Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr, Jennifer Connelly, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori
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If you're feeling franchise fatigue with this series, you're not alone. In the time I have been alive there have been three different Spider-Mans and six movies. After the reboot failed miserably with
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony handed the web-slinger's rights back over to Marvel in a co-production agreement. Spider-Man finally joined the Avengers in
Civil War last year and he will return for
Infinity War next year
. This version of the web-slinging hero is played by Tom Holland, who was an actual teenager during filming. He is the most authentic version of Peter Parker that I have seen. He seems like a kid playing a kid and it seems to come naturally to him. This is the most fun I have ever seen Spider-Man have, and it harkens back to the cartoons I grew up with as a kid. Peter Parker has a special place in my heart and it is really meaningful to see him in this way. However, I have to push that beaming fanboy aside and acknowledge some serious issues this movie has. I love Spider-Man and I want nothing but to love this movie. Yet it took maybe 45 minutes before I figured out if I even liked the film. This movie has some pacing issues and it focuses too hard on getting its ending correct so it can set up a future movie. This is the issue Marvel is facing these days and it's the same problem that tanked
The Amazing Spider-Man 2. They still have not learned from their mistakes. Before I get too much into this problem, I am going to break down more of what I liked and what I didn't like in this
NON-SPOILER review below.
Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Tobey Maguire was never Spider-Man to me. Andrew Garfield perfectly captured the angst of the character, yet it was clear by the second film that he didn't possess the playful side. Tom Holland arrives with the complete package. I saw a little-known film called
The Impossible at Railroad Square five years ago. In it, Holland plays the son of a family caught in the 2004 Indonesia tsunami with the kind of heart one doesn't expect a child actor to have. I knew he was destined for greatness if only he found the right agent to take him there. His dramatic chops are at play in some of Peter's key scenes, but he also possesses the wide-eyed wonder that makes him relatable. He reacts as you and I would if we suddenly woke up with superpowers. I think that
Homecoming succeeds when it focuses on Holland's Peter because it grounds it in the present day. Too much of this movie is crafted on setting up the future.
Iron Man, Happy, and The Avengers
I was worried that this would be Robert Downey Jr weaseling his way into another solo movie. However, this is surprisingly not a Spider-Man / Iron Man team-up film as the trailers would suggest. In all actuality, he's nothing more than a cameo. I appreciated this angle rather than having him dominate screen time because I'm a little tired of Iron Man at this point. I think it's sad that Marvel did not trust
Homecoming to sell tickets alone so they had to attach RDJ to the ad campaign to sell tickets. Happy, on the other hand, became the character I never knew I missed. Jon Favreau brings such joy to this role that it is a pleasure to watch him act. It just made sense that Happy would be the liaison between Peter and Tony. As for the Avengers references, it seemed a little too TV for me. I haven't been a fan of the Marvel or DC TV shows because they just seem like commercials to me. Seeing glimpses of the tower and hearing names dropped here and there felt a little too scripted for my taste, and it made the film lose its focus.
Aunt May
I'm searching for a way to say "milf" professionally. Anyways, that is the angle with Aunt May and it's jarring but a lot of fun. For someone used to seeing Aunt May as a feeble old lady, it's shocking to see Marisa Tomei's sexy and fun performance. As this franchise reboots time and time again, Aunt May seems to get younger with each iteration. She didn't have a big role in the film, but what she did was very noteworthy. She seemed like the reasonable age to be Peter's aunt and mother-figure. She actually helped guide him through situations he could not do on his own. We assume she's a widow yet we have no mention of Uncle Ben so she seems like her own woman and has her own story. They took a gamble and I think it paid off.
