THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
After Tom Holland amazed moviegoers with playing Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, we wanted more of him immediately and we were lucky enough not to wait too long.
PLOT
Spider-Man: Homecoming shows Peter Parker continuing to live his life as a high schooler, while also protecting Queens, New York as the titular vigilante and checking in regularly with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), hoping to get recruited as an Avenger. This is two months after aiding Tony Stark against Captain America in Germany. When his friend Ned finds out, he promises not to tell anyone, especially Aunt May. Instead of using his persona for popularity at a party hosted by his crush Liz, he witnesses people using advanced weapons similar to what he saw at an attempted bank robbery. He chases Herman Schultz and Jackson Brice but is stopped by Adrian Toomes, a man with mechanical wings. He is saved by one of Tony Stark's suits via satellite, who tells him not to go after these criminals. When Brice threatened to tell Toomes' wife of his actions after being fired, he is then killed by his former boss. Peter finds a weapon that was left behind and when he sees Schultz again, he puts a tracker on him, that leads to him in Washington, DC. He goes there with his decathlon team and Ned removes removes his tracker, unlocking its advanced features. Peter discovers that Toomes has been stealing from 'Damage Control', a government that cleans up after The Avengers. This company put him out of business and influenced him to be a weapons dealer. Peter stops him from stealing from one of their trucks, but gets stuck in the said truck. He eventually escapes the truck and the Damage Control facility after discovering from his AI Karen that the weapon he found was a Chitauri grenade. Ned has it with him and when going to the Washington Monument, the bomb goes off on an elevator. Thankfully, Peter is able to save all that were in the elevator. When returning home, he ditches detention to stop Toomes again. With information from Aaron Davis, a criminal he saved from death in the hands of Brice and Schultz, he finds him at a ferry. He stops another deal but Toomes flees when one of his weapons malfunctions. Stark shows up in person to save the ferry and punishes Parker by taking his suit, due to his recklessness. Afterwards, Parker asks Liz out to the homecoming dance, in which she accepts. When meeting up with her at her house, he discovers that her father is Adrian. Adrian also deduces who Peter is from Liz's account about him and threatens him not to interfere again. Pete ditches Liz at the dance and dons his homemade suit to stop her father. He fights Schultz again and beats him with the help of Ned. When catching up, he is trapped in rubble caused by Toomes, but he is able to escape and catch up again. Toomes attempts to rob a plane that is transporting weapons from Avengers Tower to a new HQ. Parker intercepts the plane but it crashes near Coney Island. His fight with his foe escalates, but he saves him from his suit that exploded, due to its damage from crashing and leaves him to the police. When Liz moves away after what had happened to her father, Michelle Jones aka MJ becomes the new decathlon captain. Stark offers Parker membership as an Avenger, but the teenager declines. Since he invited reporters for this announcement, he instead proposes to his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Peter does get his Stark Suit back but is caught wearing it by Aunt May. The film ends in post credits, with Adrian not revealing his identity to criminal Mac Gargan, who he knew at the ferry.
THOUGHTS
When first watching this film in 2017, I had as much of a blast as I do now. This was another entertaining film of the iconic superhero. Director Jon Watts is able to keep things fresh by nailing the high school perspective that Peter Parker famously lives through in every comic book he appears in, successfully making it more of a high school movie in the progress. It was highly necessary to skip his origin because we've already seen it twice on film, but it felt odd to not acknowledge Uncle Ben. I like that Stark is written to be Peter's mentor but I just hope that Ben isn't ignored forever because his infamous death sadly ensured that his nephew would be responsible with his abilities. The real problem with this movie is how it broke the MCU's timeline. The Avengers took place in 2012 and they're trying to say it took place in 2009, hence the tag "8 Years Later". That felt so unnecessary and honestly, it almost pulled me from the movie. If you can ignore that continuity error, you'll enjoy the rest of the movie. That may have been my biggest gripe but there were some other things I can’t help but call out. The weirdest continuity error would be the Academic Decathlon posters. One said it would happen in September and another said October. You pay attention to that, you’re gonna get pulled out of the movie again. In the opening, I have a hard time believing that the Damage Control people did not notice Toomes put the alien related device in his pocket in front of them. And I thought I needed glasses. I know Parker is young but since he exists in the MCU, how has he not seen the advanced weapons in his neighborhood in the (alleged) past 8 years. It’s really hard to believe that the ATM robbery was his discovery. While Aunt May does find out Peter’s Spider-Man by the end, it’s difficult to believe that she didn’t know beforehand considering he lost 5 backpacks in a row. Her suspicion should have been much higher. And when Peter talks to Ned of his powers in school, that was dumb because anyone other than Michelle could’ve heard that. I also find it odd that Tony tells Peter to call Happy if seeing other suspicious stuff involving Toomes’ crew because Happy ignores him. It’s even more annoying that Peter doesn’t mention that to him. Sure, they make amends once Happy thanks him for what he did but this rough patch is unnecessary. The ferry scene was crazy but Parker should’ve thrown the gun to the ocean rather than pinning it down with its webs. I do love the car exchange Toomes has with Peter but he’s not smart showing off his gun in the car, at a school during a dance, where many student would notice. The last thing that bothered me was how the second Shocker knew where Parker was exiting the school and when did he get there. Sure Toomes may have called him but Peter was in the school for under a minute in movie time, so it had to be luck that he was nearby to not only to get to the