Best attitude since The First Avenger

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2018)

Can't say I'm a huge fan of the comic book movies - but I tend to watch all the big ones Marvel and DC release these days. Some are more fun, some are less - but it's always intriguing to see the evolvement of the approach to such kind of cinema.
It may sound strange to some, but, despite Hulk's unbeatable strength, Thor's divinity or Tony Stark's wit, it's the Captain America movies that became a pinnacle of the Marvel way of storytelling for me. Maybe because, unlike every other super guy, Steve Rogers is not even about the display of power but rather about ethics. Ethics that's distinctively far from any preaching, but is instead aimed more at yourself, making yourself your own harshest judge. For an superhero action movie, such approach is not simply unlikely - it's unique, allowing the film to bring in the dramatic quality that genre seldom is able to possess.
And now, after the pretty bland Ant-Man, disturbingly flashy Dr Strange and outright ridiculous GotG2, it's such a pleasure to see a Marvel film whose main character is as mature as he is modest. Sure, Peter Parker is still a kid, and the movie never misses a chance to prove it with a portion of goofing around, but he is much more than his goofy side shows. Which we seriously need to thank Tom Holland for. I have no idea how the genuine Spidey must be, but both Tobey Maguire and especially Andrew Garfield felt as if they wore the Spiderman suit mostly to show off themselves. Tom, on the other hand, is as natural in this role as a human being could possibly be, feeling like a true teenager for whom having such abilities is not simply cool but also awkward and even frustrating, and who's torn apart between the desire to become larger than life and staying down to earth.
One thing to attribute that character versatility to is probably the fact that Peter has a mentor this time around. Which is curious, because the same exact reason that turns Tony Stark into a great support for Parker/Spider-man buildup makes Iron Man himself acutely annoying. But maybe that's just natural, after all, all parents are annoying in their kids' eyes. Still, despite all the Civil-War prehistory and Cap's current outlaw status, it feels as if Spider-man's much closer spiritually to Steve Rogers than to the guy who's actually sponsoring all his superhero'ing. Why do I get this feeling that such resemblance isn't just a random coincidence and that it's gonna be built upon later on...
Another thing to love here is the villain. Well, apart from the tongue in cheek reference to the Inarritu's masterpiece, Michael Keaton's character is exactly what Spiderman movies (and Marvel universe as a whole) have been missing greatly: a villain who's formally a bad guy without a doubt but who you have mixed feelings and unlikely sympathy for nonetheless. Overshadowing everyone, Parker included, Adrian is a guy whose agenda doesn't only sound legit - it _feels_ like one: I couldn't help feeling that our "billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist" dude is like a huge corporate colossus sucking in all the tech he could lay his hands on, while the small guys might be equally resourceful and even useful for the society, if only they weren't pushed out of the game by the big shiny players.
One last thing that I can't get out of my head. Spider-man Homecoming is exactly what Deadpool might've aimed to be, but failed to: a film where clumsy isn't equal to devoid of a soul. Homecoming isn't perfect in any way, but it makes up for it in one single way: it's damn sincere. There's no over the top cynicism or self-irony, no self-adoration or self-loathing. Just a story of a kid who wants to be true to what his heart tells him to do and to be, and learns to do that throughout the story. That may sound not as cool as throwing a magic hammer or chopping your enemies to pieces with two katana swords, but to me it's a real superpower, the most worthy of them all.