Spidey took an unfortunate detour with Andrew Garfield, director Marc Webb and their underwhelming, dreary The Amazing Spider-Man films. (I’m still pissed about those cranes!) That GIF of Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker crying sloppily pretty much reflects my sentiment about the last couple of Spider-Man films.
Things get back on track in a fun way with Spider-Man: Homecoming, a complete overhaul of the Peter Parker character thanks to the effervescent casting of Tom Holland, an impressive athlete (he does most of his own acrobatic stunts) and fine actor (he’s amazing in The Impossible). Holland does the character proud, as did Maguire before him. The torch has been passed in reliable, snappy way.
Of course, a Marvel movie needs a good villain, and Homecoming gets one in Vulture, played with snarling glee by Michael Keaton. Director Jon Watts and a ridiculous number of writers give Vulture an interesting origin.
He’s Adrian Toomes, a construction salvage worker who had a city contract to clean up the mess in New York City after the events of the Avengers. Some government types take over and kick him off the gig, leaving him pissed—with a bunch of high-tech alien junk in his possession. Toomes constructs some weapons, including an elaborate winged suit, and voila—Vulture.
Parker is younger this time out, and he’s dealing with typical high school traumas that seem a little trivial after the events of Captain America: Civil War, where he sort of saved the day. He’s gone from stealing Captain America’s shield to worrying about girls, and he’s just a little bored.
Enter Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who has given him his Spidey suit with some conditions: He can only be a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” concentrating on local problems rather than the really big ones. Those are jobs for the Avengers, and Spidey isn’t on that level just yet.
The film is basically half a kick-ass Marvel movie (Watts is no slouch with an action sequence) and half an enjoyable high school comedy that would make John Hughes proud (including a soundtrack with everything from the Ramones to the English Beat). It manages to be both a worthy Marvel Universe installment and a great standalone adventure.
Downey, Mr. Reliable, holds everything together and assures fans that this is very much another chapter in the continuing Avengers arc. He and Holland have great scenes together, and Iron Man makes more than one prominent appearance. Keaton holds up his part of the job with an expert’s efficiency, relishing a chance to be bad. Remember that moment in 1989’s Batman when he taunted the Joker? (“Let’s get nuts!”) He spends plenty of this movie’s time in “nuts” mode.
Marisa Tomei is the new Aunt May, and she’s great. (Hey, it’s Tomei, so the character pops the moment you cast her.) There’s no J. Jonah Jameson this time around; Parker’s adventures as a news photographer will have to wait for a future adventure.
Hats off to the producers for taking a risk with the relatively unknown Watts, whose other feature films include the horror film Clown and the very good Kevin Bacon thriller Cop Car. Watts demonstrated that he could balance adolescent actors, humor and dread in an expert manner with Cop Car; what he didn’t demonstrate was his ability to coordinate massive special effects with a gargantuan budget. Whatever handicap he had entering the production is surely conquered at this point. He’s a big-movie director to be reckoned with.
There’s a moment in Spider-Man: Homecoming that involves some heavy lifting, and it displays the magical powers of the famous character thanks to Holland’s amazing representation. In that moment, the character is genuinely reborn. This isn’t your typical approach to a superhero origin story; it’s a let-her-rip, no-nonsense declaration that the right web-slinging incarnation has arrived, and he’s ready to party.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is playing at theaters across the valley, in a variety of formats.