Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Movie Review

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

 

Summary: Several months after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.

Director: Jon Watts

Writers: Jonathan Goldstein (screenplay and story), John Francis Daley (screenplay and story), Jon Watts (screenplay), Christopher Ford, (screenplay), Chris McKenna (screenplay), Erik Sommers (screenplay), Stan Lee (based on the Marvel comic book by, Steve Ditko (based on the Marvel comic book by), Joe Simon (created Captain America) and Jack Kirby (created Captain America)

Stars: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Kr., Marisa Tomei and more!

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    Spider-Man returns to the big screen with its second reboot within two decades. After a controversially badly-written The Amazing Spider-Man featuring Andrew Garfield as our friendly neighbourhood superhero, all the pressure in the world was on Tom Holland to raise the bar and deliver a MCU-connected Spider-Man who’ll bring the much-needed hero side-by-side with some of Marvel’s greatest heroes. The real question is if Tom Holland’s performance will deliver a stunningly superior Spider-Man than what we got from Tobey Maguire. Without much of a surprise, Spider-Man: Homecoming manages however to do exactly what we all expected from it based on the hero’s 10 minutes of fame in Captain America: Civil War. Its pure jolly and light-on-its-feet action surges onto the big screen in an exhilarating and beautiful fashion and offers us a teenager who’s being thrown in the world of adults and needs to learn the ins and outs before moving forward. Without being stagnant and repetitive by going through the same origin story that the whole world should know by now, this Spider-Man movie draws us right into its story about responsibility and identity.

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    Sharing Spider-Man’s debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an ensemble of characters part of Iron Man, and including the billionaire himself. While at first his presence sounded like a thunder-stealing inevitability, it turned out to be a bonus appearance, but not an indispensable integration. In fact, Tony Stark serves as a great father figure/mentor who dishes out the life lessons in doses throughout the movie for Peter Parker to learn about the perks and responsibilities that comes with his suit. Having to face off his first true villain after receiving his suit from Tony Stark, Spider-Man finds out that The Vulture is no simple threat. Delivering us a stunningly colourful and web-filled action-packed movie, Spider-Man Homecoming is a beautiful rendition of our friendly neighbourhood superhero and serves as an excellent prologue to a sequel that couldn’t come any faster.

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    Let’s just say it. Tom Holland is a brilliant Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The teenage nerd who tries to integrate the cool kids club was brilliantly done, while the teenage superhero who has yet to understand his own strengths is even more outstandingly executed. Spider-Man: Homecoming also balances both settings, high school and the streets, and throws us off the roof, into the sky and underwater with as much adrenaline as a man can handle. Let’s not forget that we even get to visit Washington D.C. with our favourite webslinger. I loved how the movie even explores the heroes friendly neighbourhood superhero qualities very early on. Spider-Man has always been the type of kid who’d save a cat out of a tree and feel greatly accomplished and the movie does an impeccable job at showcasing it. If anything, Spider-Man belongs to the Netflix Marvel Universe, alongside heroes like Daredevil. However, Peter Parker will always want to do more and be of use to everyone, especially at the age of 15. There’s a reason why we got Iron Man featured in this movie. In fact, Spider-Man should theoretically be by the side of absolutely every Marvel hero here and then. I definitely couldn’t be more happy to see him part of the MCU now.

    I thought it was great directing by Jon Watts by skipping both Spider-Man’s origin story as well as the heart-breaking tale that surrounds Uncle Ben. Although we do get a quick reference to the event, there wasn’t a second more spent on the issue as the movie quickly dived into high school drama as well as Avenger membership dilemmas. Instead of getting the iconic Uncle Ben moment about responsibility, Tony Stark takes the torch and plays the role of a living and slightly absent mentor. The classic mantra takes a different form and even appears at one of the movies best scene. Spider-Man under an insane amount of rubble? Seeing the kid in Spider-Man squirm for help and find strength through the words of Tony Stark was phenomenal. I have to say that Stark seemed slightly odd in this movie. It’s as if he suddenly became much more mature compared to his earlier days, or at least pre-Civil War. I guess war does change Man. Nonetheless, his words serve as a great catalyst in Spider-Man’s progression. Character development remains the movie’s forte, and probably the main focus as well. This was definitely expected, but it was the execution that remained a mystery until now. Spider-Man: Homecoming succeeds in transforming Peter Parker/Spider-Man from boy to man by the end of this movie in a heart-warming manner.

