Film Review for Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man: Homecoming, the web-slinger’s first solo movie under the Marvel Studios umbrella (but produced in conjunction with distributor Sony Pictures), is a sweet, witty, briskly-paced romp that captures everything that has made Peter Parker and his costumed alter ego such a lovable and enduring character for over half a century.
The core dilemma Spider-Man has always grappled with is, of course, “with great power comes great responsibility.” But as the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming show, Peter Parker’s responsibilities aren’t just related to being Spider-Man. He has a responsibility to be a good student, to let his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) know where he is and if he’s okay, and to find the balance between his personal and superhero lives.
In Homecoming, Peter, still consumed by the excitement of his adventure with the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, wants nothing more than to win Tony Stark’s approval and become a full-fledged Avenger. But Peter is still just a kid and he will have to realize that he can’t let Spider-Man define who he is; as Tony admonishes him at one point, if he’s nothing without the suit then Peter doesn’t deserve to have it. Peter Parker ultimately has to matter more than the invented persona of Spider-Man.
If you weren’t already sold on him after Civil War, his turn in Homecoming proves that Tom Holland is the definitive big screen Spider-Man. His exuberance, intelligence, and good-natured manner perfectly captures Peter Parker’s youthfulness, earnestness and moral center. Peter screws up a lot, but he’s a good kid who knows when he has to set things right and Holland sells all of that. He owns every scene he’s in, never getting blown off the screen by his co-stars, which include such formidable personalities as Robert Downey Jr. and Michael Keaton.
Neither Downey’s Iron Man nor Keaton’s villain, Adrian “Vulture” Toomes, are in the movie as much as might be suspected. (Tony’s flunky-pal Happy Hogan, once again ably played by Jon Favreau, gets a fair share of screen time serving as Tony’s conduit to Peter.) Stark is there to be Peter’s mentor, gadget-maker, and to provide some tough love when needed, but Homecoming is not a full-on Marvel Team-Up movie. This is definitely Spidey’s show.
Likewise, Keaton’s Vulture is a supporting character. The Vulture can be, in his own way, as relatable as Peter. He’s a blue collar Joe, one who worries about making sure he puts food on the table, and sees someone like Tony Stark as an aloof power monger who doesn’t care about screwing the working man. He’s quite a timely villain in that way, but he’s also never really as fully fleshed out as he could have been. Toomes’ transition from Everyman to murderous criminal happens largely off-screen, with some of his more vicious behavior later on feeling a bit jarring at times. Still, Keaton’s Vulture does manage to elude the Marvel movie villain streak of hampering a fine actor with a weak role, and Keaton’s interpretation of the character suggests his Adrian Toomes is not devoid of redeeming qualities.
Homecoming does right by its supporting cast of Peter’s classmates, with Jacob Batalon the clear standout as Peter’s best friend Ned, whose discovery of Peter’s secret identity fuels many of the movie’s best ongoing gags. While Zendaya only has a small role here as Michelle, she delivers it with a quirkiness and cutting wit that’s memorable. Laura Harrier nicely plays against expectations as Peter’s classmate and crush Liz, making her accessible instead of merely being the cool girl oblivious to Peter’s existence.
Spider-Man: Homecoming being a high school movie in the vein of a John Hughes film sets it apart from not only other entries in the MCU, but from many superhero movies in general (Homecoming would make a great double bill with that other teen superhero in high school movie, Kick-Ass). Peter making it to his academic decathlon matches is as important to this story as his sleuthing into the Vulture’s activities. This speaks to Peter, like his movie, trying to strike the right balance between his dual responsibilities as a student and a superhero. Is being an Avenger really more important than being the best person Peter can be for himself, to his classmates and to Aunt May? That quandary is what drives the plot, motivates Peter’s internal and external conflicts, and generates a good deal of the humor to boot.
Like Ant-Man, there is no grand plot line here about having to save the world nor is there any labored attempt at expanding the MCU. This is as street level a Marvel story as the Netflix series are, albeit without the darkness and violence of those shows, with the movie showcasing why the character is known as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. It’s a welcome relief from seeing a superhero trying to stop yet another giant energy portal in the sky or some such well-worn gimmick.
The movie has a lot of fun with this being such a young, novice Spidey who is still mastering his powers and who is awed at all the tricks his Tony Stark-provided costume can do. There is also a lot of humor generated by the fact that much of the story is largely confined to Queens where there aren’t a lot of very tall buildings for Spidey to web-sling between so he has to use what’s readily available to get around.
This was a clever way to both create obstacles for Spidey to deal with and to show a different backdrop other than just seeing Spider-Man swing through the skyscrapers of Manhattan as he has in so many past movies. (It should also be noted that, as with Civil War and the Sam Raimi trilogy, an obvious digital Spidey is used in most of the action scenes, unlike those in the Amazing Spider-Man films which opted for a more tactile approach.)
Spider-Man: Homecoming is ultimately stronger as a character-driven, coming-of-age comedy than it is as an action film. While its action set-pieces are fine — with the Washington Monument, ferry rescue, and endangered airplane sequences the highlights — none of them can match let alone top Spidey’s MCU debut in Civil War’s airport battle, which is amusingly revisited here from Peter’s perspective. That lack of truly memorable new action sequences may disappoint some superhero movie fans who crave adrenaline and eye candy, but ultimately Spider-Man: Homecoming wisely knows its greatest responsibility is to its characters and not necessarily the great powers they possess.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Directed by: Jon Watts
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Laura Harrier, Abraham Attah, Tony Revolori, Megan Wilkons, Rachel Star Withers
Screenplay by: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Jon Watts
Production Design by: Oliver Scholl
Cinematography by: Salvatore Totino
Film Editing by: Debbie Berman, Dan Lebental
Costume Design by: Louise Frogley
Set Decoration by: Gene Serdena
Art Direction by: Lauren Abiouness, Audra Avery, Beat Frutiger, Drew Monahan, Brad Ricker
Music by: Michael Giacchino
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments.
Distributed by: Sony Columbia Pictures
Release Date: July 7, 2017
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