Spider-Man: Homecoming Review

Spider-Man: Homecoming
Director: Jon Watts
Cast Headliners: Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr, Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, many others
Original Release Date: July 7th, 2017 (My 24th bday, what a party!)



  Another few years, yet another another Spider-Man “reboot”. However with Spider-Man: Homecoming it feels this web-slinger is here to stay via the live action MCU. In a sense this film is interesting as well because he technically made a great and first appearance in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. Now it's time to head back to New York City and give him his own solo adventure / spin-off.
 What is found is a fun lighthearted superhero time. 
 The movie picks up at various reactionary points of the MCU time-line. There's ( a bit surprisingly , for a Spider-Man movie but not for a MCU movie (see Thor 2 etc) a bit of a lengthy intro to the main antagonist in Adrian Toomes aka Vulture (Michael Keaton) who salvages alien gear  and rubble from The Avengers (the first movie in 2012) earning his moniker. Jumping forward , there's the aftermath for  Peter Parker / Spider-Man(Tom Holland) from 2016's Captain America: Civil War battle where he showed up. It's the first of a few interesting uses of MCU connections , and it works to fill in the lore and timeline of the world and give context for how he feels.
Although Peter may have super abilities and a super suit he is also a high schooler. This is the youngest Spidey to date and the movie goes deep on high school, youthful shenangins even more than the Garfield or Macguire films. But it works fine. The balance of Peter and his high school chums (such as Jacob Batalon as Ned, who is one of the movie's comedic and heartwarming highlights) joking around , taking tests, having romance and academic team melodrama against the more superheroic epic story is balanced well. Holland is charming as civilian Peter, having youthful charisma with a knack for science and investigating. These make these scenes, which director Jon Watts calls inspired by classic John Hughes movies, finely tolerable especially when it comes to his jokes with awkward yet hilarious Ned.
For so much casting announcements given in the lead up to the film, most of the high school related cast boils down to some minor , or less than minor, jokes or scenes. Characters like arty sarcastic Michelle(Zendaya,,,who clearly is set for a bigger role in sequels), bully Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori),  teacher Mr.Harrington(Martin Starr), Principal Morita(Kenneth Choi), Abraham (Abraham Attah), Coach Wilson (Hannibal Burress), and even the “love interest” of Liz Allan(Laura Harrier) are played by talented performers from elsewhere but just give a few lines of jokes or interactions with Peter / Ned etc here. However the writing is for the most part solid whether funny or dramatic. 
Peter's non-HS support crew is a bit more memorable. Aunt May(Marisa Tomei) is as charming as ever and has some memorable lines but isn't in the film that much either. It's good to see Happy Hogan(Jon Favreau) be a semi-major role again , funny as ever. He is the first of some surprising connection and returns. It's a twist to see who “Karen the Suit Lady” (Jennifer Connolly) is but she nearly matches the best of Bettany's Vision/Jarvis from other films. 
So much advertising had been done on how Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) was a big part in the film and... he is for the most part. Whether it's the mentioning of “the Stark Internship' or him offering comedic or action help he is a key if often off-screen part. Downey is as great and charming and funny as ever. It's great to see Spider-Man and Iron Man in action on at least one occasion. Holland's other best scenes as a civilian are with RDJ, and there's some decent emotional feels of him being a sort of father figure , and goal via the Avengers, to Peter. However if the fact that this was “Iron Man 4” or even “Iron Man 3.5” were a concern don't be alarmed, this s still mostly a Spider-Man movie.
The villainous angle similarly ranges from great to slightly forgettable. Michael Keaton is an absolute highlight of the film as the winged (even cooler than Falcon) Vulture. Keaton's Toomes takes  bit to leave an impression as his glimpses are brief aside from some decent effects and action. However, once certain twists and arcs are established, he becomes a fascinating foe to Spider-Man with a logical, emotional, and perhaps even justifiable point of view. He's aspects of Dafoe's Green Goblin, Molina's Doctor Octopus, and some original blue-colorness that gives him better and better scenes and lines . A solid entry in the MCU as a character, and his wing suit gives him combat capabiilities to go toe to toe with Spider-Man.  His related characters end up being generic goons however, such as “the Shockers” (who don't even get  costume, despite merchandise) in Herman Schultz (Bokeem Woodbine) and Jackson Brice (Logan Marshall-Green). There's also the weird mechanic Tinkerer(Michael Chernus) and an extremely small but alright appearances by sequel-set-up  gangsters Aaron Davis(the future Prowler perhaps ) (Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino) and Mac Gargan(the future Scorpion perhaps) (Michael Mando). It adds some layers to give Vulture some lackeys, but luckily he counts more than the minions. 
For all its mostly strengths in characters, humor / writing, drama, and plot the action and spectacle is... decent. No complaints truly, as Watts shoots some solid looking (even non-combat) visuals and scenery. The Spidey suit looks just as good as the best and better at times as does Vulture, Iron Man etc.  However no matter the foe whether thugs or super villians the battles are..... decent if short. They are scattered through the film and raise in stakes at times but aren't as memorable as thebest of them. Occasionally as well the CGI effects aren't as good as other moments, and the music (aside a certain theme showing up) isn't as snappy as past iterations. But it's fun often as well(such as a montage of him , right out of the comics, doing neighborhood heroics) Through it all at least Holland has some decent quips, charm, and acrobatics which make his action / spideylike. These are just minor drawbacks.
New Spider-Man films have and will continue to go a number of ways. His debut in Civil War gave a good head start, and here the promise is mostly delivered on.  It's a typical kind of Spider-Man film, but has good highlights making it worth watching in the general kind of stuff. Fans of the character, or usual MCU movies, will like this. The MCU elements make it special, and even without those the other elements do as well. It ain't perfect, but neither is Spider-Man himself  yet and his its many good aspects..that's the point. 7.97 out of 10.


(PS: Was cool to have one of my favorite heroes on my birthday. Also to have Keaton have been both Batman (lol crossover) and Birdman(heh) over his career)