Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Director: Jon Watts
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr.

Synopsis:
A budding superhero seeks to prove himself by going after arms dealers using repurposed alien technology.

Impressions:
Like many people out there, I wasn't terribly enthused about a second reboot of the Spider-Man franchise in so little time, but Tom Holland's appearance in Captain America: Civil War managed to win me over. This was probably my most anticipated comic book movie of the year and I was quite happy with how it turned out. I'm not a big fan of high school stories, but this one does it well. (I heard the cast and crew marathoned John Hughes films and it shows.) I really liked how socially awkward Peter is and the coming of age angle works for the character. I also like that we don't start with the death of Uncle Ben and instead pick up in the aftermath of Civil War with Peter trying to take his game to the next level. Tony (that is, Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man) remains a putz and a lot of the conflict could have been avoided if he took more responsibility for Peter.

I thought casting Michael Keaton as the Vulture was a clever choice and he really knocks it out of the park as once of the best MCU villains to date. Now, there's been some flak for racelifting and reimagining some characters. Personally, I'm going to just sidestep the whole controversy as it's very minor compared to the main strengths of the film. I'm really not that invested in the character of Flash Thompson, for one thing. You could make him the Aaskvarian Peter Quill slept with that one time for all I care.

If you want to see the struggles of awkward teenage Spider-Man and cool villain Michael Keaton, this is the movie for you. I recommend giving it a watch at the very least and seriously paying some consideration to adding it to your collection.

Rating:
Own It