Spider-Man: Homecoming
by Jonathan Goldstein (screen story by) & John Francis Daley (screen story by)
Marvel Studios
Spider-Man: Homecoming is simply adorable due to a storyline and cast that stays firmly rooted in the crisis of adolescence. I didn’t find Spiderman to be as emotionally compelling as some other Marvel movies but I enjoyed it, and the young teens I took with me LOVED it. It’s the first Spiderman movie I’ve seen that really feels like a Spiderman movie.
Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place right after the events of Captain America: Civil War. This means that we don’t get Spiderman’s whole origin story. The viewer is expected to know that Aunt May is a widow because Uncle Ben died, but not without passing on the wisdom that “with great power comes great responsibility.” Peter has already been active as Spiderman for a while and he’s adorable but not very good at it (as the teens who I took to the movie said, “He TRIES really hard.”). What he IS good at is being cool with helping with little stuff, like giving a woman directions (“She bought me a churro,” he reports).
After the Civil War airport battle that Peter was present at, Tony Stark, who recruited Peter for that battle, gives Peter an improved suit and says, “We’ll call you.” He doesn’t, and Peter gets more and more frustrated. This leads him to take more risks and basically act increasingly stupid in attempts to prove himself to Tony. Basically, Peter is stupid in the exact manner that one would expect from a fifteen-year-old.
Homecoming works because it is firmly grounded in teenage experience in what feels like an authentic New York (although I wish more of the movie was shot on location). Tom Holland, who plays Peter Parker, is the youngest actor to do so, and he looks and sounds like a teenager. Most of the supporting cast is played by teenagers and almost all of the characters other than Aunt May, who is Italian-American, Peter, and The Vulture (we’ll get to him) are people of color. Special points for authenticity go to the fact that the local bodega has a cat. The cat is fine. Don’t worry about it.
Peter worries about Academic Decathlon, the girl he likes (not Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy), and his grades almost as much as he worries about fighting crime. As far as the villain, The Vulture, played by the always excellent Michael Keaton, he doesn’t care about world domination. He just wants to sell some black market stuff so he can pay off a mortgage and some loans and maybe also stick it to the rich people (heyyyy Tony) who have always screwed him over.
This movie doesn’t have the epic qualities of most Marvel movies, but that made it more emotionally compelling. I could get why The Vulture is pissed. I do not get, nor do I care, what’s up with Thanos or Ronan. The Vulture has a personal connection to Peter, an understandable motivation, and a truly terrifying moment in a car when he and Peter have a little chat, masks off. I know The Vulture can’t kill Spiderman, since the franchise is already green lit for two more sequels. But when Michael Keaton said, “I will kill you and everyone you love,” smiling all the while, I believed it.
I wouldn’t be a nerd if I didn’t quibble. The special effects are spotty. Danny Donald Glover has a small role that reminds us that in another world we could have had Danny Donald Glover as Peter (or Miles Morales). The female characters have agency but aren’t given much to do. Finally, we have to deal with Tony Stark and his daddy issues again. It’s cute to see him trying to be the Dad, but seriously I’m so over Tony and his daddy issues. Tony is rich. He can afford therapy. Move on.
On the whole, this was a wildly entertaining movie with real emotional heft. I liked the diverse casting, the idea that intelligence is valued, and the relative lack of angst. I loved Zendaya’s snark, which was On Point. I loved the PSAs from Captain America that show up periodically. My resident teen consultant had this comment about the high school’s morning announcement videos:
I was really impressed by the morning announcement quality, because they are exactly what ours look like. The level of cringe was fantastic.
I have two wishes for the sequel. One is for the female characters to have more to do. They weren’t running around getting damseled (mostly), and they didn’t exist just to show Peter How to Be A Good Guy. But they also simply didn’t have much reason to be there. My second wish, which is related to wish number one, is that Peter reveal his Spiderman identity to the Decathlon team. This would fit with the Found Family trope of which Marvel is so fond, and it would give Zendaya’s character a reason to be more active in Spidey’s life. Fingers crossed!
Spider-Man: Homecoming is in theaters now. Tickets (US) are available at Fandango and Moviefone.
