Spider-Man: Homecoming

[riddler]

I think it's a regression for Peter to be all about impressing Tony. To report all the crime fighting he's done as if it's a job and not a moral obligation. That's my issue with this arc right now.

My issue with this version came in Civil war. Great movie, but could have been better if Spidey was handled better. In the comics spidey is a key character in the Civil war as he literally swings from one side to another. He leans to the PRO side on the basis that he doesn't consider himself a vigilante and believes in law and order but he also agrees with the ANTI side in that heroes would be putting their loved ones in danger revealing their identities.     
At this stage I'm just hoping we see more of Spidey than Iron Man. Its obvious this one has a lot of characters in it and is clearly meant as a vehicle for the MCU instead of a solo outing like Doctor Strange was. I think the best case scenario is that it ends up as good as Winter soldier, worst casce scenario, it ends up being criticized for being too busy much like the last 3 spider-man movies


Oh yeah and in case you were wondering, even though Michael Keaton is playing the Vulture, he's still %$#@ing Batman!!!

[Azrael]

Speaking of Spider-Man, it seems he'll have his own "Arkham", a great video game seriers separate from the movies. Sony exclusive. If the game is half as good as the graphics.

[The Laughing Fish]

That game looks way better than anything I've seen from Homecoming so far.

Apparently, the film is getting some early positive buzz, with the consensus that's "fun" this and  "fun" that.

I found this particular putz giving his two cents: SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING is an absolute, gosh-darned DELIGHT. It's like Spider-Man meets CAN'T HARDLY WAIT.

https://twitter.com/mikeryan/status/878427497066635268

Yeah, because when I think of Spider-Man, it reminds me of some mediocre Jennifer Love-Hewitt comedy. 

I've now taken the word "fun" with a huge grain of salt. That's the word that people used to describe GOTG2, and I thought it was anything but fun. I thought it was utter rubbish. I hope Homecoming isn't anywhere near as bad.

[riddler]

How excited is everyone for Michael Keaton as the Vulture? As much as I want to use caution with this film I am still extremely giddy about seeing him in an actual comic film again. He's been pretty funny promoting the film, there was a hilarious exchange he had on the Jimmy Kimmel show in which Kimmel said growing up he always admired spider-man and Keaton went up and pretended to beat him up
JK: Sorry I forgot you're his [spider-man] nemisys
MK: No I'm Batman, what the %@#k are you talking about?
Keaton then proceeded to walk off set

[The Dark Knight]

I hope Homecoming isn't anywhere near as bad.

You'll have to tell me how it is.

The next film I see in the cinemas will be JUSTICE LEAGUE.

[The Laughing Fish]

The first four minutes of the movie has already been released online together this trailer, in case anybody wants to see it.

I won't give any spoilers away, but the more I look at this movie, the more unimpressed I am with it. It appears that this is geared towards a young teenage audience, and frankly, I'm finding the MCU's version of Peter Parker too hyperactive and a little annoying. Regardless if he's a teenager.

[Silver Nemesis]

I just got back from seeing this. I didn't enjoy it as much as Raimi's trilogy, and even without the nostalgia factor – looking at it objectively – I didn't think it was as good as Spider-Man I & II. I also didn't think it was as good as Wonder Woman. But it was decent.

Tom Holland is very likeable in the lead role. Toby Maguire will always be my Spider-Man, but I admit Holland is closer to the Spidey you'll find in the more recent comics. He's the first actor to take on the role that actually looks and sounds like a teenager, and he manages to convey energy, humour and vulnerability without venturing into the smugness that can sometimes arise from Peter's ego. One thing I'm not mad on is the hi-tech nature of his suit. I always liked the homemade aspect of Spider-Man's accoutrements, but in this film his costume has a level of diverse functionality to rival Iron Man's. I prefer the simple spandex outfit, but that's just me.

