Diary of a teenage superhero

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2017)

I wanted to write this while my thoughts were fresh from having watched "Spider-man: Homecoming" at a late showing on Tuesday.
It was a fun experience and I like how SONY-MARVEL wove Spider-man into the greater MCU and still retained his own story. It started with his appearance in "Captain America: Civil War" and continued from the end of that movie. We get to see the boy behind the mask and how the thrill of having teamed with the Avengers affects his feelings about his powers and his place in the world, all this while he's still trying to be a teenager with a teenager's attitude and issues. More than anything, I'd say it's a movie about growing-up and growing-into a superhero. Tony Stark adds a nice touch as Peter Parker/Spider-man's sometimes mentor as we watch the web-slinger make some rookie mistakes in his zeal to impress Tony. There's some great interplay between the two and with Tony's assistant, Happy Hogan. We also get introduced to Peter Parker's day-to-day life in high school and his interaction with best friend Ned and fellow classmates Liz, Michelle and Flash Thompson. I really like how they fleshed out these minor but important characters in Peter's formative world. Then there is Adrian Toomes - the Vulture - who is given depth as the villain. Michael Keaton does a fantastic job making Toomes a sympathetic, albeit dangerous baddie. The movie is well paced, entertaining and family friendly. You get to watch Peter mature as a person and see Spider-man mature as a hero. I look forward to more collaborative efforts between SONY and MARVEL. They got a home run at best and a triple play at the least. Go see it!