Spectacular Spider-Man

Rating: 10/10 (1 September 2017)

February 9th, 2015; Marvel announced their partnership with Sony to bring everybody's favorite wall-crawler to the prestigious Marvel Cinematic Universe, leaving fans dying of excitement to get a glimpse of one of the most iconic superheroes of all-time in Marvel's expansive film universe. After getting more or less of a tease in last year's 'Civil War', we finally get our first full taste of Spidey in the MCU, a film that, without question, puts the web-slinger back on the map with what I would consider to be the best Spider-Man film to date.
What sets Homecoming apart from its predecessors arguably the most is its clear shift in tone compared to the previous installments. A change that breathes new life into a character that some would say is getting stale in cinema, while maintaining the core of who and what Spider- Man is and stands for. Homecoming gives us the youngest version of Peter Parker we've ever seen, injecting youth and inexperience into the character, which creates a fantastic coming of age story as we journey through Peter's early days of becoming Spider-Man. What defines Spider-Man, and in turn makes him so iconic, are the choices he must make, like choosing the life he lives as a hero, often putting aside his life as a normal teenage kid. Those themes of choice are powerfully showcased in Homecoming, and Peter becomes so much more intriguing because of this. There is a unfortunate lack of Spider-Sense use but altogether, I was thrilled to see Spidey written properly, especially given the age he is in this film. Homecoming captures Spidey's personality traits perfectly, giving strong character development to Peter and in turn creating a more emotionally relatable character, the best version of the web-head we've seen yet.
With the help of the expert Marvel staff, director John Watts and his writers were able to uniquely re-tool what we've come to expect from a traditional origin story, replacing the scenes that we all have seen before with small bits of dialogue, keeping the focus on what's happening with Peter's story now, almost like being able to tell two origin stories in one film. The larger MCU looms large enough to make its presence felt in the immediate story, but doesn't overtake Spider-Man's individual story, which is full of heart and plenty of humor, all with textbook pacing. The script isn't without some flaws, however. There are some minor plot holes and an apparent major timeline mishap, that, until officially set right by Marvel, will keep fans of the MCU scratching their heads. Besides those minor hiccups, I have no reason not to say that Homecoming delivered a splendid, highly entertaining story, and a superb Spider-Man origin story to boot.
Usually the problem when talking about any Marvel film is the villain. Spider-Man has one of the top rogues galleries among superheroes, and Marvel had a golden chance to deliver a compelling villain, and sure enough, they did. Vulture was finally brought to life for the first time on the big screen, and Marvel capitalized. Vulture is given solid screen time, appropriate development and a large enough impact on the story and to Spider-Man's character to leave a lasting impression. He looked awesome, had some wonderful action scenes and was the center of a major twist in the film, which gave some shock value and emotional weight behind the character and the overall narrative. Shocker also appears as a small side-villain and is handled well for a secondary antagonist. Vulture earns his mark as one of the better MCU villains thus far for sure, simply said.
I don't need to go on for long about the quality of the action sequences. Fans of the MCU have come to expect top-of-the-line action, including expert stunt work, intense choreography and beautiful CGI, all things Homecoming has in spades. The inclusion of Iron Man only furthers the depth of the action and Spider-Man himself is a joy to watch in the heat of battle, kicking butt wile still maintaining that classic Spidey wit we all know and love.
Every character needs its actor, and Marvel hit an absolute home run with the casting of Tom Holland as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Holland flawlessly executes his portrayal of a young Peter Parker, expertly seizing the essence of Spidey's witty nature along with his current inexperience and teenage persona. Holland looks the part to a tee, and is simply brilliant as Spider-Man, making the character feel as though he was pulled from the comics. Robert Downey Jr. returns as fan favorite Tony Stark/Iron Man, seamlessly weaving his years of character development through Spider-Man's story. Iron Man isn't overused in the slightest, in fact his involvement only helps the story and helps to build the greater MCU. Michael Keaton dazzles as Vulture, Jacob Batalon is hilarious as Peter's best friend Ned, John Favreau returns as Happy Hogan with a great performance, and stars Marisa Tomei and Zendaya are solid in the roles of Aunt May and Michelle respectively. Some characters, like Peter's school bully Flash, don't stand out, but overall, the supporting cast is great.
Fans will undoubtedly compare Homecoming to the previous Spider-Man installments, but at the end of the day, Homecoming is a completely different take of the web-slinger, and one that should be viewed and praised as its own product. Homecoming delivers on almost every front you could hope for from a MCU Spider-Man film; an exciting, character driven story with added depth by the use of Iron Man, an abundance of classic Spidey humor, a perfect adaptation of Spidey's suit, a gripping villain, a phenomenal acting performance of Spidey and his supporting characters, and most of all, the simple but proper display of the icon that is Spider-Man. Spidey is in the right hands at last with Marvel, and Spider-Man: Homecoming marks a spectacular first entry into what will be years of amazing Spidey films.
9.5/10