Spider-Man: Homecoming

[Cwoolboy]

Lengthy review incoming.

Tom Holland perfectly nails his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He plays Peter as an insecure, friendly, nerdy, sarcastic (at times) high schooler who is still learning about his powers and himself. This film is classic high school Spidey all the way (my favorite version). He is often caught making it up as he goes along, he makes mistakes, and it feels good to see a hero who will stop fighting a villain to protect or save civilians. A good deal of the film is just Spidey on normal, slow days when he deals with smaller crimes (His time in high school is really the focus here, and his school feels real and lived in, and is populated by a beautifully diverse cast). This was refreshing, different and felt new. Holland is super charismatic, and he easily makes for the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man we're likely to get on the big screen.

Robert Downey Jr. continues to be an icon as Tony Stark, who gifts Peter with a brand new Stark tech suit and acts as a mentor to him for the few scenes he appears in (I counted 4). RDJ continues to be one fine actor, and he makes every one of his scenes count. Zendaya is entertaining, cute and very funny as Michelle, one of Peter's reluctant buddies (She's more o the sides, but is still quite memorable. She is quietly observant of the goings-ons around her, and is whip-smart and always handy with a quick comeback or funny remark. Michael Keaton turns on the slime and the scares as Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture. He is very intense and threatening, but has an empathetic backstory and motivation. He also looks very cool whenever he is in his Vulture get-up (even when it's just that cool jacket sans the flying contraption).

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the first Spider-Man film to be made with the assistance of Marvel, and boy does it show. This is a high quality movie, and it's clear everyone involved worked their butts off to ensure they got it right this time. The usual Marvel logo is underscored by a beautiful new take on the classic Spider-Man theme (by Michael Giacchino, who also did the score for the film). Appropriate, seeing as Homecoming is itself a modern update that takes the material back to its classic roots. Jon Watts directs, and the film feels almost like a John Hughes version of a super-hero movie. It's all very small scale, and the stakes are personal. It's nice to see a super-hero film where the fate of the world or universe isn't held in the balance. The film itself has some great, memorable scenes including one of the most definitive Spidey moments in any of the Spidey flicks (It gave me serious chills and had me tearing up). The only real negative is that Homecoming does mess with/change some pieces of Spidey lore in a way that may confuse or bother some fans.

The Spider-Man: Homecoming 3D experience isn't all that satisfying. There are some shots and scenes that look good in 3D, but not all that much jumps out of the screen, and the added depth is decent. in 3D the film can be murky, dark, and some of the action can be a bit hard to make out. Spider-Man: Homecoming is definitely worth your time and money, but to maximize your experience I'd recommend seeing it in 2D instead.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a big-budget superhero movie that feels like a heartfelt independent feature. It's a lot of fun and very funny. Perhaps most impressive is that it stays true to the character of Spider-Man, and gives us the best and most faithful iteration of that character yet (a lot of classic Spidey moments can be found here, including that definitive moment I mentioned above). Spider-Man: Homecoming is Marvel's welcome home celebration for Spider-Man. It's easily the best Spider-Man film we've gotten thus far. Spider-Man fans rejoice!

5 STARS

 

[Brian G.]

Saw this last night. It's good. It doesn't touch Spider Man 1 or 2 though. Those are the definitive Spider Man movies. Michael Keaton was a good villain. Finally breaking the trend of lackluster villains.

When's the last time you saw Spidey 1? Just outta curiosity.

I was a big fan of it; but when I saw it last year, it doesn't hold up at all. Wanted to see if others felt the same. Spidey 2 holds up though.

Either way - loved Homecoming. Holland was great. Keaton was great. The "car ride" scene was fantastic. Great score compared to the Garfield reboot. It felt like a small part of a bigger world, focused - and also was a good character arc for Peter and furthered the character development of Stark.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I rewatched the Raimi films earlier this week, and the first two are still some of the best if not the best superhero films.

 

[yankees13]

When's the last time you saw Spidey 1? Just outta curiosity.

I was a big fan of it; but when I saw it last year, it doesn't hold up at all. Wanted to see if others felt the same. Spidey 2 holds up though.

