Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) by Mrmoviebuff — 06 Jul 2017

For years, fans of the web-slinging character wanted to see him join the MCU, so when Sony and Marvel decided to share rights to the character, this is the result we get. A fun, colorful and energetic superhero movie that feels rather fresh.

'Spider-Man: Homecoming' is one of the best "Spider-Man" movies in a while, just a step below 'Spider-Man 2' (2004) and 'Spider-Man' (2002). What makes this movie work is Tom Holland's young and cheeky performance we see as the teenage hero of whom we got a glimpse of when he debuted in 'Captain America: Civil War' (2016), and now here he is, leading his own battle.

We see that he faces the challenge of trying to live a normal, teenage, high school life, while at the same time, coping with being a street-level superhero, especially since Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.

) is his mentor. He waits and waits for Tony to notify him for a mission so that he can become an avenger, but time passes, and not a single ring on his phone. He lives quietly with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), who has no idea that he is Spider-Man, and hangs out at school with his rather dimwitted friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), who, if you saw the trailer, you'll know that he finds out that he is Spider-Man.

.. it even happens early on in the film, so it's not really a spoiler. The movie's main villain is Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), who becomes the "Vulture". Keaton is fantastic as the main villain, and is probably the most memorable Marvel villain since Loki and/or Ultron.

Watching Peter living the double life of trying to be a hero and being a teenager is something we haven't seen since 'Spider-Man 2' (2004), the idea that he has to juggle and balance his life out so things could work, but nothing goes according to plan.

This is something we need to see more of, as that is what his character is about. Nobody knows his identity, and he needs to remain level-headed since he's so young. Many may be concerned that Robert Downey Jr's "Iron Man" character is involved too much in the film, as the trailers and promotional marketing will show, all I can say without spoiling too much is that there is no reason to fear.

Downey has about as much impact on this movie as Jared Leto did in 'Suicide Squad' (2016), but if you want my advice, do not watch all the trailers if you haven't already. There are some key cameos that are spoiled, and maybe on or two plot details.

The cameos by other actors are funny though, if you don't see them coming. I will admit that there are too many references to the MCU, as obviously, this movie is trying to state that this is the MCU's version of Spider-Man, and not another stand-alone reboot.

At times, the references can bog the movie down a little, as it seems it cannot stand on its own. I thought Zendaya's character was rather pointless as she is only in it for about a total of 10 minutes, and her character is rather bland and not so memorable.

Other than that, I had a blast with this movie. I think that director Jon Watts did a capable job of crafting some really good action sequences, and that it shows that this is where the character belongs.

However, with some things, you can tell that this is a product of two different studios, it's clear that producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal had different ideas that both tried to get in this movie. At times it worked, and then, it didn't.

Go and have fun with this movie... it is the "Spider-Man" movie Marvel fans have been waiting for.