Tom Holland gives the best on-screen portrayal of teenage Spidey in a not-so-friendly-neighbourhood-plot, yet!

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming's only achievement is that it makes you forget it's the third different Spider-Man – and second reboot – in less than 20 years.
We saw Tom Holland's take on Peter Parker steal the show in Captain America: Civil War, but his first solo outing lets him loose and the result is a joy to behold. No chance of Spidey fatigue, here.
Marvel movies succeed because they're not just superhero movies. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a '70s conspiracy thriller; Guardians of the Galaxy a space opera. Enter Spider-Man: Homecoming, a frothy and witty John Hughes high school comedy that just happens to feature a superhero or two.
It's charming. It's hilarious. And it proves that Holland is the best on-screen teenage Spidey in a not-so-friendly-neighbourhood-plot, yet.
After the grand-scale conflict of Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man goes back to basics as a hometown hero. Cut to two months later and Peter is still waiting for that call, while living with Aunt May. Instead of battling the forces of evil, he's battling the usual high school issues, including unrequited love with senior Liz and popularity woes with his best friend Ned.
But Peter soon spots his chance to impress Tony when he stumbles upon a black market weapons deal. He links the weapons to arms dealer Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton/Batman gone Rogue now?), AKA Vulture, who has been modifying alien technology left over from Avengers' battles into deadly weapons.
So, with the help of Ned, Peter defies Tony's orders to stay in school and sets out to become more than just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man by stopping Vulture in his tracks, even if it means risking the lives of everyone he cares about.
Let's get one of the main concerns out of the way first: this is very much a Spider-Man movie and not Iron Man 3.5. In fact, Tony is barely in it, popping by every now and then to play reluctant mentor, but often leaving it to Happy (you know, Jon Favreau) to keep an eye on Peter. It means that Holland is centre stage and it's suited to him. With pitch-perfect comic timing, his Peter is an endearing, believable teenager whose enthusiasm is impossible to resist.
It helps that Holland is surrounded by an excellent young cast that you're happy to spend time with. There's good chemistry between Holland and Batalon, but Zendaya is the revelation, doing a lot with a little and delivering big laughs as Michelle. Homecoming's strongest set piece comes when Peter's classmates are in danger, a testament to the affection built up from their engaging performances.
That set piece sees Spidey swing to the rescue when his classmates are trapped in the Washington Monument. The tense sequence makes good use of vertigo-inducing angles to add genuine peril — a rarity in a superhero movie — without forgetting character beats. Homecoming falls into a common Marvel complaint with a messy, overblown climactic set piece but, even then, manages to make it have a personal edge, much like the final battle in Civil War.
But what Homecoming does avoid is Marvel's villain problem, with Vulture a better version of Iron Man 2's Whiplash, more grounded and empathetic. Keaton's performance avoids scenery chewing and is all the better for it, especially in one menacing confrontation with Peter. That's about as dark as the movie gets, though. This isn't Spider- Man 3.
Homecoming also confidently deals with the reboot problem of telling the same story over again. So we don't have to see Uncle Ben die for the 100th time, even if his death is alluded to, and Peter's origin story is dealt with in a fun conversation with Ned. The confidence also extends to Marvel taking the Pi$$ out of itself a bit, with the Cap being the Butt of the joke, especially.
Throw one of Marvel's best post-credits scenes into the mix, and you have one of their most entertaining outings to date. Spider-Man: Homecoming leaves you wanting to swing wherever Holland's Spidey goes next.
(SIDEBAR: Tom Holland dazzles surely but I've seen better a Spider- Man Movie than this one).