Either way - loved Homecoming. Holland was great. Keaton was great. The "car ride" scene was fantastic. Great score compared to the Garfield reboot. It felt like a small part of a bigger world, focused - and also was a good character arc for Peter and furthered the character development of Stark.

I watched 1 and 2 again about a year ago. I think it still holds up. It's 15 years old now and it shows a little bit in some scenes. But I love the grittiness of the final battle between Goblin and Parker.

Maybe it's just nostalgia since that's the Spider Man I grew up with. I think a lot of people in my age group (mid 20s) might feel the same. 2 is still fantastic. Definitely in my top 5 comic movies

 

[LieutLaww]

See Sony making nice with Marvel grants you nice things, like lots of money

 

[UNIrd]

Lengthy review incoming.

Tom Holland perfectly nails his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He plays Peter as an insecure, friendly, nerdy, sarcastic (at times) high schooler who is still learning about his powers and himself. This film is classic high school Spidey all the way (my favorite version). He is often caught making it up as he goes along, he makes mistakes, and it feels good to see a hero who will stop fighting a villain to protect or save civilians. A good deal of the film is just Spidey on normal, slow days when he deals with smaller crimes (His time in high school is really the focus here, and his school feels real and lived in, and is populated by a beautifully diverse cast). This was refreshing, different and felt new. Holland is super charismatic, and he easily makes for the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man we're likely to get on the big screen.

Robert Downey Jr. continues to be an icon as Tony Stark, who gifts Peter with a brand new Stark tech suit and acts as a mentor to him for the few scenes he appears in (I counted 4). RDJ continues to be one fine actor, and he makes every one of his scenes count. Zendaya is entertaining, cute and very funny as Michelle, one of Peter's reluctant buddies (She's more o the sides, but is still quite memorable. She is quietly observant of the goings-ons around her, and is whip-smart and always handy with a quick comeback or funny remark. Michael Keaton turns on the slime and the scares as Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture. He is very intense and threatening, but has an empathetic backstory and motivation. He also looks very cool whenever he is in his Vulture get-up (even when it's just that cool jacket sans the flying contraption).

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the first Spider-Man film to be made with the assistance of Marvel, and boy does it show. This is a high quality movie, and it's clear everyone involved worked their butts off to ensure they got it right this time. The usual Marvel logo is underscored by a beautiful new take on the classic Spider-Man theme (by Michael Giacchino, who also did the score for the film). Appropriate, seeing as Homecoming is itself a modern update that takes the material back to its classic roots. Jon Watts directs, and the film feels almost like a John Hughes version of a super-hero movie. It's all very small scale, and the stakes are personal. It's nice to see a super-hero film where the fate of the world or universe isn't held in the balance. The film itself has some great, memorable scenes including one of the most definitive Spidey moments in any of the Spidey flicks (It gave me serious chills and had me tearing up). The only real negative is that Homecoming does mess with/change some pieces of Spidey lore in a way that may confuse or bother some fans.

The Spider-Man: Homecoming 3D experience isn't all that satisfying. There are some shots and scenes that look good in 3D, but not all that much jumps out of the screen, and the added depth is decent. in 3D the film can be murky, dark, and some of the action can be a bit hard to make out. Spider-Man: Homecoming is definitely worth your time and money, but to maximize your experience I'd recommend seeing it in 2D instead.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a big-budget superhero movie that feels like a heartfelt independent feature. It's a lot of fun and very funny. Perhaps most impressive is that it stays true to the character of Spider-Man, and gives us the best and most faithful iteration of that character yet (a lot of classic Spidey moments can be found here, including that definitive moment I mentioned above). Spider-Man: Homecoming is Marvel's welcome home celebration for Spider-Man. It's easily the best Spider-Man film we've gotten thus far. Spider-Man fans rejoice!

5 STARS

Can you spoiler what you felt was the definitive moment? Saw it last night and curios what you're referring to.

 

[Cwoolboy]

Spoiler

The definitive moment I was referring to was when he was trapped under the rubble and had to free himself.

