Spider Boy - John Hughes meets comic book action

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2017)

Welcome home SpiderBoy! It is not often that a film that is a reboot of a reboot in a universe pumping out about three films a year somehow, improbably, fills you with movie joy. The difficulty level that Jon Watts faced as one of six writers and with a scant directing resume would have been enough to (and has) destroyed more seasoned professionals and yet the team has produced a film brimming with teen angst, recklessness, heroism â€“ The Breakfast Club for superheroes. The film is set just after the Battle of New York where we see alien artifacts are being harvested and some for nefarious purposes. Jump ahead a few years and Peter Parker/Spiderman played by Tom Holland is extremely keen to prove himself and get on the Avengers team and out of high school. Soon he becomes aware of a villain called The Vulture, ironically played by The Birdman Michael Keaton, who has assembled a gang of high tech thieves. All this is played against the travails of detention, teen crushes and being caught half way between kid and adulthood. Let's start with Jon Watts. I am actually amazed that he got this gig. I have never seen a Jon Watts' film though I have had his horror film "Clown" on my list for a while now. Still five films and then a 175 million dollar blockbuster â€“ that must have been some pitch! There were six or so writers which normally is a death knell for any film. Very hard for a film to have a consistent tone with that many voices but Spiderman HC does it. I suspect it is because we have two films being made â€“ one, a by the letter superhero film and the other a teen comedy. The writers look like they stayed on their respective fields with Watts and Kevin Feige (the Marvel ringmaster) keeping it all on point. Watts deftly keeps all the balls in the air and has a career about to rocket after this achievement. Watts was helped greatly by some impressive casting. Remember, Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland are only a year apart but Maguire acted like he was 35 and Holland looks all of the 15 that his Peter Parker represents. Watts needs to buy the Russo brothers a drink for casting Holland in "Captain America: Civil War" as he lights up the screen as a totally credible teenager. He is just reckless enough, just heroic enough, shy but with ego â€“ he really sells the role. Scene stealer Jacob Batalon as his best friend Ned gives great comic relief but also does a lot of heavy lifting in making the teen universe seem real. The rest of the cast are brilliant. I really mean this â€“ nearly every small role has a great young actor or comedian. Matthew Starr as a teacher, Donald Glover as a small time crook (even funnier as Glover once lobbied to be Spidey), Bokeem Woodbine, Hannibal Burress even Jennifer Connelly as Karen, Spidey's Costume AI. Still it is a truism that holds that the true measure of a superhero film is the villain against which he battles. Michael Keaton plays Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture. This is an interesting portrayal because he is a post Trump villain. Whenever he does something evil he can justify it as being put down by the big guys. I suspect people would vote for him. His group of villains are also relatively small scale. He is more Tony Soprano then The Godfather. Keaton is having a great mid-career renaissance and he has that excellent range that allows him to pivot between scenes, he never becomes cartoonish. This is an agile movie which for the most part is played for small stakes. The fact that the viewer is as worried about The Vulture as whether Peter will get to the Homecoming dance says a lot about the skill at play here. The film does suffer from being one set piece too long. At 133 minutes it would have been better served at coming in 15 or so minutes shorter. These are quibbles in the end because I laughed and aahed all the way through it. The Washington Monument set piece is beautifully composed mixing CGI and practical effects for maximum fun. This film owes just as much to John Hughes as it does to Sam Raimi and for me that is a heavenly cocktail.