Donald Glover. Not Danny. Thanks for the review!
Yes, the above.
Although… I would pay to see Danny Glover as the senior incarnation of a Donald Glover Spidey.
In the suit and swinging past the mall walkers and everything.
EEEP. Fixed – and my apologies.
Though what a mental image, Ren. Can that get greenlit, please?
Given how the movie ends I’d say there’s a good chance that this Spider-man is going to have a larger circle of people knowing who he is.
I’m hoping the sequel doesn’t skip over an obvious scene between two characters, based on what happens right at the end. (I don’t want to say who, because spoilers, but I imagine it would be epic.)
Has anyone else seen Danny Glover’s recent projects with Danny Trejo? Bad Asses. You won’t regret it.
Spiderman has never been a particularly compelling character for me, and teenage angst is generally not compelling subject matter for me, but we may see this in the theatre just because we’re stressed out and we need some high-quality special-effects extravaganza in our lives.
Also, I’m sorry but I would totally watch two hours of RDJr as Tony Stark discussing his issues (ALL THE ISSUES) with a psychiatrist.
@chacha1, I agree with you on teen angst. Especially as written by some adult writers who seem to forget what it was like to be a teenager and piled on the angst, forgetting that teens actually do laugh a lot of time, just maybe not at the same time or at the same things as the adults in their life.
But I found just the right amount of teen angst in this film and it fit in nicely with everything else going on in Peter’s life. It wasn’t overdone or tacked on, it made sense. And there’s a nice amount of humour going on too to balance it out.
I really enjoyed this film but would be delighted to see Zendaya get more to do in the next one.
Possible SPOILERS ahead!!! Im too excited and may let something slip!! If you haven’t seen this movie yet, DO IT!! ❤️❤️
I’m a huge MCU nerd and I loved this Spider-Man incarnation!! FINALLY we have an actor who is very believably both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. And I loved that this was kind of on a smaller scale than previous movies because Peter’s excitement that’s he’s a part of the team and then slow realization that he’s not really and the disappointment that follows is so well done. He wants to be an Avenger!! But Tony won’t call him back!! Also, this girl is so pretty and I have no idea what to say to her!! It’s so perfectly teen angsty because I remember being that age and everything feels so huge. It harkens back to John Hughes movies which, the director, Jon Watts, cited as a source of inspiration for this movie. Plus, there was the cute Ferris Bueller tribute, which I loved. Also, Donald Glover, aka Aaron Davis, aka Prowler, is hopefully being set up to appear in future movies. Plus, the mention of “his nephew” means maybe we will someday see Miles Morales? We can only cross our fingers! Also, THE MID-CREDIT SCENE!! “What the …?!” I have no words! Then also the end credit scene! Although, Chris Evans is my fantasy husband, so I wouldn’t care if he recited the ingredients in dog food, I’d watch. I can’t wait to see where they go from here. And we only have to wait a few months for Thor! Woohoo!
Thanks so much for your review, Carrie!!
I liked so many things about this movie. Holland was charming, vulnerable, and geeky as Peter, and I enjoyed how they made him your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man doing small acts of kindness (like helping an old woman with directions), rather than always fighting these big, epic battles.
I also liked that Vulture was just a guy trying to support his family/business and not bent on world domination/destruction (like so many of the superhero villains are). Plus, there was a nice twist with Vulture that I didn’t see coming.
I *loved* the Captain America PSAs, especially the one at the end. There were also a lot of fun Easter eggs and references to the Marvel universe. I also loved that they used the theme music from the old Spider-Man TV show over the Marvel credits at the beginning.
There was a bit too much CGI at the end for my tastes, but this is my favorite superhero movie so far this year (I’ve seen Guardians 2 and Wonder Woman, but not Logan yet). It was just such a fun movie.
I liked it! But it was so long! Wasn’t it? I kept wishing for just a smidge of editing to make it maybe fifteen minutes shorter. Maybe I’m just getting to be a grouchy old person who can’t sit on my butt for that long… My teens had a fantastic time, and I loved that it was so perfectly written for their demographic.
