Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) by Ian B — 31 Jul 2017

Sam Raimi made two great Spider-Man movies...then came the franchise killer that was Spider-Man 3. It was bad. Really bad. Five years later we got the rebooted Amazing Spider-Man films. The first was decent, but the second was every bit the disaster Spider-Man 3 was.

So here we are a few years after Sony Spider-Man debacle #2, and cue the next reboot. Spidey fans had every reason to be nervous after so many forgettable films, but fear not, the third time's a charm thanks to Marvel stepping in to clean up the mess.

Spider-Man: Homecoming works for several reasons. It's not another origin story (yay!), it's funny (really funny), filled with surprises, and action-packed. Tom Holland also happens to be the best Spider-Man/Peter Parker we've had yet.

Actually hiring a teenager to play a teenager...what a concept! Holland already shows plenty of confidence in the role, and his banter with Robert Downey Jr is one of the film's many highlights. Michael Keaton's Vulture is also a wonderfully menacing bad guy, and one who actually gets some character development.

The action looks great, and it's fun to see Spider-Man fitting in nicely with the Marvel universe, but it's the strong performances and characters that make the film memorable. In fact, there's a scene with two people simply talking in a car that turns out to be one of the film's best moments.

It's not quite the best Spider-Man (I still say that's Spider-Man 2), but it comes pretty close, and definitely has me excited for the character's future.