school but also find the right spot Peter would exit. If you ignore all of these flaws, you’ll still enjoy yourself with this film. Returning to the goods, Michael Giacchino provides an excellent score to this superhero journey that is almost as good in comparison to what Danny Elfman provided in the first two Spider-Man movies by Sam Raimi. And you know we can't enjoy a film like this without a memorable cast. Tom Holland ensures to him make his depiction of the character just as likable as the past actors have. Every action, every mistake he has grows his responsibility. He is brave to turn down every teenage moment he has because its a sacrifice he is willing to make to be a hero, continuing to be a character I look up to. Him ditching Liz at the dance is the best example because I personally would have not done so in his position. The one moment that truly defines Spider-Man in this movie is when he escapes the rubble. Pulled from the comic 'The Amazing Spider-Man #33', you are terrified that he is in pain calling for help, because it reminds us he's still so young. But the fact that he didn't give up and got out of there on his own is just awe inspiring. If you think you're not strong enough to do something you want/need to do, look at that scene. Going back to Stark, it was a surprise that he would be a mentor to this film's lead but Robert Downey Jr. is able to handle this spot well. You do understand that he doesn't want to recruit him yet because he wants him to live his teenage life and enjoy it while he can. Some viewers may complain that it doesn't feel like a Spider-Man movie when characters from Iron Man appear, but that is what you get when you're in the same universe. Ned is not the best friend in comparison to other comic book characters like Harry Osborn, but every joke Jacob Batalon has makes us forget his flaws. Never thought that saying 'I'm looking at porn' would be the funniest line I'd ever hear from this genre. I was surprised on how attractive Aunt May is in this film, considering that she's regularly depicted as elderly. But a gorgeous aunt is what you get when casting Marisa Tomei. Aside from her looks, her discovering what her nephew has been doing brings fresh air because she regularly doesn't know in the comics. The problem with this is that we don't see the aftermath of her accepting the situation. If May is gonna roll with it, we deserve to know why. I enjoyed Laura Harrier as the love interest Liz but it's a shame she might not return. This is Peter's first crush and it feels wrong that he doesn't tell her the truth. I understand he wants to protect her but she deserves to know, considering what happened to her father. While I still like her, the crumbs are cleverly spread for Michelle because Zendaya's sarcasm and unpredictable moments of notice keeps you interested. Considering that she became the new love interest in Far From Home and claimed to have known Peter's identity since the Washington, the best hint is when she looks at him when he's talking to Ned during P.E. class, as they talk of his encounter with Captain America. Speaking of Captain America, those PSAs are hilarious and I am blown away that they still got Chris Evans to do them. Tony Revolori is insanely over the top with the bully Flash Thompson, but that is the point in a high school movie. The only problem is that he never explains why Peter is his main target. It sounds too critique to point out but because that's never clear in the comics, I think it would be interesting to know why. It was clever to cast Jennifer Connelly as the AI Karen, because she has her own charm in comparison to her husband Paul Bettany, who transitioned from Jarvis to Vision in this franchise. It is another shame that she didn't return for the sequel. Having Donald Glover as Aaron Davis was a random choice but he keeps it interesting due to his layback attitude. His reference to his nephew Miles Morales does hype up the possibility on how the character will make a mark in the MCU when Holland is done playing Parker. It was also another clever casting decision to have Kenneth Choi return as a descendant to Morita, one of the Howling Commandos from Captain America: The First Avenger. I worried that too many villains would make the movie not so contained but thankfully, its not a misuse in comparison to Spider-Man 3. The fact that we got both Shockers was a treat because while Bokeem Woodbine expresses loyalty with Herman Schultz, Logan Marshall Green showed the disliking arrogance of Jackson Brice. Michael Mando may not be there much as Mac Gargan, but the stone is set that when we see him again, he will become Scorpion and that will be awesome expressing nothing but pure intimidation to those who cross him. The second he gets his suit, you just know he'll give Spider-Man a run for the money. It was really interesting to see Michael Churns as Phineas Mason aka The Tinkerer because rather than depicting him as insane man due to his intelligence, he's the calmest guy in the room full of villains. Since he and Schultz are still alive by the end, I'm really curious if they'll ever return alongside Gargan. Last but not least, Michael Keaton is a big highlight as Adrian Toomes aka the Vulture. The wings are easily what makes him menacing, due to great visual effects. He is also a menacing person but surprisingly coming from an understanding situation. Rather than being just as the psychotic as the comics depict him, they go towards the sympathetic route and it works. From the beginning, we understand that he was robbed from work and needed to provide for his family so he went down the path that was only good while it lasted. It was unjust for him to lose his job and it was reasonable to hate Stark because of his involvement with Damage Control. Although a twist involving family relations has been used over and over since The Empire Strikes Back but in this time around, the reveal of Liz and Adrian being related really caught me off guard because not once would I think that Adrian's family would advance the plot. It is also clever how quick he figures out who Peter is. Both scenes he has with Peter, threatening him before the dance and claiming how the wealthy like Stark don't care about middle class citizens like him, are so well acted by the two actors, making it more memorable in the process. In short, Spider-Man: Homecoming is another entertaining adaptation of the iconic web slinger but is still not better than Spider-Man 2. If you enjoyed what we got of this version of the character from Civil War, see it now.
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