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    Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to go through a superhero movie without wondering if the villain will get the right amount of screen time and development. But if you cast Michael Keaton as The Vulture, expect to get the best villainous experience possible. No kidding. I’ll even say that The Vulture is currently Marvel’s best villain in the MCU (excluding their TV shows). I’ve always loved this man’s acting chops and he’ll definitely go down as one of the best Batman’s out there too. I was truly impressed by the performance he put up as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture though. His life was shaped by vengeance towards the Avengers and the impact they had on him on a financial level as making a living in construction became near impossible. The Vulture was definitely a brilliant pick for Spider-Man’s first villain as the challenge is up to par with our webslinger’s current skill set. You have to admit that the big plot twist when Peter Parker goes to pick up Liz was one of the most shocking moments of all time in Marvel’s movies. I loved how unexpected it was. My mind was racing with thoughts on what the hell was going on until it clicked. But the father to daughter’s boyfriend talk in the car was definitely what really pushed Adrian Toomes’ character to greater depths. The rivalry between Spider-Man and The Vulture was pushed to such an intimate level, that the stakes became crazy high for Spider-Man. I simply loved it. Brilliant story-telling.

    Spider-Man and The Vulture were however not the only highlights in this movie. Aunt May, played by the beautiful Marisa Tomei, delivered some great moments with her modern-motherly tips and tricks. While she isn’t exactly the Aunt May I’ll always have in mind, she definitely didn’t give me any reasons to hate her either. Ned was however an excellent best friend to Peter Parker and always managed to lift the mood at unexpected moments. Now, what however failed for me is Flash Thompson played by Tony Revolori. As much as the approach they went with was interesting, it simply didn’t capture the bully I’d imagine Flash Thompson to be for Peter Parker. Even Peter Parker’s reaction to this Flash’s intimidation felt underwhelming and unimportant. I honestly would’ve preferred if they had kept the high school football giant and kept some of the much more natural bullying we all know and hate. Michelle, played by Zendaya, was also another character that just turned out extremely awkward on screen. I had more WTF-moments with every one of her scenes than anything else. Even her MJ teaser was an unconvincing reveal. I don’t think I can indulge her as Mary Jane if they ever go in that direction. It’s not because of how much they diverged from the source material’s looks for the character, but more because of the chemistry that I don’t see between her and Peter Parker.

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    Unfortunately, those secondary characters were not the only bothersome elements in the movie. I had some issues with Spider-Man as well. The biggest problem I had is that Peter Parker couldn’t be Spider-Man if he didn’t have his suit and webslinging device. That really stunned me. At the end of the day, Peter Parker was just a supersoldier with a spider-like fighting style without his suit and gadgets. I really had trouble accepting that Spider-Man was simply a derivative of Iron Man’s technology. I really would’ve preferred having Peter Parker with mutations that allowed him to climb walls without his suit, shoot webs without his devices and so on. Fans also noticed that this Spider-Man didn’t seem to have spider senses like the original Spider-Man would have, but I couldn’t really notice this and didn’t think it was the biggest problem ever. As Peter Parker grows up, I just hope his senses will get sharpened and won’t have his guard down too often.

    All that being said, Spider-Man: Homecoming is far from being a horrible movie. This is an excellent reboot, especially when the last one was pretty bad. Although I felt like the last 30 minutes felt like it was all over the place and a bit choppy, it did leave us with a lot to look forward to in Spider-Man’s next big movie. From the potential arrival of Scorpion to the development of the Sinister Six, there’s a lot to be excited about. Aunt May’s final scene was also a nice and silly moment to end the movie on too. I also liked the whole refusal to be part of the Avengers in order to embrace his friendly neighbourhood superhero role as well. Something about that scene also reminded me about that Civil War moment in the comics where Spider-Man would go in front of everyone to announce his secret identity. However the mechanical suit he’d get from Stark in the comics looked way better than the one that was teased on screen. Right now, I wish Sony would just connect all those stand-alone movies that they plan on releasing about characters part of Spider-Man’s universe with the MCU: Venom? Black Cat? Silver Sable? How can they imagine doing those movies without Spider-Man in them? Then again, I’m super excited to see Spider-Man’s next adventures as well as Tom Hardy as Venom!

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) is not exactly based on one particular story, but as I’ve previously mentioned, you should definitely check out  Ultimate Spider-Man (Volume 1) Power and Responsibility by Brian Michael Bendis as well as Spider-Man vs. The Vulture by Stan Lee.
Have you read these comics? Did you see the movie yet?

