Being the sixth film in the last 15 years to feature the web-slinging Marvel hero Spiderman, director Jon Watts and his team of five writers had something to prove. At this point, audiences are right to feel oversaturated with Spiderman so Homecoming had to offer up something new and fresh. It achieves this largely by smart casting. Tom Holland is by far the most likable Spidey of the three actors who have portrayed him since 2002. It is too bad the film around him is routine.
Homecoming decidedly puts the focus more on Peter Parker, high school nerd, than it does his superhero counterpart. The film eagerly explores the youthful desire to do something great against the realities of needing to mature and develop. For its first hour or so, the film mixes high school movie cliches with a charismatic Holland to create a fresh take on the MCU. Gone are the heroics and in place are brash but earnest efforts at saving people and fighting baddies.
Thankfully the film skips any kind of origin story and instead opens up with a clever twist on the scene from Captain America: Civil War that featured Spiderman. From here the film establishes a flesh and blood villain called The Vulture (Michael Keaton). Keaton goes all in, relishing getting to play a villain. Homecoming does a nice job of making us understand and even sympathize with The Vulture's illegal arms dealing.
The film works for a while due to the charm of Holland. When it focuses on Peter's balance of homework, family, friends and being a superhero, there is a real zip to the film. Here's the thing, the film feels fresh for a bit but soon you realize that mixing a so-so teen movie with a routine superhero movie doesn't mean the film is unique. The film owes a great deal to the TV show Freaks and Geeks both in one star, the terrifically deadpan Martin Starr, and in a screenwriter, John Francis Daley. As the film progresses to the inevitable showdown between Spiderman and The Vulture, the film looses any originality it might have had and quickly becomes something we have seen before.
I can see why people will love this version of Spiderman more than previous incarnations. I may agree with them. It is a shame the movie around Holland's pitch-perfect take on Peter Parker isn't better as this may have been a contender for the best film in the MCU. However the film hardly generates any excitement or suspense. The most tense scene features Peter trying to sneak back into his room unnoticed. This is perhaps due to the bumbling and goofy treatment given to Spiderman's antics.
In the end, there isn't much to walk away from Homecoming with. The film makes no lasting impression in the same way Sam Raimi does with the emotional content of his Spiderman trilogy. If this film didn't pull in Iron Man (Robert Downy Jr), I don't think it would even feel important to the overall MCU. Watts brings very little visual inventiveness to the film and as a result there are no iconic moments. Think of how quickly the upside-down kiss from Raimi's Spiderman achieved pop culture status. Nothing is Homecoming comes close.
3/5
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