Writers Note: This is not my first viewing of this film and as such, this review will reflect that.
Here we are. The wonder child. The movie no one thought would ever happen. A Spider-Man movie that is a collaboration between Sony and Marvel Studios that exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Bringing back the amazing (see what I did there) Tom Holland from Captain America: Civil War, this definitely ranks in my Top 3 MCU films and is also probably my favorite Spider-Man film to date. Holland blows Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s portrayals out of the water and it doesn’t help that he gets a much larger playground to play in.
Spider-Man: Homecoming sees Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) after the events of Captain America: Civil War, believing himself to be an Avenger and overly eager to prove himself to Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and his former bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). In his overzealousness he stumbles into a plot by the Vulture/Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) and as he struggles between being a superhero and being a normal teenage boy, he quickly realizes he’s in over his head.
This is the first full movie we get to see Tom Holland in as Spider-Man/Peter Parker and he is wonderful. He has a exuberant energy to him and a natural chemistry with nearly anyone he shares the screen with that it’s almost impossible not to like him. The dialogue is fast and witty and Holland nails practically every delivery, whether as Peter Parker or Spider-Man. In particular his relationship with Happy and Tony bring about some of the funniest moments in the movie. Seeing Parker interact with his best friend, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) is also one of the highlights of the film as the two accurately portray the life of a modern nerd teenager struggling to navigate social pitfalls of high school. On the flip side of the hero spectrum, Michael Keaton’s Vulture is front runner for the most compelling super villains in MCU history. While the change from relatable guy making a living to full blown super villain does happen rather quickly, it doesn’t detract from the fact that his main motivation is just to provide for his family in trying times.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is the most relatable film to come out of the MCU, which has always been the appeal to Spider-Man as a character, and it’s so gratifying to finally see it done right. And now we’re in a position where the Spider-Man sequel is one of two confirmed films for a post Avengers 4 world and I couldn’t be more happy about it.
A
Film In Thought 