Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2017)

What Marvel has done with their universe to this point is unprecedented. Nobody could have imagined the MCU would become this large and this popular, nor that two major studios would collaborate with each other. With that said, there's something about it that's starting to feel a little stale. I enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming quite a bit, but I would have preferred it to not be as safe as it is.
Let's start with the positives. Tom Holland is just about as good of a Spider-Man/Peter Parker as you can ask for. For the first time, it actually feels like Peter Parker is in high school, and not a grown adult playing a high school student. I'm always going to be partial to Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man for nostalgic reasons, and I definitely love Andrew Garfield's portrayal, but Holland is undeniably great as the web slinger. As is most of the cast. Michael Keaton's return to the superhero genre shouldn't be understated. He's so dang good as Vulture to the point where if it wasn't Keaton (or a really good actor), the character would be forgettable. There's a particular scene in the car where he really shines.
One of the things that separates this Spider-Man from previous incarnations is the fact that he's in high school, and that particular direction they take does feel refreshing in a sense. I know some people would prefer a Spider-Man who is older and can stand alongside the other Marvel characters with age and maturity, but I think the real charm with Holland is that he's so different from the other MCU characters. Seeing his perspective pitted up against Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark is something to behold. In the same breath, it was nice having a younger and more relatable Aunt May, played by Marisa Tomei, at Peter's side.
I think where the film starts to get frustrating is that is just feels too safe. When I go back and re-watch Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy or even both of the Garfield films, I feel like they had more of an emotional attachment and connection. I'm not saying this film needed to film yet another heartbreaking Uncle Ben death scene, but I wish I felt more of a connection to the supporting characters. I feel like because Spider-Man is now a part of the MCU, the creativity went out the door a little bit and thus giving us what is essentially the same film as Iron Man, Ant-Man, or Doctor Strange. Of course, all of these movies deal with different characters with different powers, but the approach and execution are pretty much all the same. It's not necessarily a bad thing that MCU is consistent with how they make their movies, but I would like there to be more of an individualized feel to them.
I love the fact that Spider-Man is as relatable as he is as a high school kid. I love that they didn't bombard us with Tony Stark and kept his role to a minimum. I love Tomei as Aunt May. I love Jacob Batalon as Ned (Perfect casting!). I love seeing the return of Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts. Heck, I even really like Michael Giacchino's score a whole lot more than I thought. But the one thing I keep coming back to with the MCU is how uninventive the last few films have been. With the exception of the Cap and Avengers films, it feels more like these films exist solely to set up the next one, instead of standing by themselves as singularly great stories. Perhaps that's just my two cents. Hopefully Marvel and Sony can build on what they've started and deliver a great sequel.
+Holland is perfect
+Good to see him back in high school
+Aunt May is always a great complement to Peter
+A lot of jokes hit
-But some at the wrong time
-Lacks uniqueness
7.7/10