Spider-Man: Homecoming

Score:  A-

Directed by Jon Watts
Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey, Jr., Marisa Tomei
Running time: 133 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  This Homecoming, just three years after the stalling out of yet another Spider-Man, was anticipated with skepticism by some, but like many heroes brought under the Marvel Cinematic Universe's umbrella, succeeds brilliantly.  Tom Holland is an excellent choice as the young new webslinger, and he alternates smoothly between deep immersion in the Avengers' story line and his own far more pedestrian (yet still interesting) Queens high school life.  Typical Marvel top-notch quality all around makes this a highly recommended theater viewing.


Having experienced a thrilling introduction to the Avengers via a battle splitting Tony Starks (Downey, Jr.) and Steve Rogers, young Peter Parker (Holland), aka Spider-Man, is promptly returned to his home in Queens.  Peter continues to take on small-time crooks at night (using a "Stark internship" as his alibi), but he longs for the day when Tony will call him up again to rejoin the Avengers.  Meanwhile, high school offers its share of trials and tribulations, from competition on the school's Academic Decathlon team to dreaming of his crush, Liz (Harrier), alongside his best friend, Ned (Batalon).  One night's crimefighting leads Peter to discover that new weapons, created from the alien remains from the Battle of New York, are being smuggled in the area.  Despite barely surviving an encounter with the smugglers' leader, Adrian (Keaton), and getting a warning from Stark, Peter is determined to solve the case himself.  The young Spider-Man is filled with enthusiasm but lacking in experience, and unaware of the dangers of his ambitions to those close to him.

Spider-Man: Homecoming benefits from the talents of both established veterans and fresh newcomers.  Tom Holland, an actor not much older than the teen he portrays, is a great fit in the role and a welcome follow up to Tobey Maguire.  Tom is able to convey the characteristics of a genuine teen, so that he fits into the high school scenes seamlessly (as opposed to making you wonder, "why is a superhero in high school?").  His teen eagerness for excitement and relevance beyond what he sees as his own small world are convincing and make for a great transition to his Spider-Man alter ego.  Yet the film never forgets that he is a newcomer, and he fails about as much as he succeeds.  The villain is played by Michael Keaton, who is as opposite in experience as you can get.  The role is given substantial background, providing nuance that Keaton digs into while also remaining quite menacing.  Fellow veterans Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr. (who gets a surprisingly large part) are also excellent.  Back to the other end of the spectrum, Tom's primary young companions are played by Harrier (his crush), Batalon (his best friend), and Zendaya (a friend, yet also a quirky loner).  None of them exactly do Oscar-caliber work, but most importantly they work well with Tom and maintain the authenticity of the film's coming-of-age elements.

This Spider-Man reboot, the third version in ten years, impressively manages to both refresh the franchise and also to incorporate it intriguingly into the immense Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It's also not particularly mysterious why it worked, as the latest incarnation differs in so many ways from its predecessors.  First, it blessedly and completely ignores Spider-Man's origin story - although that's not entirely accurate, as it does have a "replay" of events from last year's Civil War (but it's done succinctly, effectively, and with good reason).  Second, it has a really good villain.  Obviously it's a help to have Keaton play him, but the context fits really well into the MCU and the stakes are smaller than usual to fit the style of the film.  Most importantly (though connected to the first two), the film manages to tie Spider-Man to the Avengers' world in a compelling way, while somehow also developing a very non-Avenger-like (more like Ferris Buehler) everyday life for Peter Parker.  By introducing Spider-Man last year, the Avengers have a natural relevance to his story (plus some other reasons, brought in here).  And the script gives ample time to the normal high school stuff, showing how Parker must try to balance his full life, while not lingering too long on it, either.  Oh, right, this is a blockbuster, too?  Yes, Homecoming offers plenty of good action as well, having fun with Spider-Man's talent yet tendency to screw up, and confusion with his Iron Man-like suit.  My favorite set piece was a rescue at the Washington Monument that managed to kick in my fear of heights.

***

Marvel has done it again.  Its cinematic universe was already quite full, and while Spider-Man is one of Marvel's biggest characters he's also been run ragged by the recent "Amazing" reboot.  To have refreshed the character and pulled him into the larger Marvel world so seamlessly is a tremendous success.  Marvel did have a significant stumble earlier this summer with the Guardians sequel, but that seems even more now like it was the result of just trying to cash in on earlier success by making an even bigger (but devastatingly generic and pointless) follow-up.  When Marvel finds narrative purpose, like it did with Homecoming, the results are almost always spectacular.  They also once again found a perfect leading actor in Tom Holland, and the decision to stick Robert Downey, Jr. in there for a little mentoring almost feels like gloating.  A huge amount of fun, Spider-Man: Homecoming is finally getting this summer movie season on track.




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