Before I get into anything critical, let's highlight what I thought worked in the film. Spider-Man. I can't deny, the comic spirit of this young, witty Spider-Man is indeed present in the film. As much as I enjoy Tobey Maguire in the older films, he's not exactly the biggest... smart-ass that Spider-Man is. And since I have yet to see any of the films with Andrew Garfield, I'm not entirely sure if the spirit was captured there. And from what I can tell, the fans are pretty split with that reboot that got shut down. And you can definitely tell that Tom Holland is having a lot of fun with this role. I daresay that Spider-Man may have finally found its near perfect portrayal. He's both geeky, and a smart-ass.
I also gotta gotta give props to the action. When people are hit hard in this movie, I could feel it in my seat. Spider-Man takes plenty of hard knocks in this, and by the time the film ends, I'm sitting there, wondering how he's managed to stand up. It's quick, it's smooth, and a lot of fun. Some of these fights were so incredibly fun to watch, particularly the ferry fight, which does a neat callback to Spider-Man 2. And I might as well say it, Iron Man's role is pretty fitting for the film. I was kinda scared he'd be one of those show-stealers, but I gotta admit, it's a very fitting role for him. And when he's involved in the action, as limited as it is, it doesn't detract in any way.
I also kinda appreciate how this isn't an origins story. With a great trilogy already showing that, and a cancelled reboot also showing how Spider-Man came to be, Marvel put some thought into this film, and decided, hey, we're not idiots. We know how Spider-Man came to be. So they stent to give us a fun story which of course ties into the big Marvel cinematic universe. Unfortunately... in the same retrospect, this is where problems start to show up. While some will argue that it's good that this movie doesn't go all out in introducing Spider-Man to us, I honestly don't think they did enough of an interesting story here.
Yes, we're all happy that it's not just some big sky laser destroying the world, and whatnot, and that the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is indeed dealing with a rather local problem, but the problem here is that I honestly don't really see this story as all that memorable. The story is just about Spider-Man thwarting the illegal thefts and sales of weapons developed from alien technology. That's it. We couldn't... up the ante just a little here? And it doesn't help that almost no characters we're familiar with in the Spider-Man canon appear here. It's literally just Peter Parker, and his aunt. The love interest is generic, we don't see Norman Osborn, even MJ isn't introduced by name until the very end of the film. Despite her actually drifting around in the film. Which brings me to my next problem. The villain
This film is exhibit A for me right now in terms of the classic argument of marvel villains not being so memorable. And conning from a Spider-Man film, that's inexcusable. This is a universe that includes the Green Goblin, Venom, Doc Oc... Some of the most iconic villains Marvel has at its disposal. And we get...Birdman I guess? Seriously, who is that guy? Some of the villains I've listed I daresay have that same elite status as comic book villains from things like Batman and Superman. Marvel right now has Loki, and Thanos. That's it. While I personally enjoy the villains from the other movies, particularly Guardians of the Galaxy, most will say that Marvel villains are pretty weak as far as iconic status is concerned. What could have been a great way to turn that argument around, sadly isn't taken advantage of here. Instead, we have the first Marvel villain that has yet to really make any impression on me in the least bit. The movie tries to pull a fast one on us as far as who he is and whatnot, but I saw it coming a mile away. I wasn't surprised at all.
And on a more personal gripe, I don't like Aunt May here. Maybe I still have my nostalgia goggles on from the early 2000's, but my fear from Civil War has been realized. Aunt May is nothing but a running joke. How so? In Civil War, Iron Man played creep, and made a bunch of "Your Aunt is hot" jokes that I just didn't find that funny. I had a fear it would be this running gag, and some people toss me, "Oh she's barely in the movie. Shut up. You don't know what they might do with her." Fair enough. We got a Spider-Man movie now. And the jokes just kept coming. If it was from Tony Stark alone, I'd probably be more okay with it as he's that Casanova we know him as, but it comes up multiple times, from different people. Can you see why I'm more prone to liking Aunt May from the original trilogy? She had more of a purpose in those films for Peter. Here... she's just comic relief. And not exactly very funny. So... yeah. I saw it coming, and I didn't care for it. If you laugh at it, all the more power to you.
I know I'm kinda harping, but truth is, the film is very much a lot of fun. One thing I'm not giving the story proper credit for is that this story does indeed flesh Spider-Man out. Peter finds out what it means to be the Spider-Man, without a rehash of another "Great power, great responsibility" story. Granted, it isn't the best, but it's still very well told. It does lead to some very strong development from Spider-Man, and I actually really liked how he had to find his true inner strength without his fancy suit. I daresay it's the strongest element of this movie, and while I'm sure diehards would have liked more of that classic Spider-Man formula we're all used to at this point, I don't think anyone will complain too much that they executed the film in this manner.
Spider-Man: Homecoming earns a three star rating out of four. While certainly not the best superhero film I've ever seen, the praise it's getting can be argued in its case. It's a good strong opening for Spider-Man in the cinematic universe that shows off a lot of potential, and promise for future films that are indeed coming. It has me wanting more from the cinematic universe in all the right ways. And coming from a guy who started off not really caring too much about these films in the first place, I think that's high praise in and of itself.
Please feel free to request a film you'd like to see my thoughts on. Leave a comment down before of your own thoughts on the film of you wish. And as always, thanks for reading.
Final Verdict: 3/4
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