Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) by Karissa C — 06 Dec 2017

Spider-Man and the "Little Guy".

Spider-Man. We all know his name, and we all know how he got his powers. But who is Peter Parker? Who is the person behind the superhero? What makes him so special? What does he have that other superheroes like Iron Man and Captain America don't? Why is he so determined to help people? These questions have been bubbling in my mind for many years now. Although we have had movies done by Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield, they seemed to have lost Peter along the way. They focused on the heroics, but not the why. This is why Spider-Man Homecoming is a movie about neighborhood disguised as a Marvel Superhero movie.

The script was masterfully done, and Tom Holland gave this brilliant script the lift that it needed. Holland got into character so well that you truly believed that he was Peter Parker. He was a teenager struggling to find words to talk to his crush, and he was constantly pushing his abilities to help people in need. No matter how hairy the situation got, Peter tried to help people, his drive to do this pushed him to do things that he didn't think he was capable of. You truly believed in Peter Parker.

This movie encapsulates the very essence of Peter Parker in a way that was yet to be seen. In the beginning of the movie you see Peter take on some cases of petty crime. He catches a robber who stole a bike, leaving a note that says "if this isn't your bike, don't steal it!" on the handlebars when he fails to find the owner, and helps a woman out who is so grateful she buys him a churro. These little crimes aren't on someone like the Avengers' radar, because they're not life threatening to a big group of people. They're little crimes that happen everywhere and they don't have time to deal with things like this. But Peter takes the time to help the people in his neighborhood. He takes the time to make the streets a little bit safer than they were before.

So, what motivates Peter then? We've seen Iron Man and Captain America fight, and we have seen what motivates them to keep fighting. Iron Man acts on guilt. You see it in the first movie where he finds out his weapons are being given to terrorists and you still see it in Captain America: Civil War. He is motivated to sign the accords because he learns about a young man with a bright future that was killed in Sarkovia. Captain America acts on the idea that he must fight for freedom and for what is right. He gains his powers because he wants to fight for the greater good of his country, and now, sixty years later, he wants the same thing. He fights for justice. So, what motivates Peter? The answer is clear. Even though he desperately wants to be a part of the Avengers, he fights for the little guy. He fights for those who can't fight for themselves and fights to keep his neighborhood, his family, and his friends safe.

There is a scene early in the movie where Peter is fighting some criminals that were stealing from ATMs and they happened to be wearing Avengers masks to hide their identity so Peter comments, "Tony Stark? What are you doing here? You're literally a millionaire." Keeping the fighting real, but light hearted. Quickly though, one of the weapons malfunctions and destroys the front of the building holding the ATMs, as well as the deli across the street. Peter sees this and immediately runs over to the deli to check on the owner and his cat, who he knows will be inside. Both are all right, thankfully, and Peter makes sure that no one else is in the building. This lets the criminals across the street escape, but Peter doesn't focus on that. He focuses on the deli owner and making sure that he isn't injured before he leaves.

Peter, throughout the whole of this movie is saving his friends, classmates, and the people in the street that otherwise would not get help. He focuses on helping anyone and everyone he can because he wants his friends and family to be safe. He doesn't think that he is any better than anyone else, he doesn't think that he is better than the Avengers that he was hoping on joining, he is simply a fifteen-year-old kid who wants to make a difference to the people who otherwise wouldn't matter.

The end of the movie is the biggest testament to Peter's character. Throughout the whole movie he is saving everyone that he can, with everything that he has available, and he is desperately hoping to join the Avengers. However, in one of the last scenes Tony Stark takes him to the new Avengers facility and unveils a whole new Spider-Man suit, telling Peter that it is his. Tony tells Peter that he will be in the room next to Vision, and that there are reporters on the other side of the doors where they will announce Spider-Man is the newest Avenger. Peter smiles, and looks at the suit amazed, but turns down the offer saying, "Thank you, but I think I should stay the Neighborhood Spider-Man for a little while." Peter wanted nothing more than to be an Avenger at the beginning of this movie, and that was his focus. But the more he did, the more people he saved by getting weapons off of the street, returning stolen possessions, and even saving his classmates from falling down the Washington monument he realizes that he would rather do the small things, defend the "little guy" that he wouldn't get to if he joined. He puts his neighborhood, the people in his life that he loves and cares about, above himself and his wants.

This Spider-Man movie is the best that has been done. The friendships, the heroics, the true to himself and where he comes from Peter is exactly what the Marvel Cinematic Universe needed. You have the opportunity to see Peter grow into his abilities and realize exactly what he needs to do. This cinematic masterpiece didn't shy away from the quirky nature of Spider-Man, but embraced it head on, and the movie was all the better for it.