2017 | Dir. Jon Watts | 133 Minutes
"Someone's gotta look after the little guys, right?"
Shortly after assisting Tony Stark in Berlin, Peter Parker impatiently anticipates the call for the next Avengers mission, living a double life as a bright high school sophomore and the clumsy street-level costumed hero Spider-Man. One evening, Parker encounters a group of robbers with high-tech alien weaponry supplied by Adrian Toomes, a disgruntled former salvage worker who was forced out of his job after the Battle of New York. Driven by his sense of responsibility as a super-powered crime fighter, Parker refuses to heed Stark's warning to not get involved but quickly learns that Toomes is more dangerous than he could have anticipated.
What's unique about Spider-Man: Homecoming is that it is primarily a high school comedy very much inspired by John Hughes' seminal works such as The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This new silver screen characterization of the classic comic book hero from director Jon Watts and his team of writers is refreshing in that Parker is a highly intelligent good-natured young man who, like many high school students, believes that school has become nothing more than a time-consuming chore he is all too ready to ditch in order to pursue his dream career in the real world. It just so happens that Parker's dream is to become an Avenger and that, for him, the real world beyond high school is the Marvel Cinematic Universe - a world that is overly abundant with lethal super technology and terrifying alien weapons.
Sparing the audience another super hero origin story, the film features a fully-formed but very young Spider-Man who amusingly still has much to learn about being a hero, and about life in general. He doesn't yet know the limits of his powers, afraid of heights, amusingly stumbling about when his web-shooters misfire. Parker narrowly manages to rescue his classmates when they are trapped in an unstable elevator at the Washington Monument, but it is a situation that he caused indirectly by asking his friend to conceal an alien artifact he did not fully understand. The film's most iconic action sequence in actuality highlights Parker's failure as a hero. Parker interrupts a high-tech arms deal but in doing so he blows an FBI sting operation and endangers the lives of numerous passengers on a ferry when a malfunctioning laser gun splits the ship in two. He also has trouble balancing his daily responsibilities, sacrificing his own personal happiness at every turn without hesitation to protect his corner of the world.
Played to perfection in his second outing as Parker following his brief appearance in Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland's youthful energy, authentic emotional depth, and brilliant comedic timing make it very easy to root for his Spider-Man. Marisa Tomei also returns as Aunt May in a younger, hipper, but just as loving version of the character. Michael Keaton's performance as Adrian Toomes is a real pleasure to watch, truly captivating as an ambitious crook with relatable motivations. A twist late in the picture brings even more depth to the role and Keaton doesn't disappoint, elevating every scene shared with Holland's Peter Parker. Jacob Batalon brings a lot of comedic energy to the role of Ned, Parker's best friend and confidant who becomes his supporting "guy in the chair." As Liz, Parker's crush and captain of their school's academic decathlon team, Laura Harrier unfortunately doesn't have much to do. Conversely, singer and actress Zendaya is a scene-stealer playing the blunt and observant classmate Michelle, dropping hints for a potentially bigger role in forthcoming films. Tony Revolori plays stereotypical bully Flash Thompson though, defying convention, this film's Flash is not an athletic jock but an academic one.
In a purely supporting capacity, Robert Downey Jr. appears as Tony Stark in a handful of scenes, delivering some of the funniest lines. With more screen time than in past MCU films, Jon Favreau returns as Stark's bumbling assistant Happy Hogan, acting as a disinterested liaison between Parker and Stark. Chris Evans makes a brief appearance as Steve Rogers/Captain America in hilarious public-service-announcement-style recordings for Parker's high school. For one of the biggest laughs of the film, a phys. ed. teacher played by comedian Hannibal Buress is quick to dryly mention that Rogers is currently a war criminal (following the events of Civil War).
While the stakes are considerably lower than the average Marvel Studios adventure, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a funny and amusingly earnest take on the high school experience that also truly captures the appeal of one of the most beloved comic book heroes of all time. It's not a groundbreaking film, but Homecoming is the best cinematic take on Spidey in well over a decade. It's a great start for a new series of Spider-Man films, and a good sign for things to come for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
MID-CREDITS STINGER
In prison, Toomes is confronted by criminal Mac Gargan, asking him if he knows Spider-Man's secret identity. Toomes chooses not to disclose it.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
In another recording for the students, Steve Rogers/Captain America speaks about the value of patience.
STAN LEE CAMEO
Stan the Man appears as a New York apartment tenant named Gary, shouting at Spider-Man from his window.
FRAGMENTS
- Completely foregoing Spider-Man's origin story and decidedly not retreading the death of Parker's Uncle Ben, this is the first Spider-Man film to not feature a scene with Parker sobbing uncontrollably, and definitely the first in which Spider-Man's antagonist doesn't die during the film's climax (in fact, Parker places himself in harm's way to save Toomes from certain death)
- Composer Michael Giacchino references Alan Silvestri's theme for The Avengers during the film's prologue set hours after the Battle of New York and when Peter enters the Avengers compound in upstate New York
- The Marvel Studios logo after the film's prologue was updated to include a shot of Spider-Man from Captain America: Civil War, and it features an orchestral version of the theme tune from the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon arranged by Michael Giacchino
- Pepper Potts, played once again by Gwyneth Paltrow, appears briefly near the end of the film, ready to introduce Spider-Man as an Avenger to the press but instead Stark announces their engagement with a ring that Happy apparently kept in his pocket since 2008
- Comedy actor Martin Starr, who previously appeared in The Incredible Hulk, plays academic decathlon coach Mr. Harrington; possibly reprising his previous MCU role depending on your personal head-canon...
- Previously appearing in Captain America: The First Avenger as Howling Commando Jim Morita, Kenneth Choi plays Principal Morita, the decedant of the war hero; photographs of his grandfather and the Howling Commandos can be seen in Morita's office
- Young actress Angourie Rice plays Betty Brant, a classmate of Parker's in this film and a regular Spider-Man character in Marvel Comics
- Bokeem Woodbine and Logan Marshall-Green play Toomes' underlings Herman Shultz and Jackson Brice respectively, established as different incarnations of the Spider-Man foe Shocker, using a modified version of Crossbones' gauntlet as seen in Captain America: Civil War
- Michael Chernus plays Toomes' "curious" engineer Phineas Mason, a villain known as the Tinkerer in Marvel Comics
- Criminal Aaron Davis, played by comedy actor Donald Glover, in one key scene mentions his cousin; comic book readers may know Davis as the uncle of Miles Morales, another Spider-Man
- Canadian actor Michael Mando, Vic on Orphan Black and Nacho Varga on Better Call Saul, appears as criminal Mac Gargan who sport a tattoo of a scorpion on his neck; Gargan is the alter ego of Spider-Man villain the Scorpion in Marvel Comics
- Kerry Condon returns as the voice of Stark's operating system FRIDAY
- Jennifer Connelly provides the voice of Parker's high-tech hero suit; Parker names the voice "Karen"; incidentally, Connelly played Betty Ross in Ang Lee's (non-MCU) Hulk
