Sean Marshall Spider-Man: Homecoming
RatedPG-13
DirectorJon Watts
Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier ,Tony Revolori,Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr.
Run time: 133 minutes
Spider-Man is a name that most casual moviegoers are familiar with without having ever picked up a comic book. In the early 2000’s Sam Raimi brought his take on Spider-Man, which started Tobey Maguire as your friendly neighborhood spider. Raimi’s trilogy left moviegoers & comic book fans divided until this very day.sony tried again but had Andrew Garfield take a shot at changing people’s minds with Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man duology, but the two films didn’t land well with audiences & Sony struck out twice. Eventually, Sony brought Spider-Man back to Marvel & decided to tap into a shared universe, which would have Spider-Man interacting with established characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is the first Spider-Man film that is actually set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The new film stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man & Michael Keaton as Spider-Man’s enemy Adrian Toomes/Vulture. Although we first saw Holland’s take on Spider-Man in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming brings us closer to Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The film follows Peter as he tried to juggle being Spider-Man, a high schooler & being thrown into a world a super villains. Even though he has some experience fighting heavy hitters in Captain America: Civil War, he’s still looked at as a child by Tony, which causes him to want to prove himself to Tony & the world even more.
The film was very well-paced & fluid. Holland, I have to say, is the best Spider-Man we’ve had on the big screen. Holland brings an energy that no other actor has brought to their take on Spider-Man. I guess you can say this energy is based on the emotions Holland brings to Spider-Man which makes him feel more relatable than ever. To be honest, I feel as though Peter is more like Tony than is in character, which can be a pro or con to some. I would rather Peter grow on his own & become his own character than a miniature Tony down the line, but if it works, it works. Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/Vulture was solid. This was definitely a different spin on the Vulture & he really brought a dark & confident tone to his character which is why I really want to see more from him. The way Keaton’s character was setup, I wouldn’t be surprised if he became a Kingpin-like character in the MCU. Newcomers Jacob Batalon (Ned), Laura Harrier (Liz) & Zendaya (MJ) did a fantastic job in this film, especially Batalon who will have you laughing continuously throughout the film. Zendaya’s MJ was very new & I enjoyed their spin on MJ in this universe because she is more relatable. MJ isn’t the pretty girl in school that every guy 
wants, but she is the odd one that is very smart & very observant, as we see throughout the film. Robert Downey Jr. (Stark/Iron Man) wasn’t in the film as much as I thought he would be, which is a good thing. Tony Revolori, who played Eugene “Flash” Thompson barely held any presence in the film & could’ve been left out of the movie with no take away from the film. One great thing that I like about the film is that they did confirm Miles Morales is living in this universe via a conversation between Spider-Man & Aaron Davis (Donald Glover), who is Morales’ uncle. We also spend some time with the MCU’s Shocker, who is played by Bokeem Woodbine.
Director Jon Watts did a really good job with bringing this world to life. Nothing felt forced or out of place. The story by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers was well-written & refreshing at times. There were some familiar tones that some may tie to Raimi’s first Spider-Man film that are grounded between Parker, Toomes & Liz, but it doesn’t take away much from the film.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is the best Spider-Man we’ve had on the big screen so far. Yes, it rivals Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. The film covers all grounds with its action, comedy & emotional punches. If you’re skeptical about Holland holding down Spider-Man on his own, I promise you your skeptism will be erased once you leave the theater.
Spider-Man: Homecoming Review
Pros
- The story was moving, action packed, humorous & well-written.
- Tom Holland is made Spider-Man feel genuine & more alive than ever before
- Michael Keaton is fantastic & I am looking forward to seeing more from his character in future films
Cons
- The twist in the film did feel somewhat taken from the twist in Raimi's first Spider-Man film
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