for Spider-Man in the future. He's a good villain who has yet to be seen in the movies. Speaking of good villains, I'm still waiting for Kraven the Hunter to appear in one of these movies. And a good portrayal Venom who isn't played by Eric freaking Foreman. And Carnage. (How we've gotten six movies now that haven't even mentioned Kraven or Carnage baffles me).

The musical theme for Spider-Man: Homecoming actually is not bad. Michael Giacchino is very good at what he does and his music gives us a good, solid theme that plays throughout the whole movie. You'll be humming it on your way out, but it still doesn't hold a candle to Danny Elfman's score.

Donald Glover is revealed to play Aarons Davis, AKA the Prowler AKA uncle of future Spider-Man Miles Morales. Miles is even mentioned by Glover, albeit not by name.

One of the 14 posters and 37 trailers for the movie. Also a neat homage to Spidey's introduction in Amazing Fantasy #15

Final Verdict

Spider-Man: Homecoming promised us a good movie (with literally the biggest marketing campaign I have ever seen for a movie. You couldn't go anywhere online without spotting another Spidey ad), and it sure delivered. While unable to challenge the classics Spider-Man 1 and 2, it does blow the past three movies out of the water with a very good lead, strong supporting cast, an interesting villain, and a story that feels as if you were reading it straight from a classic Spider-Man comic book.

Is it amazing? Nope. Is it great? Not quite. Is it good enough? Definitely. If you're a Spidey fan, it's more than worth your time. While the movie doesn't get quite as emotional as I'd hoped and I really didn't like the overly high-tech suit much, I have to give it up for Homecoming for giving me a better time than I'd expected. I had more fun watching this movie than I did for Doctor Strange and most of the other Marvel movies, and maybe even a better time than Wonder Woman.

Score: B-

PS: The new Marvel intro made me very, very, very happy inside.

PPS: There are two after credits scenes and you MUST wait for the second one. It's pure gold.

Just wanted to compare how grossly bloated Homecoming's poster is. It's a good movie but just look at how ugly and cluttered its poster is compared to the others

Just showing off my awesome Spider-Man shirt, don't mind me