Movie Review – Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Directed by Jon Watts

Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr.

Backstory

I was getting unnaturally excited for Spider-Man: Homecoming as the release date neared, and then I figured out why.  I was reminded of a conversation I had with a friend 10 years ago, when Spider-Man 3 and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer came out the same summer.  My friend pointed out that, in the comics, it was Reed Richards who analyzed Spider-Man’s black suit and deduced it was an alien symbiote.  With both films coming out that summer, why couldn’t they have done a crossover?  Well, look to the trailers for Spider-Man: Homecoming, where Spidey is swinging next to Iron Man.  It’s here.  It’s happening.  The crossovers are happening.

Plot

Many years ago, after the Battle of New York, Adrian Toomes won a lucrative contract to clean up the damage to the city, but was promptly driven out of business by Tony Stark and the new federal department he co-founded, Damage Control, as they took charge of the clean-up.  Rather than surrender, Toomes takes some of the alien tech he’s already salvaged, starts selling it on the black market, and builds his own super-suit, styled after a Vulture.  Present day, after his adventure with the Avengers in Germany, Peter Parker has been returned to Queens, and continues his crimefighting, in the hopes of impressing Tony Stark and joining the Avengers.  But he still struggles in high school, hoping to win the heart of the attractive Liz.  Before long, though, Spider-Man and the Vulture and set to cross paths.  Who will come out on top?  Will Spidey need Iron Man to bail him out?

What I Liked

I really like how the kind of turned the Vulture into an evil Iron Man, with his outfit being more of a suit of armor than just a set of wings.  And of course, Michael Keaton pulls it off wonderfully.  Tom Holland is pitch perfect as Spider-Man.  We haven’t had a Spider-Man movie yet that fully capture those awkward teen years for Peter Parker, and Holland nails it perfectly.  Zendaya is pretty cool as Michelle, a sullen teen who seems to exist to just annoy Peter Parker.  And, of course, no one’s gotten tired yet of seeing Robert Downey Jr pop up as Iron Man.  And I can’t get enough of that Michael Giacchino score.

What I Didn’t Like

Not much really.  It would have been nice to see some of Spidey swinging throughout the chasms of Manhattan, but hey, we got enough of that in the past five films.

Final Verdict

It is just so nice to finally see Spidey in the Marvel Universe.  A worthy addition to both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Spider-Man franchise.

3.5 Nibs