The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Most of them were forgettable. Some of them were downright irritating (most of Peter's classmates fall into this category).There was one girl I really hated, who seemed to be a 21st century take on Ally Sheedy's character from The Breakfast Club. I was devastated when she turned out to be (SPOILERS) the new MJ. I'm keeping my fingers crossed she gets the Gwen Stacy treatment in the next film. (END SPOILERS). Marisa Tomei, who is an excellent actress, is badly wasted in this film. If you were disappointed by her lack of meaningful scenes in Civil War, Homecoming will only disappoint you further. They should have given her more to work with. I think part of the problem is that there are too many mentor figures. You've got Happy and Stark guiding Peter, so there's not much need for Aunt May. She has one scene where she helps prep Peter for a dance, but aside from that her presence is purely perfunctory.

The John Hughes aspect of the movie was probably the weakest part for me, mainly because I didn't really like any of the teenage characters besides Peter. The film contains numerous references to Hughes' work, including a very on-the-nose Ferris Bueller homage/shout out. It also gives nods to several other eighties films. One of the more obscure references slipped me by until I noticed Kirk Thatcher's name on the end credits. Who's Kirk Thatcher? He's a film producer and member of the Henson/Muppet workshop. In Spider-Man: Homecoming he's credited as playing 'street punk'. Why is this an eighties movie reference, you ask? Because Kirk Thatcher played the punk on the bus in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

On the subject of eighties movie references, one thing that struck me as odd was Peter's excitement at the prospect of building a Lego Death Star, as well as the fact he has Star Wars action figures in his bedroom. In Civil War he referred to The Empire Strikes Back as if it were some old people's film he barely remembered. Yet in Homecoming he behaves like a Star Wars fan.

The strongest part of the movie by far is Michael Keaton. This may sound like fanboyism talking, but I really think Vulture is objectively the best aspect of the film. I was prepared to rake Marvel over the coals if they squandered Keats on another disposable bad guy role. But I'm delighted to say that's not the case. His performance is excellent and the character on the whole is fully rounded and genuinely intimidating. His storyline also has a really good twist about two thirds of the way into the movie that I didn't see coming. All in all, Toomes is my favourite MCU movie villain so far. And that's not just because he's played by Keaton. He's different from the Vulture in the comics, but I'd still rank him up there with Dafoe's Green Goblin and Molina's Doc Ock as one of the best Spider-Man movie villains so far. And I was pleased that (SPOILERS) he survives at the end of the movie, so he can potentially return as part of the Sinister Six in one of the future films. I also liked the mid-credit scene where he lies to Scorpion about knowing Spider-Man's identity. I assume he did that to repay Peter for saving his life, which added a further layer of humanity to the character. (END SPOILERS)

One thing this film has that the Webb films didn't is a strong sense of its own identity. The Raimi films had this in spades, but I always felt the concept behind the Webb reboot was very muddled. On the one hand it was meant to be a grounded reboot a la Batman Begins, but it was also meant to be a high school fantasy romance in the vein of Twilight. Then with the second film they tried steering it towards The Avengers, going for a lighter tone with the aim of launching a shared universe. None of those ideas gelled together and the whole thing felt characterless and confused. Spider-Man: Homecoming doesn't have that problem. It's a more comedic take on the material and knows exactly what it wants to be.

Some of the humour worked for me, while other parts fell flat. But that's a very subjective thing and everyone will respond differently. One thing I don't like in modern CBMs is when they use licensed music as a cue for the audience to laugh. I don't mind this in moderation, but sometimes it can be very heavy-handed. Homecoming doesn't use this cliché as excessively or clumsily as something like Suicide Squad, but it does use it to an extent. In general though, the humour was acceptable and there were several moments that made me smile.

Final thoughts. Spider-Man: Homecoming is good, but not great. The direction is bland, the supporting cast aren't very interesting and overall it lacks the strong visual and emotional components that made Sam Raimi's trilogy so endearing. But Holland and Keaton are both excellent, and any time they're on screen together the entertainment level goes into overdrive. Spider-Man has arguably the best gallery of rogues of any superhero after Batman, and this is the first movie in a while to remind me of that. There's some decent action, some funny jokes and a likeable lead hero. It's ok. Not great. Not terrible. Just ok. I've seen worse Spider-Man films, but I've also seen better.

