A great Marvel film... but a so-so Spider-Man movie

Rating: 7/10 (24 June 2019)

"Spider-Man: Homecoming" occupies an interesting spot in the movie landscape. It's the 16th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the grand experiment of interconnected movies involving Marvel's different superheroes. Unlike his heroic counterparts, however, whose only modern blockbuster films have existed within this universe, this is the web-slinger's third different big-screen iteration in recent memory. Although a solid entry in the MCU, it's when I try to reconcile it with the Spider-Man movies that have come before, such as the Sam Raimi directed "Spider-Man" films or the more recent "Into the Spider-Verse," that "Homecoming" starts to falter a bit more.
Most of what works for "Homecoming" is that it adheres pretty closely to the proven Marvel formula for success. The focus is on its characters and tone. The characters are instantly likable and relatable. They ground us to the setting, which, in this case, features daily high school life as prominently as it does superheroics. This is a superhero movie in the vein of John Hughes. These aspects are bolstered by a great sense of humor throughout. Fortunately (in the sense that this is a more recent trend in Marvel movies), there is a great antagonist for our hero to go up against, and the whole conflict is accentuated really well by some genuinely surprising twists. Surprisingly, the action does not feel up to snuff for the kind of stuff Marvel usually churns out, with the climactic third-act showdown in particular feeling pretty muddled and unchoreogrpahed. As a film, there is nothing particularly outstanding about the shots and direction in general.
The best thing this film offers is a fresh perspective in relation to the rest of the universe. This is not a film about a billionaire genius, legendary super-soldier, or literal alien god, but rather more relatable, "everyman" characters who are making sense of living in a world occupied by those titans. This works especially well for our hero and villain, with Peter Parker desperately wanting to live up to this monumental legacy, while Adrian Toomes rises up in villainy because he feels the threat that such beings pose to regular folks like himself.
This perspective also proves to be a double-edged sword however, and the film's fatal flaw, at least if you are looking at the spirit of the "Spider-Man" character. It almost feels as if the film goes too small. Gone is the cinematic grandiosity that had become commonplace with Spider-Man films, no shots where we follow Spider-Man swinging through the streets of New York. Similarly, Peter Parker being an "aww shucks" type of character whose main motivation is to become an Avenger feels like a reduction of the three-dimensionality that usually makes his character so special. That arc is explored and resolved in a satisfying way. My point is that it feels like an inconsequential story for a character whose very origin involved learning that his choices have life or death consequences.
For these reasons, "Spider-Man: Homecoming" walks a strange line. It's a better Marvel movie than it is a "Spider-Man" one. With its sequel, "Far From Home," due to release in just a few days, and a likely continued and prosperous series beyond that, I can only hope that this iteration of the character can learn to walk that line a little more evenly.