Incy Wincy Spider

Rating: 8/10 (8 July 2017)

Why the 3rd reboot in 15 years? Because Spiderman is ranked 3rd in IGN's top comic book heroes list. Because Spiderman is Stan lee's greatest creation, and he is also the ultimate everyday hero. Because Spiderman is the most profitable superhero in the world- global retail licensed Spiderman products outsell revenue from Justice League and Avengers COMBINED. Because Spiderman movies have made over $4 billion at the box office.
No wonder Marvel wanted him so bad into their fold. Bringing him back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe works out well though, as in his first solo outing, Marvel effortlessly integrates the friendly, neighborhood character into the bigger scheme of things. And all it took, was to set it up in school.
The plot is built around the challenges Peter has in adjusting to school life after the epic airport brawl in Captain America: Civil War. Peter thinks he is ready for more missions, but Tony Stark does not. And if we thought at the end of Civil War that Stark would take on an active mentoring role for Peter, we were wrong. He has outsourced that to Happy Hogan. Peter alternates between fighting localized crime, and going weak in the knees whenever Liz Toomes passes by. When a robbery crew led by the technology scavenging Vulture begins to up the stakes in the neighborhood, Peter gets hot on their trails. And much like in the previous movies, Spidey villains are closer than far.
More The Breakfast Club than a superhero movie, Homecoming weaves comedy, teen angst, MCU and Star Wars references, lots of Spiderman supporting characters, and Avengers' cameos into an entertaining, if not entirely flawless narrative. And much like the Staten Island ferry in the film, Tom Holland holds it all together with his frenetic, nervous energy. Like the comic-book Spiderman, Holland's version is a kid trying to be a man, unlike Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield before him, who were more like men trying to be kids. Juxtaposed to an everyday hero is a great everyday villain- Michael Keaton's Vulture makes a great debut too- one can sympathize with his grievances, and his moral code. The action sequences do not really stand out, but then this movie is not really about action.
Is this the best Spidey movie ever? In my opinion, no- Sam Raimi's Spiderman 2 still is the one to beat. But Spiderman: Homecoming comes close, and that itself is an achievement. 8/10