My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Okay, yes, I am still catching up on some of the MCU movies. I’ve seen the direct Avengers series in the theater, as well as a few of the others (like Ragnorak), but some of the others I didn’t catch while they were still in the movies houses. So, I’m filling them in now.
I did watch the Toby Maguire Spiderman movies, and, well, meh. They were, I don’t know, not quite right for some reason. I will also admit that when I first saw Tom Holland’s Spidey in Civil War, I was not really impressed. He was funny, but I didn’t really connect. I have since realized that my problem is not so much the actors, but the character . Spiderman was never my favorite Marvel superhero. I think some of that spills over to my perception of him on the screen.
That said, Homecoming was a decent movie. Holland’s Spidey is growing on me (I admit I was teary at his “I don’t want to go” in Infinity War). The movie doesn’t dwell on the angsty, annoying bits of Spiderman that made me want to punch him. Peter is pretty much a teenager here, with enough teen angst to make him seem real, but no so much that I want to grab the nearest 2×4. His classmate, Ned, is a wonderful as the sidekick-esque buddy. Tony Stark, Happy Hogan, and Pepper Potts are always welcome in an MCU film. Favorite bit? Tony Stark telling Peter: “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Definitely don’t do anything I would do. There’s a tiny gray area there. That’s where you operate.” I mean, coming from Tony, that’s perfect advice!
Things that bothered me? Aunt May, for one. I grew up with Aunt May as the grandmotherly type, not a young, sexy woman. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. And the lack of Mary Jane. Oh, yeah, we see “MJ” at the end, but it’s not the same. Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are like peanut butter and jelly to me. Having our MJ a Michelle is a bit odd feeling.
But- minor quibbles. If I am honest, there are a lot of things not quite right (if you grew up on the comics) with all the the MCU. What they change is generally done well and fits the movie canon nicely. This one is not that much of an exception. I note it, but it’s okay.
One of the things I liked about it was that when Peter puts on the Spidey suit, he doesn’t immediately transform into the perfect superhero. Far from it. He crashes into things, breaks things, makes mistakes, and generally, has to find his way to using his powers effectively. And the interplay between him and “Karen”, as he names the AI that Tony Stark built into the new suit, is priceless. There’s plenty of action and not a lot of the whiny self-pity I always got from Spiderman.
It was a pretty decent movie. If you are into superheroes, Marvel in any of its formats, and action-adventure, this should fit the bill.
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And So On... 