Director: Jon Watts Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr. Studio: Marvel Studios Genre(s): Action Rated: PG-13 (For sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments) |
The most unique thing about “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is that
Peter Parker is played by an actual teenager.
I have no idea what sort of praise that’s supposed to be. Is that going to be enough for movie goers
these days? Is it enough for me? Am I still writing about Spider-Man? Throughout the year when I have discussed my
career as a film critic this character has been sort of a punching bag for why
being a critic is not as easy as it sounds.
I jokingly have been saying “I’ve been writing Spider-Man reviews since
2001. Honestly…what else can I say about
this character?” What else, indeed? I know: First world problems of someone who
makes a living talking about movies. You
don’t want to read it, and likely suspect I am stalling (which, in all
fairness, I am).
Going into this movie you have likely heard that this is the
first Spider-Man movie that is part of the hugely successful Marvel Cinematic
Universe. The previous films had all
been independently produced by Sony, who did not share notes with Marvel and
weren’t too keen on sharing profits with the (now powerhouse) studio. After a reboot failed to create a Spider-Man
Cinematic Universe for them, they packed it in, made a deal with Marvel, and
this freed the character to pop up in “Captain America: Civil War” for a quick
cameo, and based on that cameo we now have the setup in “Spider-Man:
Homecoming,” where Peter (Tom Holland) is aching to join the Avengers and go on
“real missions” with the big boys. His
constant whining about being treated like a kid is going to bother a lot of
people. It didn’t with me though. Because he’s a kid. So…he whines.
Yeah, I wasn’t kidding when I said I was running out of things to say
about him.
Aside from actual teenage angst this time around, we have a
Spider-Man who has more tools at his disposal then he ever has before, yet he
isn’t good at using any of them. This is
going to be a huge problem when a villain dressed as a big metallic bird (who
is named Vulture…pointing that out here because the movie fails to) swoops in
and sells a lot of alien weapons to common thugs. The fact that both have lots of gadgets but
have different skill sets when it comes to using them adds to the
excitement. Some of the audience members
who saw the film with me were frustrated that Spider-Man doesn’t have complete
control of his suite, but it didn’t bother me.
Because he’s a kid. So…he has a
lot to learn. I’m sorry to keep beating
that point home but it really is the most noteworthy thing to say about this
new incarnation of the character.
Really, I think most people who see this are going to be looking so much
at Spider-Man that they miss the real star of the show: Michael Keaton as
Vulture.
Real name Adrian Toomes, Keaton plays the most unique villain
in the MCU since Loki made his debut in “Thor.”
Toomes may be the least evil antagonist Marvel has given us in many a
year, selling weapons on the street to make money for his family. Money, they desperately need after the Avengers
cost his men a job that almost bankrupted them.
With the events in this film and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Tony Stark
(Robert Downey, Jr.) seems to be causing more problems than he’s solving, and
it will be interesting to see how the MCU deals with this ‘inconvenient truth’
in future films. This is also the
perfect part for Keaton, who has been in both Hollywood and independent films
throughout his career, and made his name by playing Bruce Wayne/Batman many
years ago. Now he is coming full circle,
bringing all the chops that made him a great hero and using them to make a
great villain.
Still…it must be said that this isn’t so much of a new Spider-Man
movie as it another installment in the MCU.
Tony Stark shows up to tie the movie into other movies you may or may
not have seen. This has been a problem
for years, but it seems especially offensive here. The movie doesn’t have the heart of “The
Amazing Spider-Man” or the emotional depth of “Spider-Man 2,” so while it
should go without saying, we’ve seen better from this character. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” may possibly be the
most fun Spider-Man movie I’ve seen, but I left feeling it was similar in tone
and identity to all the other Marvel properties, that while I enjoyed the movie,
I ultimately had a problem with it. Fans
have been clamoring for Spider-Man to join the MCU. That’s nice and all, but is that a benefit
when the character loses his identity and ends up with a movie that feels
exactly the same as the rest? I’ll leave
that for you to decide.
|
|
|
|
| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is a fair amount of violence and language. That said, the violence is more on the mild side (as it is for most Spider-Man movies), so it's really just the naughty words most parents are going to object to. Recommended for ages 12 and up.
|