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Ever since Spider-Man joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe and made a brief appearance in Captain America: Civil War, we’ve been eagerly awaiting for his solo film.
Fortunately for us, Spider-Man Homecoming doesn’t disappoint, it’s both lighthearted and action-packed and does the character of Spider-Man justice.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland, Captain America: Civil War) is back to normal life at high school after the events in Captain America: Civil War, but misses the thrill and action from having fought with some of The Avengers. Determined to get back out there on another mission, Peter dons his Spider-Man costume to prevent crime in his neighbourhood with varying degrees of success. When the Vulture (Michael Keaton, The Founder) emerges as a threat to the neighbourhood, Spider-Man must do what he can in order to stop him.
It was so refreshing to not see another origin story that retells us everything we already know like The Amazing Spider-Man did, but instead showed us a new perspective on the character.
They got just the right balance of having a light-hearted sense of humor and fun action-packed scenes, clearly taking a leaf out of The Guardians of the Galaxy’s book when it comes to tone. Jon Watts’ little homages to John Hughes’ teen films that are scattered throughout the film just make it all the more cool, such as making Peter’s classmate Michelle or MJ as she likes to be called (who we hope to see more of in the sequel) reminiscent of Allison from The Breakfast Club. They even have Spider-Man run through the backyards in the neighbourhood in a similar fashion to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
For anyone who is concerned that Tony Stark will over shine Spider-Man in his own film, don’t worry! He isn’t made the focus of the film and isn’t relied upon to make this film work, Spider- Man can hold himself just as well as the other characters have done in their solo MCU films. It was nice to see the heartwarming bond between him and Peter in their scenes together, showing them as a father-son relationship and that Stark really believes in Peter’s abilities.
Tom Holland gave an impressive portrayal of the character and proved that he can carry his own film, he captured the awkward yet intelligent Peter Parker but also the quick-witted and at times cocky Spider-Man. They even showed us Peter acting as a fanboy towards The Avengers, especially when he is shown vlogging his battle in Civil War and how restless he gets once he returns to normal life.
Michael Keaton’s role as Vulture is definitely one of the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who have mostly been forgettable or not particularly interesting. He manages to make the character menacing but understandable with his motives in what made him the Vulture, it could not be more different from Keaton’s iconic role as Batman and he portrayed the villain superbly.
A surprising breakout role was Jacob Balaton as Peter’s best friend and right hand man Ned. His character is completely different to Harry Osborn, Peter’s best friend in previous installments. He’s as equally nerdy and fanboyish as Peter is but he also provides the moral support for his best friend and always stole the scene whenever he was featured.
The only nitpick is that Peter’s love interest Liz, isn’t really made an interesting character seeing as she isn’t given much focus. Unlike Mary-Jane and Gwen Stacey in the previous Spider-Man films whose relationships with Peter were often made a focus, although for a change it was nice to see a Spider-Man film made not so romance orientated.
Without a doubt one of the best Spider-Man films, we have more to look forward to now that Spidey is part of The Avengers. It’s going to be a bit of a wait until the sequel but we just have to remember- Patience!
4/5