I thought is was wonderful! Best Spiderman yet. And I agree with Michelle above, this is the first actor who I felt pulled off the tragic teen life of Peter and the fun quips/quipping? Spidey is known for. I read online that the director had the ‘young-uns’ (my word choice) watch John Hughes movies to get the vibe he wanted, so good call again Michelle!
And Michael Keaton was amaze-balls in my book! I enjoyed Zendaya’s character sneaking IN to detention. Such an angsty thing to do I laughed about it for days.
I rate it behind Guardians 2 and above Wonder Woman. But I love Michael Rooker and Wonder Woman lost a few points with the angsty silent chanting of “STEVE?”
Tom Holland was PERFECT as Spider-man, just PERFECT. And the running gag about how hot Marisa Tomei/ Aunt May is? Hilarious.
That CAR SCENE THO. Like, I know this movie has planned sequels out the wazoo but in that moment I sincerely didn’t know how the movie was going to end. It was so tense I walked out of the theater still feeling heart palpitations.
I know it wasn’t as dramatic and “meaty” as some of the other Spiderman films (or not-genre films) but it didn’t have to be. It was fun and believable and thats all it needed to be.
I immediately got this Tom Holland mixed up with Tom HollandER… (the Mr Collins from the Keira Knightley film).
“Huh? Does he have a son? Because he is NOT young!…Or American. [Google] …Oh!”
I enjoyed this movie (review at http://thearmchaircritic.blogspot.com/2017/07/spider-man-homecoming.html ) as it’s less cosmic or world-dominating than other superhero movies (the villain wants to make money, and he’s driven to crime by having his job taken away by the feds). I did think it was a little long, though.
Also (pet peeve coming), it’s SPIDER-MAN, not Spiderman. Is anyone with a hyphenated last name fine with folks losing the hyphen and squeezing it down to one word? Spider-Man. It’s written that way in all the comic books and all the movies.
Tom Holland is indeed a talented young man.
Do yourselves a favour and watch him Lip Sync Battle:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ljh3p
(He played Billy Elliot for a couple of years in the West End in London)
I loved the movie and saw it partly because of this review. Two movies! (in less than two months is a lot for me.) So fun!
I now have a crush on Tom Holland so it was a relief to know he is 21. So cute!
Spoiler
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My favorite cute teenagey thing was the Lego Death Star.
So Zendaya’s character starts off as Michelle (according to IMDb), but at the end she asks to be called MJ just like Mary Jane in the (Tobey MaQuire movies). The teens in the theater were calling her Mary Jane. That’s either confusing or deliberate or both. It makes me wonder…
@Emily, SPOILERS
According to big Marvel architect/producer Kevin Feige, “We never even looked at it as a big reveal necessarily but more of just a fun homage to his past adventures and his [Peter Parker’s] past love,” he says. “She’s not Mary Jane Watson. She never was Mary Jane Watson. She was always this new high school character, Michelle, who we know there’s an ‘M’ in Michelle and an ‘M’ in Mary. So we’re so clever and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat if her initials were MJ?”
I don’t think there will be a Mary Jane Watson in the MCU because she was in both the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions (though her scenes were cut from Amazing Spider-Man 2), but I DO think it is conceivable that Michelle will be a future love interest. We shall see! ❤️❤️
Anyone who thinks Michelle/MJ doesn’t know that Peter is Spider-Man wasn’t paying attention. They made it clear she’s whip-smart (Decathlon, Washington Monument) and her last banter is Romita-era at worst.
She has all the information Vulture had, plus she got to see and hear S-M in DC. She’s playing a long game.
The movie is great..
And I guess there will be a sequel.
Watch Spider-Man:Homecoming online
That was just as cute as a button, and I think the funniest Marvel-based movie since maybe Guardians of the Galaxy? All my favorite Marvel movies have been ones that I didn’t expect much from, and that was the case here. Tom Holland’s Spiderman was exactly what you would expect a teenage boy with superpowers to act like. In the next movie, along with more time on the female characters, I would love to see Peter using his brains to solve problems a bit more. He’s a really, really smart kid, and this time around that was mostly used for background color.