Marvel has finally given Spider-Man a worthy homecoming
When Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire came out in 2002, I did everything I could to avoid spoilers. I was a big fan of the comics as well as the 90s (and 60s) cartoon show. To me, Peter Parker will always be Christopher Daniel Barnes the voice in the 90s Spider-Man cartoon.
However, Tom Holland might sway me.
Homecoming is exactly as it sounds. This is Peter Parker truly becoming Spider-Man like we've never seen before in a live-action film. This isn't an origin film, it's a coming of age homage. We all know the story of the radioactive spider, Uncle Ben's untimely and catalyst of a death. In fact they are only mentioned in passing in Homecoming. In the past 15 years we've had 2 origin films, and 5 total broaching the subject (ahem Batman, take a fucking note). This film dives into the aftermath and struggle of getting acclimated to being Spider-Man after Civil War.
The movie starts out shortly after the events of The Avengers. We see Michael Keaton/Birdman/Vulture/Beetlejuice/Doug clearing up the mess that Loki and the Chitari created in NYC. He is contracted to clean up from the State, and obviously is interrupted by a government agency and loses the contract, thus setting in motion the clear illegal activity. Flash forward 8 years to a shortly after the events of Civil War as Spider-Man is seen itching to be a "real" super hero and join Stark.
After our setup of Vulture, we see a vlog Peter Parker creates of his adventures just before and during the airport battle with Captain America. This serves as a perfect thematic introduction so we know exactly how this film will feel. Lot's of typical Marvel dry humor that we've grown accustomed to:
"Why are you doing this thing like that?"
"I always do this thing like this"
"I see, here's an observational statement about thing"
"Oh, you're right *pause for laughter*"
Yeah, it's getting cliche, but I still eat it up and so do you. We start to really see how Parker is stuck between wanting to take off the training wheels (a reference to a lock Stark puts on his tech infused Spidey suit) and be a true Avenger. Stark, in rare Dad-mode, puts the brakes on and encourages Parker to just exist and be a high schooler. Thank god he doesn't, or the movie would be really short. He stumbles across The Vulture and his crew who have turned to stealing alien tech from Avengers battles and turning them into weapons and selling them on the black market (to low level thugs which I thought was odd). There's a few key moments I won't spoil for you in terms of plot. But if you're familiar with films and typical twists, you'll pick up on a big one early on as I did. The tough love dished by Stark was great and did exactly what it needed to do to drive home the plot and show a maturing Parker.
Holland as Parker is great. He plays the role very well. he's awkward, yet charming. Athletic, but still convincing as a science kid. The scenes of him web-crawling are some of the best I've seen in all of the now 7 films in which a live-action Spider-Man has existed since 2002. I greatly look forward to seeing how the role expands in the upcoming Infinity Wars. Of course, you cannot mention this movie without bringing up Marisa Tomei. At 52 she's still gorgeous, and that is brought up numerous times and hilariously throughout the film. A great addition to this cast as support, or "guy in the van" is Jacob Batalon as Parker's friend Ned. He's a great comic relief and often serves as the realistic voice of excitement and awe for Parker.
Fun little appearance by Donald Glover, but sorry, not as Miles Morales. Maybe next reboot.
Overall Spider-Man felt great. Pacing was just right, although I definitely felt in the middle we were just dragging out the same plot idea we've seen previously. The jokes kept it afloat. Robert Downey, Jr continuing his role as Tony Stark was on point. I'm glad he was more suave business man Stark and less tortured suave business man Stark. I hope this attitude continues for the next films. Jon Favreau continues his role as Happy, although it appears Favreau isn't exactly thrilled to be doing as such. The last seen of the movie, the boss battle, felt very anti-climactic to me. It just sort of, ended. If it wasn't for the scenes that followed I probably wouldn't be giving this film as good a review as I am now. The scenes with Captain America serving as a PSA video were cute. They were subtle enough but definitely set up the corporate aspect of The Avengers.
There are 2 post credit scenes. One a potential future film plot and 3 of 6(hint hint) characters, another more of a cameo for fun. Although this may not be the best Marvel movie to date, it is up there and exactly what they need to get back to their roots of good movies with emotional plots. I definitely feel the world needs reminding that Iron Man worked because it had heart, not because it looked cool and had explosions. Spider-Man: Homecoming brings the charm and appeal back to Marvel, not the glitz.
Until Thor Ragnarok, I'll see you again! Excelsior!