His first go against the Vulture ends up with Tony having to make a save. The more Parker tries to do more and get a big score to get Stark’s attention, the higher the stakes get. But Peter feels the need to step up his heroics in a showy way because obviously, to his mind, they’re not big enough to be worthy of the attention of an Avenger! Tony’s decision that Peter needed a cool down that the kid obviously didn’t want is what drives the plot: Peter dutifully reports in about the crime-stopping he does in and around Queens, much to Happy’s annoyance. Keaton plays that double-edged sword of “just another New Yorker” and “anger pushed over the edge” with his usual fluidity. Instead of creepy, crotchety, ancient Adrian Toomes, they spun him off as a decent, likeable, hard-working New Yorker who was screwed over by the ascension of Damage Control under Tony Stark’s post-Ultron guilt. The filmmakers went a different direction here, and I’m pleased to say it worked well. The villain of the piece, Vulture (Keaton), never actively goes by the nom de spandex it’s more of a referential. Beyond that, all facades fail and he really is just a terrified boy. His clever quips and teenage obsession with looking cool disguises his fear, but only to a point. His brilliant superpowers don’t mean he has much in the way of foresight. His eagerness doesn’t come with emotional maturity. His enthusiasm doesn’t come with tact or enough self-awareness to realize he has annoyed Hogan so much the man went from tolerating him to actively disliking him. His genius doesn’t give him common sense. They kept Peter emotionally at the level of a just-turned-15 boy. So they made Flash a fellow science guy who barely manages to hold his own among the truly gifted kids, his father’s money making up the difference. The filmmakers took him out of the jock zone, because the jocks versus nerds thing is really cliché and old hat by now. They amplified his genius up to the point where he could effortlessly answer questions his rival Flash struggles with. We got a fantastic half-Spidey, half-Peter shot. He’s still awkward and bookish, nervous around girls even with the enthusiastic encouragement of his best friend. Peter had to pretend in gym class to still be a spindly little 98-pound weakling. They included tips of the hat to the comics on multiple levels. Now he’s a nerd boy of the 21 st Century. They got Peter Parker right while still updating him. They didn’t rehash the origin again! We were not forcibly subjected to yet another spider bite and yet another heartstrings-yanking scene of Ben Parker dying in the arms of a deeply remorseful Peter! Warning: This review contains spoilers after this point. Peter Parker is so worked up about the idea of working with the Avengers again that he can barely focus on anything else in his life, including things such as school or explaining to his Aunt May why he’s lost his backpack five times in a short period of time. He’s back in New York, web-swinging on his own and waiting with a teenager’s impatient desperation for a call from Happy Hogan, who’s the middleman between Tony and him, since Tony is doing his usual “avoid emotions he’s not prepared to deal with” distancing maneuver. This film picks up some months after Peter Parker’s adventure in Berlin. Tony sent him home for his own safety and with no small amount of guilt for sending a kid into an adult conflict involving super powers. He finished his part of the fight battered and bruised, though still with unbridled enthusiasm to keep going. Despite the amazing agility, the spectacular speed, and the other gifts Spider-Man brought to the fight, he was only a 14-year-old boy, and the grownups were playing for keeps. Spider-Man (Holland) entered the Marvel Universe via Tony Stark (Downey) blackmailing him into helping fight in Captain America: Civil War. If you’re new to the MCU, the film provides a quick recap to bring viewers up to speed. For what it’s worth, a sequel has been announced already and the headlines are speaking of Spider-Man saving the summer box office.
Industrial Light and Magic are doing the visual effects, rather than Sony. Marvel knows how to use visuals of this medium for their flagship character’s world, and it works better here than in most of their other films, in my opinion. I saw the film in 3D, and rather than give my usual “feh, gimmicky” or “worth it,” I will go so far as to say that Spider-Man should always be viewed in 3D if not 3D IMAX. Spider-Man: Homecoming marks the first film co-created by Sony and Marvel together to bring the character (who has thus far appeared in his own unconnected separate universe in five other films) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, and Jon Favreau, with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.