Rating of
3.5/4
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/03/19
Feeling that he is being ignored by Tony Stark who is clearly blind to his full potential, Peter Parker embarks upon a mission to stop a gang who are stealing alien technology and weaponising it for sale to the highest bidder.
With the appearance of the ubiquitous Iron Man and the accompanying hi-tec spider suit, there was a real danger that the latest Spidey film would become yet another gizmo-infested CGI smackdown, but thanks to hugely likeable characters and a script that contains some genuine wit, Homecoming is not only highly entertaining but also a lot less po-faced than many of its predecessors. The high school setting – although cliched – works really well and consciously harks back to the feelgood John Hughes movies of the 1980’s and Tom Holland and his nerdy sidekick have some real chemistry together sharing some very funny lines. Michael Keaton’s Vulture is also rather more three dimensional than the usual Hollywood baddie, being as he is an ordinary working Joe who turns to crime once he feels that the system has left him behind. I also liked the way that even beyond the inevitable sequence of comic mishaps while learning to use his powers, Peter always seems to be operating on the ragged edge and only ever just about holding it together making for a more interesting character dynamic.
Reminiscent of a more family friendly version of Kick Ass, Spider-Man Homecoming is one of my favourite Marvel films to date and just edges out Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 as the best of the friendly neighbourhood web-slinger films.
