Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) by Will B — 18 Jul 2017

Spider-Man was a great example of a movie that doesn't do anything perfect but a lot of things really well. The element that came closest was Tom Holland's character portrayal of Peter Parker; a great balance of the too geeky/wimpy Tobey Maguire and the too cool Andrew Garfield. The feel of High School reality was captured very well, from the parties and peer pressure to teenage love, the cliques and the classroom. However, I will say that the house party thrown by Liz was an ambitious portrayal of a High School party.

The soundtrack was great and there were some great character moments between Stark and Parker as they struggled with an interesting make-shift father-son relationship. The criminal portrayal was another positive aspect of the movie. Parker's advance from petty theft policemen to crime ring buster was very evident, and allowed you to see that the his time spent in the traditional Spider-man paradigm as training for the intergalactic battles to come.

I felt what kept this movie from being truly spectacular was the cookie cutter feel it carried due to its effort to fit into the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. There were many times during the movie where I found myself thinking "man if Holland could have the time/breathing room to really explore some more human problems this movie would be incredible". I feel as though it is a shame he was denied that opportunity, and the opportunity to explore the traditional Spider-Man plot like Maguire and Garfield were. Unfortunately the need to tie the movie in to the big picture resulted in a somewhat hurried/cramped product.

Regardless, Spider-Man Homecoming was an immensely enjoyable film and a good addition to the Marvel Universe. I'm excited to see how Holland interacts with the rest of the Avenger's cast in upcoming films.