Web Slinging, Comedic Sensation: Feels Much Like the Comic Book

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2017)

He can do whatever a spider can! He is super brainy and has the ability to fight crime against a number of villains with interesting powers. And he has had two reboots in the last two decades. Yes, I'm talking about Spiderman, the young high school student who wears the coolest pajamas ever and has some pretty wicked powers. This weekend, Disney studios gets their hands on the series, in hopes of breathing life back into the series and expanding their already vast repertoire of films. Can Disney repeat its magic? Robbie K here to give you the updates, and as always, I appreciate your reading and fun. Let's get started!
LIKES:
Not another origin story: With all the reboots, cartoon series, and comics (if you still read), we know how the web slinger obtained his powers via radioactive arachnid science projects. As such, the storyboard writers decided to scrap doing another reboot of this and dived right into the fun at hand. Thank the lord! Spiderman homecoming skips the boring, lacking power component, so that you get the most bang for your buck in regards to super power heroics and Spiderman clichés. The presentation of this film is rather creative, using a selfie video to give a unique perspective on everything this Spiderman has gone through so far.
Fun and Funny: Spiderman Homecoming takes a different approach from most of the other superhero films in that it feels like a high school student life only withpowers. The result is a film that is fun, simplistic, and as me and my friend agree comedic. This tale is all about making you laugh with a fantastic dialog, great delivery, and a cast that only amplifies it. It's not easy making a high school film that isn't an afterschool special, drama filled, soap opera and still make it entertaining to watch. But Disney was able to do it again. While the production team has a lot to do with this, most audience members are going to give props to the acting. Tom Holland again rocks the role, taking his cameo from Civil War and running I mean slinging with it. He is the first actor in this modern age to capture both the nerdy peter parker and the smart mouthed Spiderman, giving you the character you wanted made for some time. Now throw in Michael Keaton portraying a villain who didn't make you cringe, yawn, or sympathize for the performance they were asked to play. The dynamic between them works and to take a lamer villain like the Vulture and make him respectable gets thumbs up from me. And they utilized their entire cast very well, keeping their big-name contenders involved without robbing the main actor his time to shine.
Ned: But my friend and I agreed that the best part of the film was Peter's sidekick Ned played by Jacob Batalon. This character had me in enough stitches to require Spiderman to web it up. Batalon delivers his lines perfectly, and makes the already comedic gold shine where others would fail. He feels like a devoted fan boy and it works to keep things entertaining. The cast did a great job sharing Peter's secret with him and having him as the devoted friend wanting to do whatever he can to live as a super sidekick. This character's work is dynamic, it's fun, and shows not all cleverness has been lost to cheap slapstick ploys.
DISLIKES:
Special effects are so so: I don't know if it's the costume, the approach, or what, but the special effects didn't impress me as much as they usually do. Spiderman's movements looked fake at times, and the weapons (outside of Vulture's costume) were a bit hokie looking. Not the biggest dislike, but worth noting.
Editing/Lack of Action: Biggest dislike for me is more so the lack of action. No surprise, Robbie wants his superheroes to have at least one engaging fight, but that wasn't the case for me in this film. While Homecoming was funny and entertaining, it still lacked the bite that superhero films have had. The fights were short lived, didn't involve too many spectacular moves, and the villains didn't have any impressive moves. We know Spidey's universe have some of the most unique powers of the bunch, so why in the world didn't they show that off more. Of note, the battles do keep in theme with the movie, and are emotional in regards to character development, that is a plus. Yet a 134-minute run time needed a few more suspenseful moments to get the full effect. Either that or cut out the extra laugh, unnecessary moments to shorten the run time. Sorry guys, but editing is still in need of work.
The VERDICT:
Spiderman Homecoming is certainly one of the better installments of the modern Spiderman age. It certainly is one of the more enjoyable comedies I've seen in a while, and takes some of the darker edge that has been building over the last few installments. A great use of cast, good writing, and many other fun gimmicks works on so many levels and will entertain many. Yet it isn't the most exciting film of this universe, nor did it need to be over 2 hours long. Still, it's a great addition to the library and one I look forward to seeing continued and integrated into the rest of the films. Worth a trip to the theater? Oh yeah (as if I can stop you), it is worth it.
My scores: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi: 8.0 Movie Overall: 7.5