Should have left it S.H.I.E.L.D.

Rating: 6/10 (13 May 2018)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a tightly orchestrated, intertwined, time line of films, where viewers need to watch all the parts in order to follow the overall story line, which is possible because Marvel Studios control is.
Spider-Man is controlled by Sony; they pay for 100% of his films and take the box office receipts, which makes including him in his own film as part of the greater story arcs a tricky proposition.
Maybe that's why this film feels more like an Iron Man film at times. Unlike previous Peter Parker films, there's no Uncle Ben and having his life defined by that death, or need to show him getting bitten and developing his native powers, but it's rather how he fits into the greater MCU - as though you haven't seen an MCU film before - as part of Tony Starks "intern scheme", and introducing extra parts to the neighbourhood Spider-Man that feel gimmicky. This results in Jon Favreau as Tonys body guard Happy getting more screen time than Peters love interest Liz (Laura Harrier).
It gets the quirky, angst ridden Peter. The nerdy Peter who builds Lego with his best mate, the star of the general knowledge team. Whose never been on a plane and sneaks around behind his Aunts clueless back.
Tom Holland plays the role with humour and rage, fluctuating between the naivety of a young man finding his powers and confidence of a superhero willing to put his life on the line for society. Alongside him, Jacob Batalon as Ned, likewise has the juvenile questions about what can Spider-Man do (how far do the web slingers fire?), while being Peters "guy in the chair", tech savvy associate; seemingly able to emulate Tony Starkesque computer skills.
Yet at times the scale of the action seems wrong. Going from stopping local hoodlums on bikes, to dealing with weaponry that nearly destroyed New York and took the whole team of Avengers to stop.
The weapons developer - Phineas Mason / The Tinkerer (Michael Chernus) would have made for a good Agents of SHIELD enemy; coming up with various weapons to take on the old government agency. Following the Sokovia Accords
(mentioned in the film), who would stop him?
Michael Keaton makes for a good bad guy; he has the motivation and opportunity to create the situations for Spidey to combat, without being so psychotic as to completely take over Peters life. Like many teen based films, he could be a person that a teen might have to overcome in their everyday life, but being a superhero, they have the ability to actually kick their ass rather than having to verbalize the conflict. That works.
What doesn't work for me are the shortcuts and scale that joins the set pieces up. He doesn't need the Iron Man gimmicks to be the neighbourhood Spider Man.