Spider-man Is Home: Review

Spider-man: Homecoming is magnificent.

It has all the elements that people love about Spider-man: great action, a compelling hero, great one-liners, an amazing supporting cast, and more.

If it isn’t at all clear, Marvel Studios knows what they’re doing when it comes to making movies.

This review does not contain spoilers.

Their casting, as usual, is flawless.

Tom Holland shines as Spider-man. He’s engaging, and naive, and unsure, and everything you’d expect from a 15-year old kid; that he’s able to offer a new take on a character we’ve seen so many times is a credit to his acting chops. He isn’t just convincing as Spider-man. He’s equally as convincing, perhaps even more-so, as Peter. Shy, awkward, he’s all the things he needs to be.

Perhaps the most surprising thing, that should be unsurprising at this point, is just how menacing Michael Keaton is as the Vulture. Every word drips with venom and malice. In fact, the Vulture is perhaps Marvel’s best written villain since Loki. The most compelling villains are the ones whose reasons for committing crimes are, not necessarily from a place of evil.

Keaton’s performance actually makes the much considered Sinister Six movie actually compelling,
Credit to Jacob Batalon, who play’s Spider-man’s best friend Ned, who serves as Peter’s confidant and ally.

The movie was excellent because Marvel gets the little things so right.

For example, with the very first note of music when the film opens the audience knows that it’s going to be a very different kind of Spider-man movie.

The fact that they don’t feel the need to burden the audience with his origin story again (unlike Batman V Superman) and instead go straight into the narrative means there’s more time for fun; and that’s the best way to describe Spider-man: Homecoming. Fun.

Marvel amps up the humour slightly this time around, because it’s Spider-man, but it never feels like too much.

The best decision Sony could have made was giving Spider-man back to Marvel and collecting the cash the relationship yields. If they’d tried to go it alone, well…it would have been less than what we got.

I am on the record as saying Marvel Studios’ Cinematic universe didn’t need Spider-man; in fact the premise for my very first Geekchicelite article said just that.

Given what they’ve shown in Spider-man: Homecoming, I was completely wrong.

Spider-man: Homecoming: is in theatres now.

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Featured image courtesy comicbookmovie.net

PS: Keep an eye out for Stand Lee’s cameo; he’s playing a fantastically named character this time around.