Movie Review | Spider-Man: Homecoming

Last year the impossible happened for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War. After years of dreaming and wishful scenarios, Spider-Man (with some MUCH appreciated friendly collaboration from distributor Sony) finally joined the Avengers crew in grand fashion fighting for Team Iron Man in the superhero throw down. After almost a decade of disappointment on the big screen, Spider-Man was back to thrilling audiences with Tom Holland portraying Peter Parker. After the heroic launch in Civil War, Spidey has returned with his new solo film Spider-Man: Homecoming set to kick off a whole new series of films set within the MCU.

Sony, along with the creative minds of Marvel Studios takes Spider-Man: Homecoming back to the comic's original roots giving the audience an origin story that still feels fresh with Peter Parker as a high school student doubling as a superhero on his free time. Tom Holland seems born to play this role and is spectacular as Peter Parker juggling the daily grind of high school while trying to earn the respect of Tony Stark after the events of Civil War. Holland brings the fun back to Spider-Man which had been sorely missed in past films with Peter portrayed as a mopey dweeb especially by Tobey Maguire. Holland proves without a doubt he is the best version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man we have seen on the big screen to date. The young actor seems to get what it takes to play the hero with normal everyday problems just like you and me.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a great big crowd pleaser sure to make big bank at the box office, but the film actually tells its story on a smaller scale than past MCU films. There are no global threats or killer AI bent on destroying humanity. Instead we have a kid trying to keep his streets safe, which is hard to do when classic villains like Shocker and The Vulture played marvelously by Michael Keaton pose a threat to the neighborhood. Vulture receives a cool pair of enhanced metal wings and a realistic back story that has deep ties within the MCU. The Vulture is a different type of adversary with motives the audience can actually relate to even though the guy is bad news. Keaton manages to solve two past issues with his role by not only providing Spider-Man a worthy foe which had been a major problem in the past three Spider-Man movies, but also gives Marvel a villain with actual depth which had plagued past MCU installments.

This new solo outing may take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Spider-Man: Homecoming has a whole different feel and vibe to the work much like Guardians of the Galaxy. The material is funny, sweet and action packed with Parker throwing down numerous times during the course of the film including an aerial action set piece in the final act that is a visual spectacle. This kickoff to a new Spider-Man franchise is a total crowd pleaser from the opening credits with the Marvel Studios logo getting the Spidey treatment, until the very last secret scene that fits the tone of this film perfectly. To put it quite simply, Spider-Man: Homecoming is amazing.

Overall, I give Spider-Man: Homecoming 3.5 out of 4 stars.

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