 

[randompixel]

Very enjoyable film but does nothing to advance the overall MCU plot (maybe just flesh out the world more). The other characters in Peters school were decent - it was good not to have a jock bully.

The twist in the middle genuinely made me gasp and after all the talk was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of an old character at the Avengers facility.

I found the fight on the plane a bit too much visually to the point of not seeing what was going on very well. Dark and blurry.

The second post credits scene is maybe the greatest they've done

 

[chris.g]

My favorite Spider-Man film but ridden with plot holes. A definitive Spider-Man film, really felt like I was a kid again. Holland is perfect.

Also don't like the twist they did with "Michelle"... guess we'll have to see how she is in future films.

 

[Freak]

My favorite Spider-Man film but ridden with plot holes. A definitive Spider-Man film, really felt like I was a kid again. Holland is perfect.

Also don't like the twist they did with "Michelle"... guess we'll have to see how she is in future films.

Spoiler

I really doubt they will do anything with Michele. She's basically no where near NYC now. I think they're setting it up for Mary Jane.

Saw Spider-Man last night and thought it was great! Probably my favorite Spidey film so far next to Spider-Man 2. Tom Holland looks and acts like Parker more than Parker himself. Michael Keaton was also amazing as Vulture.

Anybody know the name of the song they were playing in the opening before the Marvel logo came up?

 

[Cwoolboy]

I believe the song you're referring to is Can't You Hear Me Knocking by The Rolling Stones

 

[LieutLaww]

Off to see Spidey in about 10 mins can't wait !

 

[Obi Ubamba]

Saw this last night. It's good. It doesn't touch Spider Man 1 or 2 though. Those are the definitive Spider Man movies. Michael Keaton was a good villain. Finally breaking the trend of lackluster villains.

I respectfully disagree. I feel like Holland makes for a much better high school Peter Parker than Tobey did. This movie was more entertaining than either of them, and had better pacing. SM 2 was great, but I feel like this one did better at capturing the true nature of Spiderman.

 

[pat_naughty05]

Very enjoyable film but does nothing to advance the overall MCU plot (maybe just flesh out the world more). The other characters in Peters school were decent - it was good not to have a jock bully.

The twist in the middle genuinely made me gasp and after all the talk was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of an old character at the Avengers facility.

I found the fight on the plane a bit too much visually to the point of not seeing what was going on very well. Dark and blurry.

The second post credits scene is maybe the greatest they've done

This was one of my favorite things about the movie. With this being Spidey's first solo film, I was glad that they made the whole thing about him and what he was dealing with. After movies like Civil War, it would be easy to feel pressured to make sure that each film advances the overall MCU plot in some way, but I'm glad the filmmakers decided to go in the direction they did.

 

[LieutLaww]

Just got back from Spidey, was excellent Holland plays Parker perfectly imo he is young and plays Parker as such it is probably my fav Spider-Man movie to date.

 

[ChristopherSE]

I must say, I'm really surprised by how well this movie is being received lol. My friend and I saw it on Saturday and felt it was the weakest iteration of spiderman.

I will preface my criticism by saying that this movie was fun to watch; The action scenes were entertaining, and Spidey's tech suit gave us something different, which I enjoyed. But when the action stopped, and the movie had to rely on it's writing, thats where it failed, in my opinion.

The sheer number of high school movie tropes was just overwhelming I understand that Peter is 15 in this iteration, so I don't expect him or his story to have great maturity or depth, but the movie felt like it was written by someone whose only knowledge of high school came from watching early-2000s teen rom-coms. We had an array of high school characters who really only served as plot devices. And even still, you have a character like Michelle who served no purpose other than to perhaps set her up for the second film. Say what you will about the Amazing Spider-man reboot with Garfield, but when I watched those films, I never felt like I was being patronized. And they allowed their exceptionally talented cast to give their characters life, which Homecoming did not. I also didn't think most of the humor in Homecoming landed. I saw it with a full theater, and most of the jokes didn't get an audible laugh. Some of the humor was actually fairly groan-worthy lol.

