Spider-Man: Homecoming

Yeah, I am really behind on writing about this movie. Sorry. Been kind of busy, you know, being a dad.

I would like to start by saying that I really liked this movie. So do not take everything I am about to say as someone denouncement of this film. If you want to skip this rant, then scroll down to the bullet points.

Why is that every time I read something about this movie, there is always some line like “so great to FINALLY get a good Spider-man film!” Umm, what? Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were great movies. Did they have some problems? Yeah, some of the special FX are a little dated now. And yes, I realize the organic webshooters really irked some people. Okay, people did not like that Spidey was a little older. Whatever. Do you realize that when that movie came out, we had not seen a good Marvel based comic book movie in…well ever?

One of the great things about the first two movies (and even to a lesser extent, the third film), the villains were fantastic. They were bad, but there was also this draw to them. You hated Norman Osborne, but at the same time, you felt bad when he dies and his only wish is for Harry not to know. Or what about Doc Ock? He wants his experiment to succeed or it means that his wife died for nothing. Those movies focused a bit more on the villains than probably any of the MCU films (maybe all of them combined).We could understand those characters, feel for them, and when they die, there is a feeling there.

Also, Tobey Maquire played the role of nerdy loser to perfection. The beginning of the first film where you see the losers on the bus and Peter Parker is like “that’s not me, not that one either, I wish that was me. Nope, this is me.” And you see him chasing the bus and even the driver thinks he is a loser. You actually feel bad for Peter Parker. You got the sense that he was bullied, that he was not a wise-crackin’ smartass. And yet, when he dons his Spidey duds and goes out to fight crime, he has this confidence. He can make jokes, he can finally stop being afraid to be himself.

Okay, rant over…my thoughts on Spider-Man: Homecoming.

-It was cool seeing Peter Parker as a kid. I like that Tom Holland is not a big guy. He is only 5’8″. You definitely get the sense that he is a kid out there fighting against men.

-There was no origin. At this point, if you do not know Spider-Man’s origin, then you should not be at a movie called Spider-Man. We have had two origin stories (both told it basically the same exact way). We did not need a third. Peter telling Ned an abbreviated version of what happened was good enough.

-The Vulture was great. Especially for a MCU villain. We actually got a little backstory (and it was tied to the Avengers). The big revelation (spoiler) comes towards the end though, when we learn that Michael Keaton’s character is the father of Liz, Peter’s homecoming date and the girl he has been crushing over the entire movie. Keaton pulls that scene off so well. The questions in the car as he works it out and then the little showdown about how he will let him live if he just leaves things alone.

I also really loved when they face off in the warehouse and Adrian is talking, just buying his exo-suit time. He really is going to have no qualms about murdering this kid, who his daughter is dating. I mean, most dads say they want to kill their daughter’s prospective boyfriends, but damn.

-I also liked the whole Peter waiting for his big call from Tony Stark. And the feeling that Happy and Tony are just ignoring him, until Peter screws up. One of those great moments is when Tony says to him that he needs to be more of a neighborhood Spider-Man and do more stuff like help the lady with directions. Proves that even though they were not responding, they were monitoring him.

There was not too much to really dislike about the movie. It fits the MCU mold perfectly well. I look forward to seeing more of this version in other MCU films and in the next standalone.

Author: Ngewo