Within the first, say 15 to 20 minutes, of Spider-Man: Homecoming, I knew that Sony has finally given us the Spider-Man movie that we have been waiting for. The movie had everything that you would expect from reading an issue of Spider-Man: humor, tough decisions, action, and a lot of heart. Now, full disclosure, I am a huge Spider-Man fan and going into this movie I was a bit worried, but I walked out of the theater with a big smile on my face and it stayed until the next day.
The movie starts with Michael Keaton's character, Adrian Toomes, as the head of a salvage team that is helping to clean up the mess from the Battle of New York. In walks the U.S. Department of Damage Control (D.O.D.C), which takes over the clean up and fires him on the spot. Toomes who tries to plead his case about paying his staff and having a family to take care of receives no sympathy from the D.O.D.C and is told to turn over everything they have. After the team leaves one of his workers mentions that they still have a few Chitauri items on their truck. He decides to keep the items that they have and use this technology for themselves.
The film flash forwards to the Civil War where we see the events that transpired through video footage shot by Peter Parker. It's pretty funny to see this young kid get all excited about what he just was a part of and excitedly talk to the camera about what he sees. During this footage we also see a little bit of the relationship between Happy Hogan and Peter. Happy has been assigned as Peter's liaison and pretty much just ignores Peter every chance he gets. This relationship is great because it plays on how Peter wants to be a part of something big, but is not taken seriously.
Speaking about not being taken seriously, watching Peter in school with his friend Ned is great because it plays like a John Hughes movie. The two boys talk about school, building Lego sets and trying to keep Peter's secret a secret. Ned is the connection for those new to the Spider-Man world that connects the pieces as to how Spider-Man came to be. By asking countless questions, we can put together how Peter got his powers and what abilities he has. Seeing Tom Holland on the screen is refreshing because he looks like he himself can be in high school and he brings an new type of innocence and energy to the screen than his previous predecessors.
While in school we see how Peter struggles with being a good student and keeping his "Stark Internship", which is what he calls his extra curricular activities as Spider-Man. When faced with deciding between taking a Spanish test or tracking down some villains, we see what the consequences are for Peter when he does what he feels he has to do. His commitment to the "Stark Internship" causes Peter to make some tough choices in school and also shows how being new to the world of the Avengers makes it hard for him to think straight. He wants to be out there saving the world, but yet he is still learning how to do it.
Peter has a lot to learn about being a super hero and while there is no Uncle Ben telling him "with great power comes great responsibility" we do have Tony Stark around to be that Uncle Ben figure. Tony is not in the movie as much as he is shown in the trailers, but he is in it enough to have an impact on Peter's life. We also learn about how Tony wants more from Peter, but still doesn't trust him enough to be his own person. We see that in the ferry scene that is shown in the trailers and the restrictions that are placed in the suit he gives Peter.
Let's talk about the suit for a minute. Now while all the upgrades are pretty cool and new for a Spider-Man character I wonder what new features we will see in future Spider-Man movies. Peter names the voice (played by Jennifer Connelly) K.A.R.E.N. and the dynamic they have together pretty much mimics the one Tony Stark has with J.A.R.V.I.S. and F.R.I.D.A.Y. There is a scene where she is walking Peter through a "refresher" course of what the suit can do and again, it makes you wonder how close is this suit to an Iron Man suit. Side Note: The interrogation mode is probably the silliest mode, but it is pretty funny too.
Michael Keaton as the Adrian Toomes is a continuation of him playing characters with wings: Batman, Birdman and now the Vulture. He plays the role with such seriousness that when he does smile or crack a joke it's eerie. Toomes uses the stolen Chitauri items to create powerful weapons for his crew and to sell. He has a disdain for Tony Stark for taking away his business and hates superheroes too. Michael Keaton is perfect in this role and just looks like a bad ass with the Vulture suit on.