In all, I think with every superhero movie, you have to consider both the Hero and the Secret Identity storylines. Here, Spidey's story was solid; a fun, fresh addition to the Spider-man line-up. But Peter Parker's just didn't hold up. Trite, calculated, and uninspired, it never transcended its teen movie formula.

With all that screen time they freed up by not having to rehash Spidey's origin story, I wish they had done something.

6/10

 

[OLSinFLA]

I must say, I'm really surprised by how well this movie is being received lol. My friend and I saw it on Saturday and felt it was the weakest iteration of spiderman.

I will preface my criticism by saying that this movie was fun to watch; The action scenes were entertaining, and Spidey's tech suit gave us something different, which I enjoyed. But when the action stopped, and the movie had to rely on it's writing, thats where it failed, in my opinion.

The sheer number of high school movie tropes was just overwhelming I understand that Peter is 15 in this iteration, so I don't expect him or his story to have great maturity or depth, but the movie felt like it was written by someone whose only knowledge of high school came from watching early-2000s teen rom-coms. We had an array of high school characters who really only served as plot devices. And even still, you have a character like Michelle who served no purpose other than to perhaps set her up for the second film. Say what you will about the Amazing Spider-man reboot with Garfield, but when I watched those films, I never felt like I was being patronized. And they allowed their exceptionally talented cast to give their characters life, which Homecoming did not. I also didn't think most of the humor in Homecoming landed. I saw it with a full theater, and most of the jokes didn't get an audible laugh. Some of the humor was actually fairly groan-worthy lol.

In all, I think with every superhero movie, you have to consider both the Hero and the Secret Identity storylines. Here, Spidey's story was solid; a fun, fresh addition to the Spider-man line-up. But Peter Parker's just didn't hold up. Trite, calculated, and uninspired, it never transcended its teen movie formula.

With all that screen time they freed up by not having to rehash Spidey's origin story, I wish they had done something.

6/10

Just the opposite in my theater. People laughed, applauded and even did a "woah" at one point. Thought it was excellent. And I'm not sure which characters you thought were plot devices since the majority of them came directly from the comics.

 

[ChristopherSE]

Just the opposite in my theater. People laughed, applauded and even did a "woah" at one point. Thought it was excellent. And I'm not sure which characters you thought were plot devices since the majority of them came directly from the comics.

Oh my theater laughed, myself included! But there were enough jokes that fell flat, that I really took notice. And the action scenes were well-received, across the board. Definitely the movie's strongest aspect. As for the characters, I felt they were all underdeveloped, tbqh. They read, to me and my friend, as stock characters and 2-dimensional. You can take a great character from a comic book and underutilize them. Liz was just a pretty girl that was the catalyst for Peter's agency. Ned is the token sidekick who very blatantly sets himself up for his man-in-chair hero moment Michelle was the quirky loner with one-liners. Aunt May was the wise, but understanding adult. I agree it was nice that Flash wasn't a jock bully type, but he was still a heavy-handed device to discredit and "loser-fy" Peter. They all but put Peter into a t-shirt that said "I'm a relatable underdog" .

Homecoming didn't feel redundant because of all the spidermen that came before it; it felt redundant because of every teen movie that came before it, and that's ultimately my gripe with it.

And I understand its a superhero movie, i promise lol. I certainly expect to see a formula, and a specific set of characters. But with the proper writing, you can care for these characters and relate to them. For me and my friend, they were too 2-dimensional to do either.

You certainly don't have to agree with me! I know I'm in the minority on this one haha

 

[randompixel]

This was one of my favorite things about the movie. With this being Spidey's first solo film, I was glad that they made the whole thing about him and what he was dealing with. After movies like Civil War, it would be easy to feel pressured to make sure that each film advances the overall MCU plot in some way, but I'm glad the filmmakers decided to go in the direction they did.

I was ok with that too, but the wife was like "that felt like a waste of time"

 

[KengKun]

Spoiler: a certain scene

the scene with Spider-Man stuck under the rubble and him lifting it up without his mask was such a powerful scene that it made me get emotional. My favorite Spider-Man movie yet (yeah better than Spider-Man 2 which I love...)