Sunday 9 July 2017

Spider-man: Homecoming Review!

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the highly anticipated reboot of the reboot that marks Spider-man returning to marvel... kinda. Sony still have the rights to the character and any other Spider-man related characters, however a deal was made between Sony and Marvel that allows the web slinger to appear in and be a big part of the Marvel cinematic universe. So is it any good? Carry on reading to find out because this is my Spider-man: Homecoming movie review. It'll be spoiler free until the last paragraph but i'll warn you before you get there. Enjoy!



The movie stars Tom Holland as the famous wall crawler who debuted in Captain America: Civil War. He's 15 years old, attends high school and deals with the normal problems and feelings that go along with that age. This alone separates Homecoming from the past Spidey movies which showed an older and more mature Peter. Along side Peter, is his best friend Ned, played by Jacob Batalon, who emphasises the fact that Peter isn't the most popular at school. The dynamic between the two is natural and plays out well throughout the movie. Ned is Peter's 'anchor' to his normal life as a school kid and in many ways it's this aspect that does well to keep the movie from 'going too fast and too quickly' and tells the story of a Superhero who's just beginning and has a lot to learn. Michelle, played by Zendaya, is the school 'loner' who doesn't belong to any group or have any friends but that's the image she's going for. Her character is sure to play a bigger role in future movies. Right from the beginning of the movie, the tone is set and stays consistent. Its light, humorous and entertaining but also has small elements of emotion and inspiration. The characters are introduced well and provide a clear base for a future series of movies. 


The biggest difference between this version of the web head and any previous versions is the involvement of the MCU and it's existing heroes. In this movies case, Iron Mans appearance constantly reminds audiences of the bigger universe Peter Parker is now part of and raises excitement for future possibilities. In the movie, Spidey has been presented as being a child who wants to save the world, has a lot of potential but is in fact, still just a child. Robert Downey Jr reprising his role as Iron Man, becomes somewhat of a father figure to Peter trying to control him and show him the bigger picture and considerations that have to be made when you're a superhero. Peter is the naive protege under Tony Starks wing who wants to show how good he is and he does this by defying Starks orders on multiple occasions. This sounds negative but the movie does well to get the audience to side with Peter rather than have Peter become a whining annoyance.

Ultimately, Tom Hollands Spider-Man fits the MCU better than both previous versions could have. Homecoming is a very light movie filled with hope and minor triumph.  It focuses on humour and has a more accurate comic book representation of the spectacular Spider-Man. The movie included the right amount of Tony Stark without the character overshadowing Peter which was something many fans of the friendly neighbourhood Spider-man were worried about. The movie shows the cliche 'nerd likes the popular girl' plot element but doesn't pan it out the way most would expect it to which is a nice and fresh take. Holland's performance is great, he suits the role and the movie is sure to make fans excited about the characters appearances in future Marvel movies.

The villain of the movie is The Vulture who is played by Micheal Keaton. Keaton does a great job at adding substance to his villain and through his acting, displays different levels of evil and intimidation. Interestingly, The Vulture is a fairly well developed villain who's motives are a little more understandable than past MCU villains. The movie does well to show how intimidating the Vulture is but they use it to clash with Peter's morality and determination. A great superhero-villain dynamic. Keaton's character has complexities and development that Marvel villains have consistently lacked in the past.


This movie isn't perfect though. The past versions of the character showed a clear personal development of Peter Parker and treated the character as an adult through very emotional scenes revolving around the deaths of uncle Ben and Peter's parents. This time, there is a substantial lack of heart. Sony and Marvel have clearly made a conscious decision to keep the character light and avoid Peter being burdened by his powers and their consequences. Although this is consistent with Marvel's usual movie blue print, the exclusion of deeper emotions and understanding leads to a missed opportunity to add more substance to the character, and ultimately prevents the movie from being great. It has it's moments of inspiration and heroism but these moments could've been even better if they were delivered with more heart. The overall plot and cast dynamics are probably as good, if not better than, Maguire's or Garfield's movies but unlike those Spider-men, this Peter lacked understanding and was less relatable. They show Peter being a normal kid wanting to do normal kid things and then they show the wider bounds of the universe, but they don't take the time to thoroughly show Peter's internal disconnect from being a poor, lonely child who lives in a bad area to joining the avengers. This is something that the animated series have done well. With this being said, future movies can develop Peter and possibly develop his character arc in this way. Another interesting thing this movie skips out on is actually swinging through the city. One of the biggest parts of the hero is his ability to seamlessly swing through New York and over its sky scrappers with magical fluidity however this movie doesn't show much, if any, proper city swinging. Hopefully this will change in the future.

**SPOILER TALK! skip to the next paragraph to avoid!** You have been warned! There are a few
notable spoiler-y things that happen throughout this movie so let's get to it! Firstly, the Spidey suit tech and its possibilities sure to be explored in the future allow for a much more abled Spider-man than previously seen. Especially with the suits Jarvis equivalent, Karen. A great twist in this movie which really upped the plot was the reveal of Liz Allan's father as none other than the villain himself, The Vulture! It shocked audiences and really helped keep the excitement going. Donald Glover's character explains to the web slinger in their funny scene that he has 'a nephew who lives around here'. While this could appear to just be a throw away story element, it's actually an easter egg confirming Miles Morales existence in the universe. Miles Morales, if you didn't know, is the character who picks up the mantle of Spider-Man after Peter Parker and we'll have to wait to see if they do this on the big screen.  The post credit-scene confirms the villain Scorpion for the upcoming sequel. At the end of the movie, Tony Stark confirms Peters place in The Avengers with the reveal of a possible new suit which has a strong resemblance to the 'Iron Spider' suit worn by Peter in the comics and animated series. It's basically a Spidey-Iron Man hybrid suit. The biggest easter egg/reveal in my opinion again comes in close to the end of the movie where Zendaya's character 'Michelle' reveals to Peter that 'her friends call her MJ'. This is a very clear reference to Peter Parkers long time comic girlfriend, Mary Jane confirming that Zendaya is in fact going to assume the role of Mary Jane in future movies with Peters current crush leaving town.

Overall this movie is very funny and entertaining. The new Spidey fits perfectly in the MCU and follows the universes consistent tone and blue print whilst also establishing itself as a base for enjoyable future solo movies. It will be interesting to see if the arcs planned for the character include developing Peter's maturity and understanding of the consequences of being a hero or if it will keep his less mature, more fun view on life intact in hopes of making more fun movies. The CGI is great and the suits technology is definitely very cool to see and the actions scenes were spectacular. This movie is definitely a beginning for Peter and I am excited to see where his character can go in the future and how much he improves his abilities and skills. I do think the movie lacks an emotional edge that could have really benefitted developing Peters maturity however the exclusion of this is consistent throughout the MCU and doesn't take too much away from the value of how entertaining the movie is. With all things considered, Spider-Man: Homecoming gets a blog of steel rating of 7/10. 

 That's the end of this weeks post, I hope you liked my review and my thoughts on the movie! If you did, or even if you didn't, let me know your thoughts by commenting down below or tweeting me @Akash_Sond (Click it!). As always, if you like what you read and what to read more, click that google+ follow button on the top right of the page or type your email in just below that to get an email every time I post! I'll be back next weekend with another post for the Blog of Steel. See ya!

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