Friday, July 7, 2017

The Spectacularly Fun And Endearing Spider-Man: Homecoming, Like A Beauty School Drop-Out, Goes Back To High School

"And so a legend is born and a new name is added to the roster of those who make the world of fantasy the most exciting realm of all!" - closing line of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first ever appearance of Spider-Man

Prior to 2017, we've been through six different Spider-Man movies, ranging from the cheap-o days of the 1977 movie joint that never even got a U.S. theatrical release to the Sam Raimi classics of the early days of the 21st century to the two Marc Webb movies that proved to be the nadir of the Spider-Man on the silver screen (even that 1977 movie was better than The Amazing Spider-Man 2 since it didn't feature Spider-Stalking). What on Earth could a new iteration of the character possibly bring to the table? Shockingly, quite a bit actually. Spider-Man: Homecoming turns out to have a lot it brings to the table that ends up making it a thoroughly unique take on the Spidey mythos, one with a lot of fun and zest to its name as well.

Meet Peter Parker (Tom Holland), a 15-year-old in New York City who used to look a lot like Nicholas Hammond but now looks like that one kid who resorted cannibalism in In to The Heart Of The Sea. He's mostly your typical geeky High School sophomore, one who can be socially clueless and doesn't have a lot in the way of friends beyond best buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon). But he does have one thing that separates him from the pack; he's got a secret life as the superhero Spider-Man! As Spidey, he spends his time helping out the average Joe and Jane in New York City, all the while hoping that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) will call him back up for another exciting mission like he did for when that armored Avenger needed help fighting Captain America.

Alas, that call never seems to come and two months of waiting is starting to lean heavily on Peter Parker, who finally gets his chance to be a superhero when he learns about a group of criminals, led by Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), who are selling super-powered weaponry of their own creation. This is his chance to be the big-time superhero he always knew he could be! Of course, if you know even the slightest bit of information about Peter Parker, you know these ambitions will more than likely just lead to even more trouble for the plucky teenager, who finds himself out of his depth incredibly quickly.

Maybe the best piece of praise anyone can offer this newest iteration of the red-spandex clad web-crawler is that I found myself rarely, if ever, recalling the past Spider-Man movies. Homecoming really does do a great job of immediately setting itself apart from past cinematic incarnations of this character and not just by way of incorporating Marvel Cinematic Universe mainstay Tony Stark in a supporting capacity in the plot. Placing a greater emphasis on the High School drama of Peter Parker's life proves to be a fine way to make this version of the character stand out, with mainstays of High School like detention and a homecoming dance proving to be as daunting as any sort of typical superhero shenanigans.

The High School set sequences also get an extra kick of fun since they've rejiggered supporting character mainstays of the comics (namely Ned Leeds, Betty Brandt and Flash Thompson) into practically all-new creations. Cool to see that kind of inventiveness on display here, there really is a sense of freshness here in the dynamic Peter shares with the various cohorts at his school that might not have been carried over if a more a traditional approach to his roster of supporting cast members had been taken. Plus, having so much of the plot be focused on Peter Parker at school means we get a lot of time spent with scene-stealer Ned Leeds whose brought to endearing life by newcomer Jacob Batalon, a young actor who demonstrates a quick wit and a delightful chemistry with Tom Holland.

Speaking of Tom Holland, let's talk about this guy (whose somehow younger than me, which is a recipe for an existential crisis on my part) and why he works so well as Spider-Man. The key component of this version of Spider-Man is that he's so determined to be the best Spider-Man he can be. He wants to be an Avenger, he wants to make people's lives better by being Spider-Man and he's also just really excited about the prospect of being this costumed hero. There's utter joy in his emanating off of Holland every time Spidey shoots a web and goes off to try to save the day. He's doing what he can in a world bigger than himself and that is thoroughly charming to see thanks to Holland's performance here. Heck, there's a scene late in the game where Spidey is trapped under some rubble that may be giving the Spider-Man 2 train fight run for my money as my favorite scene in any Spider-Man movie ever and a lot of that comes from how good Holland is in that particular sequence.

On the other side of the equation, our main baddie is Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes A.K.A. The Vulture. Toomes is another Spider-Man mythos mainstay that gets radically redesigned for this movie and he may just be the most brilliant character reinvention in the entire movie. He's basically a dark parallel for Peter Parker, a normal guy who's looking to use his newfound special skills to make his mark on a world that's much larger than he is. Whereas Spidey uses his gifts to help people though, Toomes looks to spread chaos by selling super-powered weapons to crooks. In other words, one of these guys understands that with great power comes great responsibility and Keaton is excellent in portraying the individual who ignores such sage advice. The fact that the actor is always able to make Toomes seem like a normal guy even when he's flying around in a metal suit of armor with wings really is a thing of beauty.

I wish other adult members of the cast got more to do, as the likes of Tyne Daly, Kenneth Choi, Logan Marshall-Green and Donald Glover are basically just around in extended cameos, even if their lower amount of screentime does help the movie keep from feeling overstuffed, I suppose. Even in their brief screentime, they do give off good performances under the direction of Jon Watts, who, aside from some scattered instances of clunky editing and shot choices in the first twenty or so minutes of the movie, turns out to be a great choice to helm this movie. Action sequences under his direction feel unique and like the kind of stuff only Spider-Man could do while the thrilling way he handles suspense in his great 2015 indie movie Cop Car get utilized here early on in some intense early third act sequences. You'll know what scenes I'm talking about when you see the movie, trust me.

Yeah, Jon Watts turned out to be a great choice to helm this project and he delivers a suitably unique vision of the Spider-Man universe that's oh so much fun to watch and get wrapped up in. Looking at this movie as a whole, maybe the best aspect overall of Spider-Man: Homecoming is just how much it thoroughly embraces the unique angles offered up by its story. The idea of looking at the world of the MCU from a ground-level perspective, the cool visual and action opportunities opened up by having a flight-based villain, the storytelling and drama potential in placing a superhero movie in a High School setting (combining superheroes and high school is a mighty fine mixture if Homecoming and Sky High are any indications), it just fully embraces all the unique and fun possibilities nestled within its story with gusto. Just like how this version of Spider-Man as a character is just so excited to go out and be a superhero, Spider-Man: Homecoming has its own sense of elation attached to its that proves to be amazingly contagious.

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