Spider-Man: Homecoming is the Spider-Man film that should never have succeeded. Reboot after reboot finally gave us a Spider-Man series we can safely trust will be consistently good. I’m going to touch on a few plot points, but no spoilers.
Picking up in fresh territory, after the apparent death of Uncle Ben, Homecoming takes us down a thematic path we’ve never seen before. Gone is the dark brooding, the constant crying, and the cheesiness. Instead, we’re confronted with comedy, plot twists, and heart in (mostly) all of the right places.
Homecoming could really only be rightfully classified as an action-comedy or comedy-action. There are probably more jokes than punches thrown, now that I think about it. And yet the comedy is miraculously far-removed from the cringe-worthy quips found in most Marvel movies. It’s genuinely, consistently, and thoroughly hilarious. Another fresh element is Peter’s relationship with Aunt May. Gone is the elderly, wise woman, and instead she is replaced with a disturbingly young and attractive woman who seems like more of a (decent) soccer mom. This makes for some interesting conversations and a distinct lack of wise advice, which arguably Peter could have used.
The basic overall arc of the film is Peter becoming overly confident, failing, and trying to rise back up. Mostly this works, but sometimes the tonal shifts can be slightly jarring, which is, let’s face it, almost impossible to work around in an action-comedy. Nevertheless, Homecoming knows incredibly well when to cut the jokes and play it serious. No more quips in the most dramatically heavy scenes; instead they’re replaced with real emotions.
One of the chief problems with Homecoming, however, is the fact that it mostly tries to stay away from emotion, perhaps in an attempt to distance itself from the Raimi Spider-Man films. This could have elevated the film even above the heights it reaches, but it follows the recent Marvel trend of excessive humor. Additionally, the romance feels a bit forced, but arguably it’s only there in the first place for the sake of the plot.
Despite a few shortcomings, though, Homecoming is an absolute triumph. It brings Spider-Man surging back, and though emotion can be in short supply, it somehow manages to have a lot of heart. It’s just the right length, the score is fantastic, the acting is top-notch, and the humor is fantastic. Additionally, the Vulture is Marvel’s first truly good villain to come along in a long, long time. This film should have fallen flat on its face, but instead it’s a fantastic entry that’s slightly hampered by a lack of emotion. The future of Spider-Man is exciting once again. 4.2/5 stars. Highly recommended.
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