I’d love to talk about it with you! Tell me what you thought of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)!

MY OVERALL RATING: ★★★★☆/

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Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

56 thoughts on “Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Movie Review”

    1. Just getting Silver Sable or Black Cat on screen would be crazy awesome, but if it ONLY has Sony behind it, without Marvel, I’ll be crazy skeptical… I’ll go watch it with expectation levels as low as that Catwoman movie with Halle Berry..

      Yep. It should be out on DVD/Blu-Ray by October/November if they keep the same ETA as most superhero movies and their CD counterparts.

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  2. Great review, you’ve thought of everything! I watched this on Friday, what a relief. I was so glad I didn’t have to watch Uncle Ben die again! I also felt that it was great that they show him to be flawed. He doesn’t perform everything perfectly which makes him seem so much more believable. I enjoyed him smashing his face into concrete trying to land a jump & hesitating during the elevator incident. It also brings back the fun, young feel that Spider-Man should have that was completely lost in the previous films. I enjoyed it, the end rolling credit scene though… so cruel!

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    1. Ahaha thank you so much! It was definitely nice that they acknowledged that we probably already knew about all those big origin story parts about Spidy while doing this movie. Would’ve been slightly too redundant to have a 3rd try for Uncle Ben’s death! Yep, yep. Loved how young and flawed Peter Parker was in this movie. They really nailed the whole teenager superhero thing. The whole mantra was also a nice touch and really sharpened things up in regards to what kind of development we’re talking about in this movie. Seeing Peter Parker learn to be a hero and a strong self-believing character was just done soooo perfectly. It was hilarious to see him go from training wheels mode to full-out Spidy. I can’t imagine what kind of awesomeness he could do once he learns to master it all. Maybe we’ll see all that in Avengers Infinity War!

      Oh… and that second after-credit scene was sooo brutal. That amount of patience it took just to wait for that was insane. Biggest troll moment ever hahahah

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      1. Definitely! Yeah I think it was good to show that actually he is just a kid and he could actually get himself killed. Infinity War should be good, it’ll be interesting to see how they pull everyone together. Can’t believe Marvel trolled us, the cinema was so silent afterwards 😂 haha!

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  4. I’m actually expecting to watch the movie this weekend so I’m very, very excited! This review hasn’t helped to calm my excitement – I’m just more ready for Saturday! This was a fabulous review and I can’t wait to check out this new, “fresh” take on Spider-Man. Can you tell I’m pumped? Because I’m very, very pumped, haha. This was a phenomenal review!

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  5. Great review! I’m glad it met your expectations… I felt like this line: “After a controversially badly-written The Amazing Spider-Man featuring Andrew Garfield as our friendly neighbourhood superhero, ” was for me (though I could be very arrogant about this 😂😅) I’m looking forward to it due to Michael Keaton! I’m also glad no origin story! Though it seems from your review that it just skipped the particulars and treats him like a noob anyway. I’ll have to wait and see! Thanks, you make me feel more excited for these movies than I would probably normally be! 👍🏻

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    1. Bahahahaha 😛 Michael Keaton was just THE best in this. Best villain on the BIG screen for sure for me. Some could argue I’m a BIT biased because of the talent that embodies that man, but… NOP! He really was excellent in my books! Hope you didn’t read that spoiler section though! 😉 There’s some pretty big stuff that you should just witness on screen before reading about hahah I’m glad to help pump some excitement into you!!! Hope you enjoy the movie when you get around to it!! 😀

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      2. Hahahaah I like how you mixed up Superman with Spider-Man in that title by the way! 😛 I do hope you got your hands on the ultimate edition (with extended cut) cause that’s the best version of that movie! Enjoy Dani! 😉

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  6. This is a wonderful review! I’ve been looking forward to this movie ever since I saw Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War (he was definitely the biggest surprise for me – I didn’t think I’d love him so much in 10 minutes). But I was also a bit nervous because Spider-Man has obviously been done before and I was worried it would disappoint (like the Garfield one did for me). It’s safe to say I’m really relieved to see all these positive reviews. It makes me really excited to go see it when it releases in my country 🙂

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    1. I know, right? Those 10 minutes were just sooooo amazing!! It pumped so much life into me, that’s for sure! I doubt this movie will be a flop for you when you get around to watching it. It’s just way too epic to say it’s anything close to bad!! Enjoy the movie!!! 😉

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  7. I did not follow through we the last round of Spiderman films, however we contemplated this one this weekend. Unfortunately, none of the showing times worked with our schedule. I will keep it on the radar though! It sounds much lighter and fun. Plus, sorry but I am huge sucker for Tony Stark haha. Through him in and I am sold 😉

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    1. It’s a good thing that Spider-Man: Homecoming is a fresh reboot of The Amazing Spider-Man then! 🙂 As long as you’ve seen Captain America: Civil War and have been up to date with most recent Marvel movies, you’re set to greatly enjoy this one! Ohhhh, I see someone has a thing for Mr. Stark. 😀 😀 Enjoy the movie when you get around to it Danielle!!

