Spider-Man Homecoming

SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING

Director : Jon Watts
Year : 2017
Genre : Superhero
Rating : ****

After stealing the show with his short but very sweet cameo in 2016's highly entertaining superhero mash-up 'Captain America : Civil War', Tom Holland's wisecracking webslinger is given a proper introduction into Marvel's Cinematic Universe with Jon Watt's eagerly anticipated 'Spider-Man Homecoming', the third reboot of the iconic hero in less than a decade and easily the best screen outing for New York's most popular arachnid since Sam Raimi's 2004 genre classic 'Spider-Man 2'. 

Thankfully skipping over the characters done-to-death origin story and taking place a short while after the events of 'Civil War',  'Spider-Man Homecoming' sees Holland's Peter Parker having to come to terms with the extraordinary powers he has been gifted while also trying to impress his unrequited love (Laura Harrier) and fellow schoolmates. Told by his mentor and benefactor Tony Stark (played by the always delightful Robert Downey Jr.) not to attempt any of the madcap heroics of the Avengers and instead to concentrate on being the "friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man", Peter reluctantly finds himself saving cats from trees and helping old ladies cross the road. However, when a rogue weapons dealer named Adrian Toomes aka. The Vulture (Michael Keaton) starts to create explosive havoc on the streets of his beloved city, Peter must step-up, or swing-up to the plate and become the hero he was destined to be. 

From the it's thrilling opening set piece to it's final post-credits scene (easily the funniest in the series so far), 'Spider-Man Homecoming' is a great deal of fun - bringing audiences the high-octane action expected of the franchise while still managing to maintain the awkward teenage quirkiness that made the character of Peter Parker so likable in the first place. Swinging into the titular role with an adolescent glee and a charisma so lacking in previous portrayals of everyones favourite web-head, Holland proves to be the perfect choice of actor to don the iconic red and blue suit once worn by Tobey Maguire (2003-2008) and Andrew Garfield (2011-2014). 

But unlike previous big-screen Peter Parkers, he's not a mopey crybaby or a smooth-talking skateboarder. Instead, our hero is an unpopular, socially awkward dweeb who would be equally happy completing a LEGO Death Star with his best friend (hilariously played by newcomer Jacob Batalon)  than he would be saving the world. Many laughs are to be had at the expense of the characters nerdy mannerisms and adolescent awkwardness and Holland has plenty of the charisma needed to make him as empathetic and as charming as possible. Yes, the movie has plenty of CGI heavy action and impressive visual spectacle but at its heart, 'Spider-Man Homecoming' is a coming-of-age film about a high-school student and director Jon Watts beautifully manages to combine the thrills of a Marvel production with the endearing innocence of a classic John Hughes picture. 

However, a superhero is only as good as his villain and former-Batman Michael Keaton is in turn charming and intimidating as the tech-savvy, razor-winged Vulture - a former employee of Tony Stark's who now scavenges the alien technology left behind from the Avengers battle in New York to create his own deadly weaponry. While the character of the Vulture may not be as well known to the general populous as other Spidey villains such as The Green Goblin, Sandman and Venom, Keaton makes the absolute best of the role and in doing so, creates not only the most threatening and memorable Spider-Man antagonist since Alfred Molina's multi-armed Doctor Octopus but also one of the greatest villains in the MCU. 

Delivering original and inventive action scenes, new and colourful characters, eye popping visual effects and a genuinely surprising plot twist in its second act, 'Spider-Man Homecoming' is yet another hugely entertaining slam-dunk for Marvel Studios. Tying the events of the film into the overarching saga of The Avengers while still standing on it's own as a thoroughly satisfying superhero movie, it not only serves as the best Spider-Man film in over a decade but it goes to prove just how bad Marc Webb's dreary 'Amazing Spider-Man' double bill really was. Comparatively speaking, 'Homecoming' may not have the emotional heft or character depth of some of the other superhero movies released this Summer such as 'Wonder Woman' or 'Logan' but what it does have is an an unfathomable amount of charm and a joyful lust for fun that acts as the perfect antidote to the poisonous effects of 'Transformers : The Last Knight'. I saw the film. I bought the bobble-headed vinyl figure. I've pre-ordered the Blu-Ray.