Spidey's Finally Come Home, and the Wait was Worth It!

Rating: 9/10 (13 July 2017)

Thirteen years have now passed since the last truly great Spidey flick graced us with its presence in cinemas; Spider-Man 2 came out way back in 2004 (God, I feel old). And I was starting to believe we'd never see another good depiction of the web- slinger. Then, Marvel Studios signed a contract with the greedy ass-hats at Sony, and his movie rights were restored -- Spidey was finally back home.
Let me tell you: I never thought I would get to see Spider-Man (Tom Holland) humiliating low-life bike thieves and helping innocent old ladies cross the busy streets of Queens to the beats of "Blitzkrieg Bop" by Ramones, and it was glorious. Every bit of it worked. This fresh, light-hearted, John Hughes-esque take on everyone's favourite wall-crawler is exactly what we've needed, because we finally get to see him as he was in the comics: a nerdy, unpopular high-schooler -- just a kid.
Is this version of Peter Parker riding his skateboard in the halls of the school? Is he flaunting finger guns and air-humping in the streets of New York?? No, he's dealing with crushes, and parties, and dances -- all of which are, in the mind of a teenager, just as scary as having to battle it out with any winged super-villain. He also spends time building lego Death Stars and such with his pal, Ned (Jacob Batalon) -- who owns every second of his screen-time -- and, despite his advice from Tony Stark (RDJ), does not seem to want to "forget about the flying, vulture guy."
It's just not in Peter's nature to watch someone -- not unlike himself on a thematic level, by the way -- get away with so much bad, even when the reasoning is surprisingly sound (Michael Keaton's vulture is one of the better Marvel villains in recent memory). He carries with him this sense of child-like purity that we haven't seen before. Believe me: this charming innocence really comes into play near the climax of the film -- during a tremendously impactful tribute to a very special issue of the earlier comics. I might've even shed a tear or two.
I know that Spider-Man: Homecoming is already doing spectacularly well at the box- office, but I still encourage you to go and see it. Have fun with it. You haven't seen Spidey like this before, and he's well worth your time. It's great. Trust me.