Ferris Bueller in Spandex

Rating: 8/10 (11 July 2017)

Spider-man Homecoming
Do we really need another reboot?
I asked myself this as I settled into my seat. 3D glasses adorned I pondered over other nagging thoughts. If I have to sit through Uncle Ben croaking it in the street again I'm leaving. If I have to watch Peter Parker get bitten by a radioactive spider again I'm asking for my admission fee back! If I'm subjected to the whole Mary Jane romance crap again I'll probably implode right there in my cinema seat!
Thankfully those guys and gals at Marvel must have read my mind. Well done Sony for handing Spidey back to his rightful owner. After all we haven't had a good Spider-man movie since 2004.
Homecoming is a coming of age movie. A Spider-man begins but without the backstory that we've all seen before. Even if you haven't a quick nudge at the geek sat next to you would quickly bring you up to speed. Well done Marvel for taking risks. This time we get to see a teenager struggling with not only his new found abilities but with growing up. Everyday struggles that we can relate to. Let's say Ferris Bueller in spandex! Tom Holland is probably the best incarnation of the character yet. Don't get me wrong Maguire and Garfield are fine actors but they looked more like thirty year olds trying to play a teenager. Holland however fits the Spidey suit perfectly. His performance is so good he's the Peter Parker from the comic that has jumped straight out of the page and on to the big screen. This movie ties in nicely too with the Marvel universe. The use of existing history help set the story for this movie. Bringing me to the villain played wonderfully by Michael Keaton. His character picks at the corpses of the alien debris left in New York from the events of the first Avengers movie. Much like a vulture does. His salvage team are ordered to stop by the very people who caused the damage. This costs Keatons character thousands of dollars and forces him to become the villainous Vulture. He and his cronies adapt the alien technology to create advanced weaponry. Only Spidey can stop him! The worry of including Tony Starks character was soon forgotten as he was used sparingly but effectively. After all I haven't paid to see an Ironman movie. Stark is more of a mentor than major player in this story. Other good points are that the filmmakers address some longstanding Spidey gripes. Like what happens to his webs after he shoots them? I'd hate to be the guy having to clean up after him. Or how does he get around when there's no buildings to swing from?
However it's not all positives here. What happened to his Spidey sense? In this movie he doesn't even notice a fat kid who's sat behind him. I have issues with the suit too. Like I said this isn't an Ironman movie!
Overall though Spider-man Homecoming is a welcome return to form for the wall crawler and well worth a watch.