Spider-Man: Homecoming - Greatest Reboot Ever in Marvel Cinematic Universe

       

Marvel has made over a dozen films in the last decade, each beating the previous one in quality. Spider-Man: Homecoming amazingly continues this trend by stumping all previous Marvel films in almost every category.

The main focus of the movie varies. A major part, which the film shares with all other Marvel installments, is comedy. It doesn’t stand alone and drama also has an equally important role in the story. Deeper into the plot, there are small hints of romance and of course a background of action and intensity which never ceases to amaze and excite the viewer.

The film uniquely does not start with an average kid who gets bit by a radioactive spider. Instead, Spider-Man: Homecoming starts literally right after Captain America: Civil War. At this point, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has already gained his spectacular spider-like abilities. As young 15-year-old Peter gets more comfortable in his role as Spider-Man, the superhero. He discovers a group of criminals fabricating weapons from alien technology and attempts to take them down. This isn’t the main conflict for Peter, though. Since he is a teen, the Avengers, specifically Iron Man aka Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) don’t trust him to go out fighting crime with a super suit that allows Peter to do almost anything. Spider-Man must not only deal with attempting to prove himself and taking down a dangerous organization, he also faces the challenge of balancing his normal teenage life in Queens with his role as a crime-fighting superhero.

I love the approach that Spider-Man: Homecoming takes with the story. So many Spider-Man books and films focus on his back story and many never even portray him as 15-year-old Peter Parker, just Spider-Man. This adaptation of the classic hero chooses differently and focuses mostly on Peter himself. This not only gives a very interesting perspective of having all this power and only being a kid, but also offers an interesting look into the private life of someone from the world of superheroes. This gives a very refreshing experience to what has become almost repetitive in the superhero genre and plays out very nicely throughout the film.

One important part that really sticks out is the acting. Tom Holland is not 15; he’s 21. Yes, he delivers a phenomenal performance as Peter and really comes across as a very relatable and likable kid. The classic Spider-Man theme sounds spectacular in this cinematic score. Music composer Michael Giacchino really creates an exhilarating soundtrack that fits the film’s pace perfectly. One small issue the film has many times is the comedy. The jokes themselves are perfect, but their timing leaves a bit to be desired. Many times, in very exciting and thrilling scenes there is a joke that would be funny elsewhere, but it comes across as inappropriate and destroys the mood at times. This makes the film seem like a parody when it’s far from that.

My favorite scene is one of the first scenes or sequence of scenes when the audience has the perspective of Parker’s phone videos. In the videos, he flies to Berlin and joins Tony Stark to help fight Captain America. These are the exact same scenes that take place in Captain America: Civil War, but from a completely different perspective. That is not only hilarious, but very unique and enjoyable.

Even though Peter himself really is just a kid, this film is not meant for young children. There are many dark action scenes and an equal amount of mature comedy. For that reason, I recommend this for ages 14 to 18. I give Spider-Man: Homecoming 4 out of 5 stars for being an overall fantastic and enjoyable film with some bad timing in the comedic placement.