Spider-Man: Homecoming is the the sixteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie is directed by Jon Watts and while the story is by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. It's produced by Marvel Studios, Columbia Pictures and Pascal Pictures and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.
The movie features a cast of Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Donald Glover, Zendaya, and Marisa Tomei in leading roles, with other actors such as Tyne Daly and Michael Mando making shorter appearances.
After the original Spider-Man trilogy got rebooted, and we had one good movie after the mixed feelings Spider-Man 3 left us with, things were looking up. But unfortunately, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 went downhill, and we eventually had another Spider-Man getting it's sequel canned. With Sony not left with much to do rather than another reboot that may or may not have worked, things looked grim for the movie career of the web slinger. We'd watch more and more MCU movies and hope Spider-Man pops up in the next Avengers. Then we had Captain America: Civil War(which is technically an Avengers movie anyway), and we were all shocked to see our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in it's comic accuracy glory. And like a dream come true, Sony and Marvel struck up a deal and we finally got the Spider-Man movie we deserved since the Spider-Man 2 in the Sam Raimi trilogy.
I have to say, I was excited and had a nerdgasm seeing one of my most favourite superheroes finally get the adaption he deserved, one of the rare times I actually said 'whoa' and repeated lines of characters in awe while watching the movie(before you lynch me, I wasn't remotely loud) and I knew I had to take a little break before I write the review to avoid any bias under the hype of watching the best Spider-Man movie I had been waiting for since years.
Without wasting more of your time, lets get onto the review.
Spider-Man: Homecoming, despite being a reboot, is actually not an origin story, taking place before and after Captain America: Civil War. In the MCU chronology, it is set in present time and while it's advised to watch Civil War before getting into this one, it also wont make *too much* of a difference if you watched this first instead as the movie is pretty self explanatory, also featuring a short 'recap' recorded by Peter Parker himself.
As stated above, the movie does not waste time making you watch Uncle Ben die yet again and takes you into the life of a high school Peter Parker who has been Spider-Man for quite a while now, struggling to maintain his grades as well as his life as a hero and impressing Tony Stark(also correcting his posture when confronting criminals so he can finally be somewhat intimidating). Things take a different turn when Peter figures out that a group of men have started making and selling new weaponry with alien technology and tries to confront the gang, but not long until he realizes their leader Vulture is not one to be taken lightly.
It's honestly amazing that we are living in a time when superhero movies can actually afford to have characters from other movies intervening in the plot and making an impact. Iron-Man in a Spider-Man movie? Sign me up. A common concern was raised regarding Tony's appearances in the movie, fearing he may be emphasized on. But the movie managed the character perfectly, not overdoing it by any means. Not just Stark, all characters fit in perfectly like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle and have a fair time of role, while also not holding onto cliches from the previous 5 Spider-Man movies we've had and giving a new touch to every character, giving us an amazing Spider-Man that is comic-accurate in his wit, intellect and overall personality, and giving us the version we really deserved. Speaking of characters, the Vulture is one bad-ass antagonist that actually makes you acknowledge his presence. You don't think 'yeah another guy Spider-Man's going to send to jail', rather you feel like 'holy -, how's Peter gonna take on this guy?', and to make it better the character is not one-dimensional and has been given good depth, which makes him an interesting yet fearsome foe that Spider-Man really is challenged by in the movie.
The story of the movie is well structured(but do not use your phone on this one, or you'll have no idea where it's going for the first half) and isn't too much to take in for a first Spider-Man film in the new trilogy, while also keeping you wondering what happens next, being packed with a couple of surprises you might not expect and a large arsenal of easter-eggs and references to catch up on. The movie also incorporates more comedy than you'd expect after watching the previous Spider-Man films, but it also has it's serious moments to balance that, giving you the experience you've been hoping for being a fan of the comics. Speaking of it's moments, while the fights are good, you might feel slightly lackey there because if you were expecting a long fist fight against Vulture, I gotta say you'd be slightly disappointed as they went for more story-telling than beat em ups in the film(it is something I believe should be more balanced in the sequel). But, it's all made up by the rescue scenes of the movie which are really well written, acted and shot and the ship sequence gives you a slight nostalgia with the train sequence of Spider-Man 2, while also not being a cliche and having it's own touch.
The 3D of the movie was well made, it wasn't overdone yet it really bring out some parts of the movie, especially with the Vulture. It was eye candy looking at that suit design and the animation, and only left me wanting more of it after I was done. The soundtrack of the movie was also pretty good and fit every part of the movie very well, equally establishing a tone of intensity while also having it's teen moments, and the sound effects really made every scene standout and made you feel the heat of the moment.
On an unrelated note which does not affect the movie directly, Marvel should have advertised the movie a bit better. Like I expressed my dismay with Captain America: Civil War, Marvel showed too much footage of Spider-Man: Homecoming in promotional content to the point watching the movie feels quite like you have already seen it. This is something the DCEU is recently doing better, such as with Wonder Woman, as well as Fox with Logan where you could not even tell who the antagonist was. So Marvel should really start being more clever with the reveals.
Final Verdict:
Spider-Man: Homecoming is an 8.5 out of 10.
Living up to the hype and expectations, Spider-Man: Homecoming is the amazing Spider-Man film we've all been waiting for, and is the single best Spider-Man movie we've had since Spider-Man 2. A well made story, a perfect Peter Parker *and* Spider-Man(that's right, we don't have to pick one actor for playing one part of the role better anymore), and setting up it's own identity while also paying homage to the previous ones, it becomes a dream come true for every fan of the comic and will leave you shooting webs in your dream.
The movie is definitely recommended and I will go myself for a rewatch. Only thing keeping it from a straight 9 out of 10 is the lack of better fight scenes, but do not be fooled by that lack of a .5 because Spider-Man: Homecoming is a great film and most definitely everything you've been waiting for.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is an 8.5 out of 10.
Living up to the hype and expectations, Spider-Man: Homecoming is the amazing Spider-Man film we've all been waiting for, and is the single best Spider-Man movie we've had since Spider-Man 2. A well made story, a perfect Peter Parker *and* Spider-Man(that's right, we don't have to pick one actor for playing one part of the role better anymore), and setting up it's own identity while also paying homage to the previous ones, it becomes a dream come true for every fan of the comic and will leave you shooting webs in your dream.
The movie is definitely recommended and I will go myself for a rewatch. Only thing keeping it from a straight 9 out of 10 is the lack of better fight scenes, but do not be fooled by that lack of a .5 because Spider-Man: Homecoming is a great film and most definitely everything you've been waiting for.
Muhammad Junaid
Muhammad Junaid is the writer of Entertainment Ghost. He writes articles, reviews, previews and entertainment news about gaming, technology, the media and so on. You can follow him on Twitter @Mr_MJunaid and Facebook MJunaid
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