With Great Power...

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2019)

A surprisingly solid MCU movie, Spiderman: Homecoming endearingly chronicles Peter Parker's hardship balancing the stresses of school life with that of embodying his perception of what it means to be a superhero; thus, we see him grow from a boy who relies upon others (Iron Man & his suit) in to a man, capable of standing independently on his own two feet, earning the title of the iconic web-slinger instead of it simply being gifted to him by everyone else.
Most impressively, avoiding the clichÃ©d, two-dimensional villains Marvel usually features, Homecoming additionally has a morally ambiguous antagonist played by Michael Keaton who simply owns the role & genuinely unsettles as The Vulture.
For instance, there's a brilliantly shot, tense sequence set during a car journey where his understated performance threatens our friendly neighborhood protagonist more than any action packed battle could & the chemistry between the two was palpable which really helped drive the film forward with interesting, heightened personal stakes.
Furthermore, it's nice for the every-day world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be depicted, exploring how common, working class people are / have been affected by the events that take place through the phases - so to see the banality of life persist regardless was a pleasant touch & a reminder that such mundanity still exists, regardless of the whimsical absurdity. Yet another clever contrast to fuel the original narrative.
For a franchise so full of generic, unremarkable installments, this solo project ranks high amongst the rest & proves Feige still has a few tricks up his sleeve.