A-Directed by Jon Watts Starring Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr, and Michael Keaton Review by Phil Crone |  |
One thing I’ve come to respect about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is their willingness to gamble by straying away from the standard superhero genre. Whether it be creating a ragtag underdog team like “Guardians of the Galaxy” or going full-on heist movie with “Ant-Man,” The MCU has never feared a little genre bending. So, what does it opt to do once it finally gets its hands on the coveted “Spider-Man” franchise again? Of course, make a teen comedy out of it! “Spider-Man: Homecoming” successfully manages to be a teen comedy with superhero trappings thanks to a strong cast of characters and the proper grounding of a universe often lacking exactly that.
Like any good teen comedy, the characters are the backbone of their success. “Homecoming” hits this out of the park with the three most important characters. Peter Parker exuded infectious excitement in his brief appearance in “Captain America: Civil War,” and that spills over into “Homecoming.” Watching his early exploit of learning how to be an Avenger on-the-job is a lot of fun thanks to the performance of Tom Holland and directing of Jon Watts. Parker’s best friend, Ned, perfectly fits the bill as the loyal sidekick who provides more than enough comedy relief. Eventually, Parker gets his own “suit voice” a la Iron Man’s Jarvis, whom he names Karen, and she too proves to be a fun source of comedy.
Then there’s Toomes, played by Michael Keaton. Not surprisingly, Keaton turns in a great performance as the main villain. Toomes successfully manages to be both a brutal antagonist and very much human. Not to dive too far into his motivations, the best villains are the ones who think they are the hero of the story, and Toomes clearly believes this. The MCU tends to get knocked for having a villain problem, but that isn’t the case here.
Unfortunately, beyond the three above, no characters introduced to the Marvel franchise are worth writing home about. Peter’s love interest, Liz, is nothing more than an object to either be desired or saved. Flash is fine as a corny high school bully, but that’s all he is. Aunt May seems wildly underutilized and only needed to exist to let the audience know Peter had a guardian.
Given that “Homecoming” is set in the MCU, it struggles with the usual question: there’s so many powerful heroes out there… Why not call one of them? The presence of Iron Man vets Robert Downey Jr and Jon Favreau could have turned out to be overpowering and distracting, but they actually prove to benefit the plot. Stark is used just enough as a father figure and guardian angel for Parker while giving some grounding to the proceedings, going so far as to state that Parker’s battle with Toomes was “below [The Avengers’] pay grade.” It’s a smart inclusion in a world that needs a number of conceits to be even remotely believable.
Beyond the superhero fare, watching Parker being a high school nerd is a surprisingly large amount of the action, and if you like those John Hughes movies, you’re going to enjoy this. Clear inspiration is being drawn from those movies, although it was nice when the movie was just winking and nudging as opposed to flat out plastering it on the screen as it happened with a “Ferris Bueller” reference.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” is just a ton of fun, period. Whether it be watching Parker bumble around as Spider-Man or as a high school sophomore, I enjoyed the ride start to finish. The movie shares a lot of DNA with “Ant-Man” in that it successfully makes a fun movie that just happens to include some superhero stuff too. Sure, there are a few throwaway characters and better use could have been made of its resources, but “Homecoming” nails the important stuff, namely its hero and villain. A-
Then there’s Toomes, played by Michael Keaton. Not surprisingly, Keaton turns in a great performance as the main villain. Toomes successfully manages to be both a brutal antagonist and very much human. Not to dive too far into his motivations, the best villains are the ones who think they are the hero of the story, and Toomes clearly believes this. The MCU tends to get knocked for having a villain problem, but that isn’t the case here.
Unfortunately, beyond the three above, no characters introduced to the Marvel franchise are worth writing home about. Peter’s love interest, Liz, is nothing more than an object to either be desired or saved. Flash is fine as a corny high school bully, but that’s all he is. Aunt May seems wildly underutilized and only needed to exist to let the audience know Peter had a guardian.
Given that “Homecoming” is set in the MCU, it struggles with the usual question: there’s so many powerful heroes out there… Why not call one of them? The presence of Iron Man vets Robert Downey Jr and Jon Favreau could have turned out to be overpowering and distracting, but they actually prove to benefit the plot. Stark is used just enough as a father figure and guardian angel for Parker while giving some grounding to the proceedings, going so far as to state that Parker’s battle with Toomes was “below [The Avengers’] pay grade.” It’s a smart inclusion in a world that needs a number of conceits to be even remotely believable.
Beyond the superhero fare, watching Parker being a high school nerd is a surprisingly large amount of the action, and if you like those John Hughes movies, you’re going to enjoy this. Clear inspiration is being drawn from those movies, although it was nice when the movie was just winking and nudging as opposed to flat out plastering it on the screen as it happened with a “Ferris Bueller” reference.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” is just a ton of fun, period. Whether it be watching Parker bumble around as Spider-Man or as a high school sophomore, I enjoyed the ride start to finish. The movie shares a lot of DNA with “Ant-Man” in that it successfully makes a fun movie that just happens to include some superhero stuff too. Sure, there are a few throwaway characters and better use could have been made of its resources, but “Homecoming” nails the important stuff, namely its hero and villain. A-
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