Spider-Man: Homecoming marks the third reboot of the beloved web-crawler and it’s proven to be fast-paced, funny, and entertaining from start to finish if only a slight position behind the 2004 Tobey Maguire sequel.
Tom Holland takes over and he made his debut as the character in last year’s Captain America: Civil War. He proved to be one of the most memorable standouts in that film and his casting choice was no fluke. His alter ego, Peter Parker, has to contend with attempting to join the Avengers and balance out his personal life with high school. I start to suspect he’s got a lot on his plate.
Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man who acts as a kind of mentor to Parker and they provide many hilarious exchanges as well as some moments of great dialogue both funny and serious. However, those moments are only equaled by the chemistry between Holland and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Stark’s limo driver. See the movie. You’ll understand.
Michael Keaton is a terrific actor, and even though he’s not completely miscast here, I didn’t buy his turn as the villain known as the Vulture, whose a former salvager turned arms dealer in order to support his family. It also complicates matters that Parker just happens to be in love with his daughter (Laura Harrier).
Like most Marvel movies, Spider-Man: Homecoming is heavy on weaving a sheer number of characters and plot threads and yet again they manage to find a way out of the maze. Focusing on Holland, his casting was inspired as he brings the right amount of brains, humor, and awkwardness that we come to expect. Maguire was good in his day and Andrew Garfield was an acceptable substitute, but Holland makes the character his own and the performance works.
I can say the same about the rest of the film. There are terrific performances all around from a solid cast and it does provide some incredible special effects sequences including one involving the Washington Monument.
This movie doesn’t make me think anything is better than the 2004 Maguire sequel, but it does have me eagerly looking forward to seeing what Holland is able to do with the character as long as he’s in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s the Spider-Man movie fans have been waiting for and it’s my favorite movie so far this summer.
Grade: A-
(Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some language, and brief suggestive comments.)
