Spiderman: Homecoming

2017’s Spiderman: Homecoming, directed by Jon Watts.

Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Jacob Batalon, Marissa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Donald Glover, Laura Harrier, Bokeem Woodbine, Chris Evans, and Jennifer Connelly.

What is it about?

Spiderman: Homecoming takes the web crawling character of Peter Parker (Tom Holland), as introduced in Captain America: Civil War. Peter lives with his widowed Aunt May (Marissa Tomei), and attends high school with his buddy, Ned (Jacob Batalon). Stifled by an unchallenging environment surrounding him and petrified of his crush, (Laura Harrier), Peter lives for the evenings when he can don his spider suit and fight crime. Eager to impress Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and his right hand man, Happy (Jon Favreau), Peter stumbles across alien technology scavenged from the New York attack in The Avengers. Retrofitted by a gang lead by the Vulture (Michael Keaton), Peter has to convince a skeptical Tony that he is worthy of being a responsible Avenger, while figuring out how to stop the Vulture- who’s motivations remain rather earth bound. Can Spiderman catch thieves like flies?

Why is it worth seeing?

Spiderman: Homecoming is the 4^th movie in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Disney’s declaration of dominance over blockbusters as we know them. After his nimble introduction in Civil War, Tom Holland proves a capable Spider Man who’s youthfulness and naivete is endearing, even if the army of screenwriters (6!) create something that is uneven fun.

It’s safe to say that Spiderman has been done to death- even for the Marvel universe. With the eccentric Raimi helmed Spiderman 1, 2, and 3, lead by a strange Tobey Maguire, and the Marc Webb directed (anti) Amazing Spiderman 1 and 2, Homecoming mercifully saves us the introductory footage of Peter being bit by a radioactive spider to gain his powers. We get it. The film explains it in a single line, and moves on, something the DC universe doesn’t seem to understand when endlessly explaining Batman’s origins. Instead, we get to watch Peter experience his high school years, which are well told in the sense that they are not as golden as perhaps they could be (some sequences involving teachers “teaching” are inspired). It’s a welcome change from the formula.

The same goes for Mary Jane, Peter’s long time ignored girlfriend. Absent from Peter’s routine, we’re free to focus on Peter’s friend, Ned. Part fan boy, part friend, and all hilarious, Ned’s line on computer usage while on a mission is memorable. It’s nice to see Peter having a friend that isn't trying to kill him. That, and he has an older uncle like figure he desperately wants approval from.

Another strength is in the villain, the Vulture, played by Michael Keaton. Again straying from the formula, Keaton’s motivations blessedly don’t include global domination, infinity stones, or control of the universe. As a middle aged man construction worker who gets spurned by Tony Stark after the New York Chitauri attack, he doesn’t want revenge- just a chance. He’s just rigging the game so it’s more in his favour. The why of what he does is what makes him so relatable. Keaton’s down to earth menace speak much louder than some thing with energy shooting out of its (not) face.

All of the freshness of the teen years and strong characters, eventually give way to Marvel’s formula, and having so many writers makes the movie feel uneven. The least interesting parts of the movie involve the combat scenes, especially in a dull climax. I’m also not clear how Tony wants Peter to join the Avengers when they don’t really exist any more- they work for the government due to the Sakovia Accords, introduced in the last Captain America. Well, you know what they say when it comes to Spidermen films- the 6^th time’s a charm. And building an unassailable franchise machine through its smaller components is part of the larger game.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.