Obvious title? Yeah, but I still couldn’t help myself when talking about the first Sony & Marvel Studios collaborated Spider-Man movie- and can I just say, THANK GOD!!!
Hey Everyone! We’re at the sixth stop on the Spider-Man marathon with his second reboot attempt that ACTUALLY TURNED OUT TO BE SUCCESSFUL in the form of Spider-Man: Homecoming. (Sorry, Garfield–you’ve had a great run if you weren’t dealt with one decent script and one that was pretty messy) As always, I’m gonna leave you guys (or girls, and I know it’s supposed to technically be ‘gals’, but well… you know what I mean, English is dumb!) with the IMDb link in place of the place summary. Although fortunately, the plot is much cleaner and easy to follow here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2250912/
Yup, we’re finally back to having great Spider-Man movies, because it is hard to make me not love Spider-Man: Homecoming… ok, that was awkward. Let me put it this way, this movie quite literally came out at the perfect time in my life. The prospect of having Spider-Man merge into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and in case it wasn’t obvious, those movies have *also* left a major impact on my life and tastes as a cinephile) was already getting 15-year-old me hyped as hell. Add on the fact that they were taking him back to high-school in John Hughes-esc style where I was going to be the same age as Peter Parker and my hype went into overdrive!
Fortunately enough, Peter Parker *AND* Spider-Man is the area where this movie succeeds the most, since Tom Holland is flat-out perfect in his performance here. I know this isn’t necessarily something original to say, but I still wanna’ mention this anyway: where Maguire nailed his version of Peter Parker and Garfield with his Spider-Man, Holland was great on both accords. Tom Holland has all of the charm and relatability in the world with his performance as it feels believable in the moments where he feels stuck in high school, just as much as the moment where he’s trying to save his friends from the Washington Monument. Oh yeah, his range is also completely dynamic in managing to switch between confidence in the suit to fear in the car is incredible.
At this point, saying that someone who goes by the Friendly Neighborhood Film Nerd sees himself in Peter Parker is like saying that Hogwarts is not exactly the safest school on the planet; yet with Tom Holland now more than ever, he gives me someone to know that it’s ok to be me and it’s ok to be the awkward guy in the corner. For that, I will always love what Tom Holland has done with role, especially since until “Spider-Man 716” comes out (where chances are, we’re actually going to have a Spidey that looks like Peter B. Parker from Into the Spider-Verse), his turn as Spider-Man/Peter Parker is my favorite bar none!
Now of course, Tom Holland isn’t the only one in costume who acts his butt off as Michael Keaton is equally excellent when playing the Vulture. This is a villain that could have easily failed in his transfer to the big screen (not to seem bitter buuuuuut, Electro… ‘Nuff Said). However, Keaton uses his magnetic presence to perfectly accentuate the everyday common crook who’s just trying to support his family, whatever means possible–except he’s a common crook who has a dangerous Vulture suit!
I cannot decide whether he or Al Molina as Doc Ock is the best Spider-Man villain onscreen because they’re both that awesome (Woohoo! No amazing puns necessary!); either way, Keaton made his stance here as one of the best villains in comic book movie history, just as Holland did in his overall portrayal of Peter Parker. In case you’re still not convinced this isn’t a great hero vs. villain dynamic (*I AM NOT ACTUALLY TRYING TO DOWNPLAY ANYONONE’S OPINIONS HERE! I just… needed something to transition into my next point), just take another look at the car scene with Peter & Toomes.
I mean, come on- it’s brilliant! Also, I may have already talked a lot about the performances from Tom Holland and Michael Keaton, that does not negate the fact the entire cast is utterly great! Everyone finds their own unique quirks to give themselves a chance to shine onscreen whenever the camera pans their way. More importantly, the diversity of this cast is incredibly wide-ranging and they DON’T really the feel the need to brag about it. In these times, this is really what people need to see.
The actress behind Liz actually had a couple really interesting quotes about how she thought that she and Zendaya were both going for the same roles, so I’ll leave a link here for your viewing (or reading???) pleasures: https://movieweb.com/spider-man-homecoming-zendaya-laura-harrier/
…boy, this is going on longer than expected! And crazy enough, I still have more to talk about here. You know what? Let’s all take a quick breather, think some happy thoughts, and get on with the show-
…welp, I hope that was relaxing. Anyway, I would feel mistaken if I did not mention how much personality the intentional John Hughes flare adds to this movie. Again, even though the title of this post is extremely post is extremely obvious (the movie even directly references Ferris Bueller’s Day Off– they knew what they were doing), I believe it perfectly encapsulates the energy and charm that this movie has at every single beat. On top of that, the amount of ways the filmmakers captures the high school experience, among many other subtler themes (I don’t even think most people realize how subtle this movie can get at times), helped to seal the deal on relatability from the first viewing all the way to now.
And oh yeah, the pacing is electric (and flies by quicker than you may realize); Jon Watts has great understanding of how to heighten the low-level and down-to-earth nature of this film with his direction; and the script continues to find ways to never let a smile off my face–even in the aforementioned car scene… yeah I’m weird like that! 😉
Really, the only thing that keeps Spider-Man: Homecoming from reaching the toppiest of the top tier (yup…) is how it could’ve reached a stronger dramatic pull. Don’t get me wrong, the movie still has a wide emotional spectrum and there are glimpses of some really compelling drama. Yet, the movie vears away from them too quickly and if it dug deeper into that territory, this movie could skyrocket from great to… even greater! (And spolier warning for a future review, this is the main reason why I consider Far From Home to be the better movie)
Regardless, this is still a great superhero and high school movie and, as is the case with the first two Raimi Spidey flicks and most of the MCU’s fare, Spider-Man: Homecoming is some nice cinematic comfort food!
Rating: 9/10 and I loved it! (This and Spider-Man (2002) are pretty neck and neck for me)
Welp, that took longer than expected! As always, if you’ve stuck around by this point, thank you so much!!! I meant to get this review out sooner, but because of the trappings that quarantine can create, my productivity rate has not been particularly high (to my own dismay). But, I promise to make next week’s review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse come out like clockwork… let the hype begin!!! Chances are, I will likely go into a deeper conversation about what’s going on in the world and even if I don’t, it still will be acknowledged nonetheless. I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again: my hope with this blog has always been to exude my passion and simultaneously entertain in the process, so me not mentioning anything is by no means a knock on the seriousness, severity, or importance of all that.
Still, I should at least mention this once: #BlackLivesMatter
Anywhoosers, if you enjoyed this review and thought that this movie acted as a nice return-to-form for Spidey, please feel free to let me know in the comments below. And as always, you should all know who I am this point…
I’m Alex, Your Friendly Neighborhood Film Nerd!!! (WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!
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Spinning the Cineweb 