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  8. Oh lovely review, Lashaan, I’m so happy you loved this one. I have to admit it, I was a bit nervous when I heard there would be another movie because it’s been done so many times and well…how can they make it differnet, unique, and make us want to see this story again? I’m glad to hear that this one was actually different and bring out something more, plus I’m really eager to see that new Peter on the big screen 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this review 🙂

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    1. Oh my, thank you so much Marie! I appreciate the love!! 😉 It definitely doesn’t feel like the market is over-saturated with Spider-Man with this movie. It does everything you want from the webslinger and you’ll have a pretty good laugh mixed with loads of actions through the movie! Enjoy Marie!!!

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  10. Well, although I haven’t been a devoted follower of Spider Man, your review actually makes me think I’ll enjoy the movie… I saw the last Spider Man movie and I wasn’t blown away, so I am thinking this is bound to be better. I like that Stark has a little bonus in it as well!

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    1. Oh, this one is a fantastic coming of age movie with a kid that will surely make you laugh a couple of time. Action-packed + hilarious at the exact right amount! Having Spidy side-by-side with other heroes like Stark also makes this quite fun. Imagine when the webslinger finds himself beside other heroes! Hope you enjoy this when you get around to it Liz! 😀

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  11. I had to skim most of this post, even the spoiler free section, because I’m seeing Spiderman: Homecoming tomorrow and I don’t want to know anything about this film before actually seeing it for myself.
    It looks amazing in the trailers though, and from what I did read of this post it seems like you really enjoyed it as well Lashaan. Four stars is a promising rating! 😀

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    1. No worries Beth hahaha I’m actually glad you skimmed, wouldn’t even have minded if you had completely skipped the review too!! This is one movie you don’t want to get spoiled! Enjoy the movie (if not already), Beth!! I’m sure you’ll love it! 😉

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  13. Great review sir (I especially like the way you split the Cinedote reviews into non-spoiler sections)! As you’ll see from my review I enjoyed Homecoming quite a lot…Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 is still top dog but this is what an MCU Spider-Man film needed to be (I loved the John Hughes influences in particular). That rubble scene was actually quite moving…did you catch that it was an homage to a classic Stan Lee/Steve Dirko issue of Amazing Spider-Man?

    All in all a great start, I do hope they address Uncle Ben’s murder in future outings as it’s such an important part of the lore. As for the techno Spider suit I think having him down his original suit later in the film proved that he could still be Spider-Man without all the technology at his disposal.

    I’ll sign off with a quick confession: I actually don’t mind the Amazing Spider-Man films (ducks for cover)…

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    1. Hahaha thanks Chris! I’ve been keeping that structure (spoiler-free + spoiler) cause I had a feeling that a lot of people won’t have seen the movie by the time I publish my review, and for those who’ll have seen it, they’ll be able to share their thoughts with all the spoilers they want with me (points at ya) hahaha

      I agree man. Spider-Man 2 was just too special, even the first one, for me to consider Homecoming as superior, but man, Tom Holland was an excellent Spider-Man though. Flawed and learning by the second. Loved this guy on screen. When he started freaking out under the rubbles, I was really stunned. It was just brilliant. Reminded me of Rocky Balboa when he’d hear Mickey Goldmill repeat his famous line. Good stuff.

      Honestly, they should totally give us an origin story… I mean.. Peter Parker who doesn’t seem to suffer from mutations and use technology to simulate his spidy powers is something I need an origin story for to truly appreciate. I really missed the whole “get-bitten-by-spider-become-radioactive-and-have-spider-powers” thing.

      Hahahah no worries man. I won’t be throwing any virtual tomatoes here. I just found both movies very unmemorable. The only scene that stuck with me is Stacy’s death. I’d have to rewatch those movies some day though, it has been too long and I was too young to coherently sum up my thoughts for those movies hahahah

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      1. Yeah I do think we should get little flashbacks or something in future outings, I get that we’ve had two tellings of the origin but no screen version of the character is complete without those key events.

