We though that the Spider-Man movies were finished, right? I am interpreting that whether or not the Spider-Man films had their run. We've had 5 whole movies. But, when Captain America: Civil War came out, people praising the movie but one of the few aspects that was talked about was Spider-Man. Tom Holland surprised many people including myself in his limited screen time and also how the Russo Brothers, the directors of the two latter Captain America movies, incorporated both the character/superhero into the MCU franchise. Going into this movie, I had somewhat good expectations, not great compared to the Marvel fans or as an overall summer movie, because of Sony Pictures and how they interfered with the other movies. Because of the agreement between Sony and Marvel, I had faith and this time around, my faith in them has paid off because this is a fun, different origin story that combines both a John Hughes sort of movie and a solid superhero movie.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is a high school student at Midtown High, living with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). After the events of Civil War, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and his bodyguard, Happy (Jon Favreau), bring Peter in the limo telling him to lay low and wait until he gets a call from Stark for his next mission. He has a best friend named Ned (Jacob Batalon), who makes plans to build a Lego Death Star. Peter also has a crush named Liz (Laura Harrier) while is frequently bullied a snotty kid named Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori). While out of school, Peter becomes Spider-Man, helping people out and defeating other criminals, for example, four crooks mask themselves as the Avengers while robbing the bank.
However, while at a party, Peter sees an explosion in the distance. He goes to investigate and he finds Brice and Schultz (Logan Marshall-Green and Bokeem Woodbine) selling Chitauri tech to a local tech gangster named Aaron Davis (Donald Glover). Peter's cell goes off and he tries to fight off the crooks with a little help of an Iron Man suit, finding out where he was because of a tracker that is in his suit. Tony calls in and tells him to stay out of crime fighting for his own good. Back at Adrian Toomes' (Michael Keaton) lair, everything is going wrong and Toomes is going to crack up his Vulture suit that is full of Chitauri power and hatch up his plan.
I did not want to reveal too much about the plot of the movie but I will say that I was happily surprised as to how much sense each component of the story have gotten to fully maintain a superhero film. I mean, maybe except Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, all of the superhero movies have had compelling storylines with darker themes of family, love and redemption. This was sort of a breath of fresh air because this is a lighter tone and makes Spider-Man's different origin story a lot more fun with a few spots of darker tones. However, what I really liked about the movie are the performances and the characters.
Tom Holland fits in the Peter Parker/Spider-Man persona like a glove: he is a smart but lively normal teenage who wants to go on adventures and impress his elders. He is fantastic and makes you care about him a tad more than the character played by Tobey Maguire. I was a bit skeptical about its marketing because they used a lot of Downey Jr. but he's not in the movie that much as he is a supporting player this time around. Jacob Batalon steals every scene as his best friend making funny remarks about the suit and other things. Laura Harrier, Zendaya, Tony Revolori and Marisa Tomei are terrific. And, last but certainly least, I wanted another memorable villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it has been a while since Loki and Michael Keaton is quite great as the Vulture as it makes sense as to why he hatching his plan and has his own vendetta against a certain character.
I thought it was a weird choice having director Jon Watts at the helm because his filmography is Clown and Cop Car, two very different movies with dark themes. But, he displays a full ray of energy with the Spider-Man character and its plot while incorporating some subtler, dark themes. Even though this is a very fun superhero film, there are a few missteps. Some of the visual effects are not quite up to par and the final fight like Wonder Woman does drag out as it starts exciting and then it gets a bit impatient as they need to fill in the running time to extend the fight as necessary. It had too much going for it as a little bit of the editing is lost in the shuffle. However, the action sequences are fantastic (one involving a cruise), the characters are fleshed out well, the score by Michael Giacchino is quite lively and the storylines incorporate the coming-of-age/superhero genre well. If you want to have another rousing adventure with a familiar superhero, Homecoming is it.
***1/2
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