The final battle between Spider-man and the Vulture comes after a few surprise plot points are revealed and Peter has to rely on himself to see if he truly is ready to be a superhero. I do not want to give much away about how the final battle plays out, but it was awesome to see Peter rely on his smarts to fight the powerful Vulture. It was also great to see Peter's "I can do this" moment when he frees himself from some wreckage and not have that moment ruined by a joke or gag.
By the end of the movie Peter is given a huge choice to make and the result of this choice shows he has learned a lot about what his role in the universe should be. This choice also makes for some hilarious improvising by Tony, Happy and a secret cameo we won't spoil.
Sony really got the feel of Spider-Man correct in this movie. It has a great balance between being a John Hughes movie (Ferris Bueller homage) and a Marvel film (huge fight sequences and action). There are a lot of easter eggs in the movie that could potentially lead into the next movies and great nods to the creators and artist of the series. The last scene before the credits rolled had me laughing out loud and wanting to know what happens next.
The Good
This film really captured the entire "Wanting to belong and not being taken seriously" feeling that we saw in the comic book series.
Michael Keaton as the Vulture is fantastic. He is a pretty well-rounded character. He can be hilarious one minute and evil the next.
Ned is great because we get the origin of Spider-Man through all the questions that he asks Peter. Ned is there not only for comic relief but to help Peter when he needs it most.
The diverse cast is great because watching the older Spider-Man movies there were hardly any minorities as main characters. I love the inclusion of more minority students because it makes the school Peter attends seem like your average school.
The stinger/after credit scene- I will not spoil the stinger, but I think it was hilarious and well worth the wait.
The Bad
The diverse cast - I say this only in the fact that it is going to upset people that are used to Flash Thompson looking a certain way. All I will say about this is that the actor playing Flash is perfect. Not all bullies are big, buff jocks and in this day-in-age, bullying would not be taken lightly, especially at Peter's school.
The new suit - As much as I love the look of the suit, the entire technology that is embedded into the suit takes away from Peter using his Spider-Sense. As the movie went on I started liking the suit and all it could do for Peter, but I guess if Tony Stark makes you a suit, you better use it.
Shocker - It is no surprise that he is in the movie, but it feels like they didn't use him enough as they should have.
There is a funny line in the movie said by Tony Stark about bloggers that might rub some people the wrong way, but I thought it was funny. More about this below.
Kid Friendly - The movie has a lot of adult language that make it a hard PG-13. There is a scene where the character Liz and her friends are playing the F-M-K game (if you are a parent and have never heard of it, a quick Google search will explain it to you). It's a quick scene, but last thing you need is your child asking you what does that mean. There is also a mention of porn, which is used for comedic effect, but again, you don't want to explain that to your child. I took my daughter and son to see it and while he is younger a lot of these mentions went over his head. My daughter fell asleep, due to a long day at camp, but wants to see it again to see what she missed.
Violence - Being it's a comic book movie, there is a lot of fantasy violence. Some of the shots of Peter fighting the Vulture might be a little too much for younger viewers. There is a disintegration scene that might shock some people, but it is pretty funny when it happens.
Fandads Rating 5 out of 5
For this screening the Fandads were invited to watch Spider-Man: Homecoming in one of the new Dolby Cinemas that opened in Chicago. If you see this movie, that is the way to go. The sound and picture quality are fantastic and really draws you into the movie.
Again, remember to stay after the movie for a mid credit scene and a stinger at the end. Both of these scenes are great and have some say into what will happen next.
Let us know if this review was helpful and what you are looking forward to when you see Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Update: Earlier in this post we mention about the slight dig that Tony Stark gives bloggers at the end of the movie and how I thought it was a little funny, but after thinking about it, it really is not that funny. By making fun of bloggers it delegitimizes everything that we do here at Fandads and what other bloggers do.
There are times where we are up late at nights trying to keep our site updated and writing posts trying to beat deadlines. It's funny when you think about all of the bloggers that movie studios fly to press events to cover their upcoming movies, television shows and other projects that they want people to know about and then go and slam the community that they want to spread the word.
It is also part of Tony Stark's character to say stuff like this.
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