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    1. Yep. Marvel’s usual formula of using loads and loads of humour with their heroes actually works quite well with Spidy cause.. well.. Spider-Man was always meant to be like that! Hope you have fun when you get around to watching it!! 😉

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  16. Awesome review! I loved this movie and enjoyed reading your take on it. However I do agree with the idea that the suit just represented how Peter Parker felt that being Spider-Man made him important. After all, it was a gift from Iron Man, he got to wear it while fighting Captain America, and showed him he could potentially hang with the Avengers. I think the reason why the spent so much time with him exploring features of the suit was because it showed how attached he was to it, and how in the end he learns that “if he’s nothing without the suit, he shouldn’t be wearing it.”

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    1. Thank you!! I appreciate the time you took to read this and for sharing your thoughts as well. I do love to hear what others thought about the movies I’ve watched or books I’ve read. It was nice to see a “mechanical” suit that gave him all his “spider powers” as it surely did showcase his intelligence in combat too! What Stark gave him was also a MAJOR upgrade to what he used to wear, although as the movie progressed, you realize that the suit didn’t make the man–or boy in this case. He quickly learns that Spider-Man starts from within, without the suit and that was definitely refreshing to see on screen. I just personally prefer a Spider-Man that has his powers through mutations, and maybe have technology come improve his powers. A hybrid of both worlds (mutation and technology). But definitely still enjoyed Marvel’s new take on Spider-Man. 😀

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      1. For sure! I think he makes a nice middle man, like right between Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield. Personally, I thought he was annoying at first but I think he’ll make a good Spider-Man for the MCU

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  17. Looking forward to when i can finally see this movie. Not sure when that will be at this point (I’m usually busy in the evening these days, which would otherwise be the best time to see a movie), but it looks really good.

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  18. I still need to see this. Been too busy to make it to the theaters. I really liked it when Spidey popped up in that Captain America movie so I have high hopes for him here.

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    1. Oh snap! You have to find time for this one. It’s quite the ride and pretty fun overall. Yep, he was my favourite part of Civil War and I’m glad they kept him as he was introduced for Homecoming! Hope you enjoy it when you get the chance to check it out. 😀

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  19. Pingback: Monthly Wrap-Up | July 2017 – Bookidote | Book Reviews

  20. Great review! There’s nothing I can think of that you’ve missed. I’m really greatful for them leaving out Peters’s origin story and Uncle Ben’s death. Seing that on screen for a third time, I don’t know if I would have “enjoyed” that. It’s great for them to explore new surroundings. But I’m also not happy about Peter being dependent on Tony’s suit :/ But overall: Awesome movie!!

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    1. Thank you so much Yasmine!~ 😀 I knowww, but after finishing the movie, I feel like it would be nice to see Spider-Man’s origin story, even if it’s actually through flashback sequences. There’s a lot of things that seemed so different from the original character and some insight on those parts would be pretty cool now. 😛 I wouldn’t mind if they don’t ever do it actually (it doesn’t seem like they plan on doing so anyways hahah). Yep.. the whole Tony suit thing was a bit too heavy. I wish this Spidy has all his powers genetically too. The suit really does take away a big integral part of him hahah Definitely an excellent movie!! Can’t wait to see him again in Avengers Infinity War, or as a cameo in any upcoming movies!!!

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  21. Totally agree with almost everything, especially with how perfect Tom Holland is, and most definitely with how annoying the secondary characters were. The one thing is I didn’t find the Vulture that compelling. He was interesting, sure, and what a great actor to cast to play him, but I didn’t really see any deep, compelling motives in his actions.

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    1. The casting sure was awesome. Oh, that’s interesting! I really enjoyed Keaton’s role, especially compared to the rest of the MCU’s villains that we’ve got so far. I guess his anger towards the peepz who stole his only opportunity to make money has driven him to stealing from them and using alien tech to make things so much faster and easier. Bringing in the personal connection to Spidy through his relationship to Keaton’s daughter made things that much more complex too for me. I mean, he’s already dealing with a villain who knows that he’s Peter Parker! I’m definitely looking forward to Spidy’s role in the Infinity War though.

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      1. Okay, I can definitely agree with that! I was so not expecting him to be that girl’s father, that was SUCH a crazy twist and they pulled off the tension in that scene perfectly. And yes, I can’t wait til Infinity War now!

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