Spider-Man: Homecoming
review: 2.5 out of 4
by Manuel Reynoso
Spider-Man: Homecoming is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, The film is directed by Jon Watts, with a screenplay by the writing teams of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, Watts and Christopher Ford, and Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Starring Tom Holland as Spider-Man, alongside Michael Keaton and Jon Favreau.
Every time I see a marvel movie, I always tell myself this is the last one. That these series really doesn’t do it for me, or that they’re not what I’m looking for in a superhero movie. But I always end up dipping my toes back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe every so often just to see what I’m missing, and to be honest, it didn’t really feel like I was missing much. We’ve all seen Spider-Man’s origin story; we’ve seen marvels movie magic. Spider-Man Homecoming simply offers more of the same. Great acting, great visual effects, but a simple story. But if you’re a fan of the MCU it’s worth the watch.
These reviews are always the most difficult for me to write as I don’t really find anything that stands out to me. Every story beat follows the generic hero’s journey arc and doesn’t try to differentiate itself further. It’s a story about Spider-Man. Not about Peter Parker. That’s an important distinction to make as one story is about action, the other about character. Personally I very much prefer the latter and if you do too, I can’t find anything special about the story. It’s competent and well told as most Marvel movies, but lacks serious character development. Thankfully, the great visuals afforded by a bottomless budget makes it a fun watch.
Marvel Movies rarely suffer from a lack of spectacle and Spider-Man: Homecoming is no different. There are some great high flying moments throughout the film, and I would be lying to myself if I was to say I didn’t have fun watching them. The third act was a little bit of a let down compared to the rest of the film. Which strange enough seems to be par for the course for many of the MCU films.
For me personally, casting was superb. While I admit to having a certain amount of nostalgia for the original Spider-Man, Tom Holland is a great fit for Peter Parker. Much more fitting than perpetual high schoolers, Tobey Maguire. Plus I’m always a fan of literally whatever Michael Keaton decides to portray. They both did a stellar job and Michael Keaton’s portrayal of the Vulture really carried the film for me.
So really, Spider-Man: Homecoming is just fine. It’s really not my type of movie but I can’t in good conscious fault a movie for not conforming to my tastes. There isn’t going to be much technically wrong about the film, it accomplishes being a solid (and hopefully final) reboot of Spider-Man and if you’re a fan of Spider-Man or the MCU, it will likely be worth the watch. Quickly for the sake of transparency, I’d like to quickly explain how I rate the movies I watch. Typically, If a film does not have any egregious technical problems, whether that be in its writing, cinematography, or whatever else, I won’t rate it any lower than a 2.5. Anything above 2.5 comes down to my personal preferences in film. So while I rate Spider-Man: Homecoming a 2.5, it can vary much be your very own 4 outa 4. Pg-13 2h13m
