Web of SPOILERS

 

If you haven’t seen Spider-Man Homecoming yet, this is your official SPOILER WARNING as I will be discussing some of the major spoilers that occurred in the film!

 

Spider-Man:Homecoming had a lot going on within it and I wanted to take this time to dig more in depth on some of the things I liked and some things that I didn’t like. I won’t be going beat by beat through the movie, but essentially highlighting some of the plot points that I could not discuss in my spoiler-free review!

The first thing I wanted to discuss was Tom Holland as Spider-Man. Gosh does this kid nail the role with all the enthusiasm, intelligence, and general likability. I noted in my spoiler-free review that I liked how he was just a kid in the movie. He has to participate in the academic decathlon, do well in school, pick up some courage to talk to Liz Alan and juggle that with being a superhero.

His inexperience in the film really shows and I loved that. When he’s saving his friends from the Washington Monument and he is terrified of the height he is,that really shows the difference between Holland and the other actors that portrayed the character before him. He is not the brave web-slinger we know from before and he still has a long way to go before he can become a full fledged Avenger. He is still trying to prove himself to Tony Stark and when the boat separates and he’s not able to hold it together, this gives him the chance to prove to not only Stark but also to himself that he can be more than just a guy in a suit. All of the sequences where he’s practicing his web shooters or trying to think of navigating a neighborhood are hysterical and I loved how innovative and smart Holland portrayed Peter this time around.

The Vulture is probably one of my favorite Marvel Cinematic villains at this point. You can understand where he is coming from. He is trying to provide for his family and he was essentially kicked out of his job at the beginning of the movie. The line where he says, “Stark and the Avengers…they do not care about us. They go around saving the day and they leave us to clean up their mess”. That is a very personal argument that both Peter and Vulture relate to as Peter feels he is not valued as an Avenger and Vulture is not valued at the job he was trying to do. It was a good dynamic, but I wish it had appeared earlier in the story rather than in the middle of the third act.

The twist that Vulture is actually Liz Alan’s dad caught me by surprise. When he first mentioned he had a family, I thought he would be related to Ned or Zendaya’s character Michelle. It was a great twist that gave the movie the momentum it needed in the third act. I especially loved the scene where they are driving in the car and he slowly figures out the Peter is Spider-Man. It is inherently obvious to anyone around that Parker is Spider-Man so I’m glad Vulture figured it out. It is great acting on both Holland and Keaton to deliver this and it shows how intimidating and smart this villain actually was.

The fact that Vulture lived through everything is great! Usually superhero movies will bring in a villain only for them to be killed off by the end of the movie. I love that even til the last moment, Peter is trying to save him when his suit starts malfunctioning. It shows the good within himself and how Peter is destined to be a hero.  The post credit scene seems to indicate that Vulture will be returning in future Spider-Man installments indicating that we may be building towards a Sinister Six soon…

I enjoyed Tony Stark’s limited involvement in the film. It allowed him to act like a father figure to Peter while also keeping the movie focused on Spider-Man. I didn’t necessarily like how high tech Peter’s suit was especially with the involvement of the AI Karen. It felt like a Jarvis to me and that Spider-Man was trying to hard to be a younger Iron Man. I am glad though that in the end, he has to fight Vulture without that suit and really learn what it means to be a hero. (Also at the end, when Tony shows the new suit I am wondering if that is supposed to be the Iron Spider suit???? If so, I am very excited to see that in Infinity War).

A few other big twists and reveals involve some of the smaller characters in the movie. Donald Glover’s character Aaron Davis is a villain in the comics so it appears the movie was setting up for that. But more namely was the drop that “he has a nephew in the city” which is a clear reference to Miles Morales. I like how Marvel is attempting to expand Spider-Man’s universe past the things we have already seen in previous movies.

Then there is the reveal, after months of rumors and speculations, that Zendaya’s character goes by the name “MJ” which is a reference to Spider-Man’s girl friend/wife in the comics Mary Jane Watson. This reveal doesn’t really have an impact on the story and I saw it as very forced. It’s kind of like the reveal in The Dark Knight Rises that Joseph Gordon Levit’s character’s real name is Robin. It is a cool homage to the source material but it is not really needed. I am all down for the actress to be a love interest for Peter, but I could not feel any real chemistry between them given her little involvement in the film.

This movie probably has my favorite Marvel post credits scene ever. The use of Captain America in this film is extremely smart by the writers and allows for some good jokes. The scene is basically Marvel making fun of themselves but also the audience for the amount of time we wait for just 30 seconds more of a movie. Very clever by the writers.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming. It set itself apart well from the other Spider-Man movies as well from the other Marvel movies. The small scale was perfect and was coded by great performances and good story twists. I would rank this high on my list of favorite Marvel movies which now goes 1. Avengers 2. Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Captain America: Winter Soldier 4. Spider-Man: Homecoming 5. Captain America: Civil War.

 

And that’s all I wanted to discuss. I realize I did not touch on everything on the movie, but I will leave that for you to discuss. Let me know in the comments what YOU thought of the movie! 8.6/10 Spectacular