Third Time is the Charm

Rating: 8/10 (8 July 2017)

As a lifelong Spider-Man fan and comic reader, I found the previous five film incarnations of the Wall Crawler to be a mixture of pluses and minuses, some heavier on the latter than other (talking about you Spider Man 3), but I am happy to say that the latest reboot of my favorite comic super hero, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, definitely has way more positives to its credit than just about any of the earlier films. It captures the sense of fun present in the Saturday morning cartoon versions. What makes HOMECOMING better than the rest: First of all, the script, which does not feel like a cut and paste job like some other comic book adaptations, the X-Men franchise being among the worst offenders. The writers follow up on the premise of CAPTAIN America: CIVIL WAR, where we first saw this teen age version of Peter Parker. HOMECOMING digs deep and finds what made those early Lee-Ditko collaborations so great: the nerdy high school science geek who is becomes a dynamic hero when he puts on the iconic suit and hits the streets of NYC to battle crime. Of course, we know it is not the costume that makes Peter Parker a hero, but what is inside his heart that really counts and this point very clear. Also gone is the angst and grimness of the Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield portrayals: this Spider-Man is having a blast being a super hero; there is plenty of power and responsibility, but there is plenty of fun as well. Peter's determination to win the approval of Tony Stark and become a full fledged member of The Avengers, can be taken as a orphan young man's search for a worthy father. It's a nice touch, and thank God we don't have to watch Uncle Ben take a bullet one more damn time, in fact he's not even mentioned. I do commend the writers for giving us a movie with three distinct acts, and the big battle on the ferry, which is prominently featured in the trailers, is only the climax to the second act.
The casting of Tom Holland is a big plus for this movie. I now he does not really look like he's 15, but he well captures the teen age heart of his character; he's the kid who tries to do what is right, and when he makes mistakes – big mistakes – he gets back on his feet and does not give up. Robert Downey Jr. returns, yet again, as Tony Stark, the role he was born to play. Stark is a supporting character here, but his shadow falls across everything Peter Parker does, as his customary flippant and sarcastic manner hides the fact that he sees tremendous potential in his young protégé, it's just that he has a lot to learn, and most of it will have to be learned the hard. Gwyneth Paltrow has a brief appearance as Pepper Potts where her relationship with Tony gets taken to another level. Jon Favereau's Happy Hogan has some great scenes with Holland's Peter Parker, and does get one of the best lines in the movie. Chris Evans's Steve Rogers has a couple of very humorous cameos.
Most super hero movies sink or swim on the strength of their villains, and in the case of HOMECOMING, they hit a home run with the casting of Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture. The script writers were wise to give him a understandable reason for his crimes: he's a working class guy, trying hard to earn a living and feed his family, and when the higher authorities screw him out of a lucrative salvage job after the alien invasion from first Avengers movie, Toomes decides to take some stolen alien tech and build super weapons for street criminals, setting in motion a bank robbery that is foiled by Spider-Man and setting the hero and villain on a collision course. This is Keaton first super hero film since he took off Batman's cape (I do not count BIRDMAN, for which Keaton was robbed of an Oscar) and makes the most of it. Keaton's Toomes is not one of those underdeveloped bad guys we've seen in too many other comic adaptations (SUICIDE SQUAD and DOCTOR STRANGE instantly to mind); the script makes a point of showing how intelligent he is, as when he puts two and two together and easily figures out Spider-Man's secret identity. Welcome back to the comics, Michael Keaton, it has been too long.
Bokeem Woodbine and Logan Marshall-Green play The Shocker at different times in the movie; Michael Mando (Nacho from BETTER CALL SAUL) plays Mac Gargan, who in the comic book, becomes The Scorpion.
If there is anything negative to say about the movie, it's that some of the tweaks they've made to Spider-Man's supporting cast are a long way from their comic book origins; I like Flash Thompson as an obnoxious jock and foil to Peter Parker, and I would love to see a smoking hot Mary Jane Watson who is determined to be a successful model, maybe I just want to see a film version of the classic, "Face it, Tiger, you just hit the jackpot" introduction. But I've got no problem with Marisa Tomei's much younger and Italian Aunt May; we've had two senior citizen versions of her and this take is refreshing. Also appearing in supporting roles are Tyne Daley, Martin Starr, Hannibal Buress, and of course, the cameo by Stan Lee.
The best thing I can say about HOMECOMING is that it finally bring Peter Parker home to the MCU where he belongs, beside Cap and Tony and the rest of the gang. My wish for them is to bring back the best of the earlier movies in the sequel, namely JK Simmons's J. Jonah Jameson and Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, that would be something for which to look forward.