Director: Jon Watts
By Alex Watson
Spiderman has been a hit and miss affair ever since he webslinged his way onto our screens in 2001. Sam Raimi's original trilogy brought us two excellent outings and completely forgettable third. Marc Webb's two Spidey pictures were excellently acted but seemed to lack a certain substance. For Spiderman: Homecoming, director Jon Watts goes with a lighter touch and for the most part succeeds. This movie might just be the most accurate depiction of Peter Parker yet.
Still buzzing from helping Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) in Berlin, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is anxious to make full use of his powers. Given a new suit, he is soon keeping the neighbourhood safe while at the same time crushing on classmate Liz (Laura Harrier). Former salvager Adrian Toombs (Michael Keaton) has moved into the heist business as flying criminal Vulture. Despite the warnings of Stark, Parker is determined to bring him down.
What makes Spiderman: Homecoming a breath of fresh air is how honestly it portrays Peter Parker. Coming off as the ultimate Avengers geek, we see him make a video diary of his time in Berlin. The bane of Happy Hogan's (Jon Favreau) phone, Parker is shown as your typical immature adolescent. This side of the character was always lacking before and he never seemed to come across as uncool enough. Watts puts all that to rights because Parker is believably nerdy alongside his fellow geek friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). Always failing to keep his feelings for Liz under wraps, his problems are always neatly (and sarcastically) summed up by classmate Michelle (Zendaya). Keen to run before he can crawl, Peter doesn't know the limits of his own powers. Tony Stark in this picture comes off as the surrogate Dad figure, who is always scolding his new prospect for the right reasons.
Vulture is definitely Marvel's most straight up villain but unfortunately not its deepest. A former blue collar worker attempting to salvage scraps from the Avengers New York Smackdown- he is sadly booted off the site by Stark's people. Toombs is in the game to make some green, so there's no tragic backstory or sinister revenge motive needed. Despite some well-acted moments, he just doesn't come across as particularly threatening. He is a smart guy and his schemes are always fool proof, this movie needs a stronger nemesis to make Spidey sweat. Another key issue is the lack of love interest, while Liz is a pretty and sweet young thing- she just doesn't seem deep enough for Peter repeatedly crush on. Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) feels drastically underused but thankfully she doesn't have the task of reminding us of power and responsibility. Despite these minor flaws, there is little else to really grip about.
Watts had a tough job balancing Spiderman: Homecoming, but he seems to stick the landing. His control of the action sequences is never less than gripping. The standout sequence comes when Spidey must save his friends at the Washington Monument. Rather than just retread the old and well known Peter Parker backstory, Watts simply gets on with the job. This lighter touch serves this reboot well and avoids adding more content than the film can handle. Peter's new suit is a recurring source of laughs, especially since he is barely in control of it. An array of cool new weapons (who knew Spidey had grenades?) could be a handy tool in future outings.
Tom Holland has been the perfect choice for Peter Parker and he comes the closest to accurately playing him. So lame he kind of cool, Holland embraces the awkward yet brave side of the character. Running headfirst into difficulties, Holland's over-excited Parker is believably rash when it comes to his choices. However, he gives this character a maturity that serves him well in the later stages. Michael Keaton again shows what great presence he can bring and how intimidating he can be in the right role. The problem is his Adrian Toombs doesn't have enough outside his tough guy persona. Keaton is great as the everyman wanting to provide, but this character is made for heavy lifting.
Spiderman: Homecoming shows that despite excessive reboots, Spiderman is still a character that has not lost its appeal.
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