In 1985, Marvel sold it’s film rights for the Spider-Man character to a small film company that eventually went bankrupt. The ownership rights went to a few different companies before being reclaimed by Marvel so it could then be sold to Sony Pictures in 1999. Two web-slingers and 5 movies later Marvel and Sony worked out a deal to reunite Spider-Man with the rest of the Avengers. In 2015, Sony Pictures agreed to lend out their character to the Marvel franchise, in an attempt to regain some much-needed interest and exposure in some big box office films. Since Marvel has been thriving with their superhero franchise, allowing Spiderman to return to Marvel was a perfect opportunity to gain a following for another reboot. You could definitely call it a “Homecoming” of sorts for the Spider-Man character. (Eh…you see what Marvel did there??^^)
The Bad
I am one of those weirdos who really love Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man so I was about as skeptical as anyone to see if I would like this new Tom Holland version before he took to the big screen in Captain America: Civil War. While we didn’t get to see a lot of him in that movie, I definitely liked it enough to get excited about the new reboot.
One of the things I didn’t like at the time and still don’t really like after seeing Spider-Man Homecoming is the childish feel of most of the drama in the movie. I understand that he is in high school so all of that cringe-worthy high school stuff is just part of the authenticity of his character, but I didn’t like how much it seems like a game to Peter Parker. For the majority of the movie, it didn’t really seem like Peter was taking any of it seriously and it was all just a tryout to be part of the Avengers. Sure that’s part of the character development, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Going off of that, the whole movie comes across as like a little blip in the radar of the Avengers. You get the feeling as a viewer that if the Avengers got involved than it would take them minutes to catch the bad guys and bring back order, but to Peter, it is this whole movie of drama and suspense. It almost came across like the only reason Peter was the one to bring the bad guys it was that it was too elementary of a mission for the Avengers to worry about. For the early parts of the movie, it was kind of like watching a minor league baseball game in the sense that there can be some very good players but they are much more worried about being called up to the majors than winning the game they were playing.
The Good
The entertainment value of this movie was TOP NOTCH. As per the usual with Marvel movies lately, this film is absolutely hilarious. It thrives off of high school awkwardness that we were all apart of in some way or another. Tom Holland really owns his character in every way. He personifies that nerdy sophomore that has a crush on a senior and does a great job in making us all feel the cringe-worthy moments with him. I am truly looking forward to seeing more of Holland in the future and I hope he is Spider-Man for many movies to come.
The supporting roles in this film were all great in their own ways. I still haven’t gotten used to how young Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is but she definitely added some comedic value to the movie. Jacob Batalon plays Peter’s best friend Ned and he does an awesome job. He reminds me a lot of Michael Pena’s character in Ant-Man in the sense that almost all of his lines are comic relief but he is still one of the essential characters of the movie. Michael Keaton takes on the villain role in this movie but he is definitely not your stereotypical super-villain. He doesn’t do things because he is evil, he does things to support his family but that is what means everything to him. There are some other wrinkles that go along with that but I think that Keaton was an excellent casting choice for the role and did a great job overall.
My favorite part of the movie is how self-aware it is. It literally addresses pretty much every Spider-Man trope ever established. It addresses the realization that there isn’t always some tall building for Spider-Man to swing from to get somewhere. He misjudges his web-shooting from time to time. There is literally a scene where Ned basically asks Peter every stereotypical question about how Spider-Man’s powers work to clear up all of the inconsistencies between the three distinct heroes from the past 15 years. That was definitely fun to watch as someone who has seen almost every Spider-Man movie ever.
The Rating
This is a fantastic film to reboot what is arguably the most popular superhero in the world (I would venture to say Batman has a slight edge on him but it’s a close second). It is fun and action-packed for everyone to enjoy, but it is light enough in terms of language and violence for you to take your kids to. Is it the best Spider-Man movie ever made? I think that I probably have had a lot harder time answering this than most people. It is close (to The Amazing Spider-Man), but I am going to say Yes; Spider-Man Homecoming is the best Spider-Man movie ever made.
8.5/10
On a side note, it is great to be back in the states. I was disappointed to find out that all cartoons in Slovenia are in Slovene so I haven’t had the opportunity to see Cars 3 or Despicable Me 3 yet. If you know me then you know that I love my cartoons so it has been difficult having to wait on those, but it’s good to be back and I will try to see those movies in the near future. I’d be interested to see what you all thought of Spider-Man Homecoming as well as Cars 3. If you have already seen either of those movies let me know what you thought of them in the comments!
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