The Vulture
When it comes to villains, Marvel usually misses the mark. While DC has some of the best villains ever dreamed up, Marvel has fallen short with all but Loki. Recent efforts of last year such as
Doctor Strange and
Civil War also provided lackluster villains. Luckily, Marvel has decided to start casting Oscar-caliber actors and it's paid off brilliantly. Kurt Russell became arguably the studio's most serious villain, and Cate Blanchett in
Thor: Ragnarok looks to be a deliberate move by the studio to fix the common criticism. Smack in the middle is Michael Keaton, who has been enjoying a renaissance of his career since his Oscar nomination in Best Picture winner
Birdman. Ironically, he's a bird-man here as well, playing the Vulture. His background is brilliant, as he is depicted as a literal vulture who cleans up superhero debris from cities and his motivation is realistic. He isn't really a "bad guy" per se, rather a man driven to an extreme who has made the wrong decisions. The Vulture feels like one of the scariest villains Marvel has offered audiences. He threatens children and attempts to murder them. Keaton definitely delivers, and he outmatches every actor he shares a scene with. I've been a huge fan of where his career is gone, and it seems like he is still making great choices.
The Twist
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT
Click below at your own risk.
Karen
Peter gets an AI courtesy of Tony named Karen. She acts much like Jarvis did for Iron Man, providing him with all kinds of gadgets and tactical advice. Karen is voiced by Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, who is actually Paul Bettany's wife (Bettany voiced Jarvis and appears as Vision). This is a very cool nod and Karen has some of the funniest scenes in the film. However, I think a major problem was how sexual they made her out to be. She seemed to have a lot of romantic advice for Peter and her tone was often concerning to me. For artificial intelligence, she seemed to have a specific agenda in mind and if he's a kid, this is kinda crossing the line. I've seen
Ex Machina, so female AIs will always leave a bad taste in my mouth.
A John Hughes Superhero Film?
Peter Parker's been in high school before, but Andrew Garfield and his co-stars were far too old to give an authentic view of what high school really is. In
Homecoming, they have younger actors, but they make a very interesting choice in how they depict high school. Their version is ripped straight from the reels of John Hughes' classic films. From the social hierarchy to the camaraderie between different groups to the accented color palette, this is a John Hughes vision of a superhero movie. The actors should fit perfect caricatures of Hughes' casts, yet none of them really connect. Peter's love interest Liz seems like a stepping stone and not a dire interest. His friend Ned is often rude and annoying, and not trustworthy. It seems like Peter's right-hand man will always be his girlfriends, and I honestly am interested to see how they handle a new Mary Jane. Flash Thompson doesn't seem like a real obstacle to Peter, which is a shame because Tony Revolori needs a good role after his turn in
The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Donald Glover
I really hope there are not any huge Donald Glover / Childish Gambino fans anxiously waiting to see him in a superhero movie. He says next to nothing and does even less. It's honestly a glorified cameo. I'm perplexed as to why they would cast someone with the mainstream heat and pure talent that Glover possesses and waste him. Actually, I have a pretty good idea, and this segues into my final two sections.
Diversity
Diversity is a tricky thing to execute correctly, especially in movies as mainstream as superhero films.
Homecoming has been the first film to try to have a completely diverse cast. Holland is white, but various other ethnicities (not just African-Americans) appear in the supporting cast. However, these actors have very little to do in this movie. It's honestly the Spider-Man / Vulture show, and everyone else is relegated to cameos. I expressed my dismay that Donald Glover was subject to this treatment but he's not alone. And here we arrive at the problem. Diversity for the sake of diversity is ridiculous. It pushes no new ideas forward and ultimately has nothing to offer. Simply put, it is wasting opportunities. I hope that
Black Panther switches this up, because it has a mostly black cast simply because the source material's cast is black. Race-bending is an interesting idea but it has to be done correctly. If not, you'll end up with
Homecoming's issue: a film that claims to be starting a conversation about the issue yet has nothing to say.
The Problem With Setting Up
My biggest problem with
Homecoming is that these movies don't feel like complete thoughts anymore. There are easter eggs galore and references to events that have not even happened yet. I want to see grounded, realistic characters and a script that is focused on the present, not looking towards the future. Of course, providing any examples would give spoilers, but I read a review that called this film "Easter Egg: The Movie" and that is shockingly accurate. When it's good, it's good, but Marvel has its eyes on a prize far off in the future, and on a finish line that only seems to extend with every film.
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