[The Laughing Fish]

I earned a discount to see this today, so I thought why not give it a chance?

While I didn't think it was as bad as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, I still didn't rate Spider-Man: Homecoming. I completely disagree with some reviews rating it as one of the MCU's best, or the best. I think it's a claim that's simply false. If you've seen the trailers, I'd say that 85% of the movie is spoiled. When will Hollywood ever learn?

Here are my initial thoughts after watching this tonight. Despite what I said in the last sentence, I'll return the friendly courtesy to warn everybody that the following contains SPOILERS:

The biggest issue I have with Homecoming is the Sokovia Accords doesn't get explored at all. In Captain America: Civil War, a new legislation was being introduced by the United Nations demanding that the Avengers and any costumed superheroes would have to submit to government oversight and have their identities registered, otherwise they would be prohibited from crimefighting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this plot point a pointless afterthought if Spider-Man can wander around the city without government intervention? As I said, this was never explored in the movie at all.

I think one of the key differences between past Spider-Man films and Homecoming is stuff like the Raimi trilogy could be appreciated by people of all ages. Raimi knew how to juggle between drama, comedy, and even horror to keep a lot of people's attention. And I must admit, I appreciate Raimi telling a story about a young kid trying to become into his own man and make a career into the real world, while dealing his own personal demons in his double life as Spider-Man. I do think the former resonates a lot of young adults to care and even relate to, which is I think it's one of the main reasons why Raimi's first two films were so highly rated.

But with Homecoming, I think a key issue this movie caters to a very young teenage audience, because I simply didn't care for the high school plot at all. The humour, while not quite as obnoxious as GOTG2, is still unfunny and childish. The Michelle character was particularly annoying and pointless. I wasn't impressed with the twist where Aunt May discovers Peter's secret either. Felt it was set up for a cheap laugh.

Peter Parker here is too eager to impress in the hopes of trying to join the Avengers, and I wasn't too fond of the idea of him being too reliant on an AI-controlled costume. Sometimes, it appeared that the inclusion of the suit had dumbed him down, e.g. suddenly suffering from a fear of heights while climbing on the Washington monument. That didn't make any sense to me because Peter Parker could swing around everywhere without showing such fear before in Civil War or earlier on in this movie. The responsibility theme was replaced with self-belief, as Peter needed to believe he could accomplish great things without the suit. I understand they were going for something different to what Raimi did, and not do a rehash like Marc Webb. But at the same time, I couldn't help but think this film was missing the internal conflict fans are normally used to seeing in Peter Parker. Instead, he is simply another tie-in to the MCU, but I feel he's less unique here than in past films. Besides, I'm not too convinced by Tony Stark's reasoning in confiscating the suit. If he didn't want a kid to risk getting killed on his conscience, then he shouldn't have recruited him in the first place, never mind entertain the thought of him joining the Avengers. I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking that part, but that plot point isn't 100% convincing.

I like Michael Keaton, but I have to admit, I wasn't too impressed with the Vulture. Didn't think he was that compelling enough for a villain.

That's all I have to say for now. But to sum it up: this year so far has been extremely lacklustre from Marvel, in my opinion. At the start of the year, I was even doubting I'd go see any of these movies at the cinema. Well, I gave two out of three a chance, and I won't be fooled for a third time. Maybe it was bound to happen for Marvel to hit a rut. They are releasing too many movies nowadays with formulaic ideas and forced attempts at comedy. The sad thing is, I have low expectations for Infinity War.

[GoNerdYourself]

Overall, I liked it. I'm not gonna compare it to hype. I hate hype. It's irrelevant to my own personal interests in films. But it wasn't a perfect experience for me. Now I may have to go see it again when I am in better health as, to be rather honest, having to content with a strong, sharp, stabbing pain may have hindered my experience with the film.

I use that word a lot, "experience." Well, I'm never cynical towards the idea of movies. I never look at the screen as if it's beneath me to indulge the universe it's about to show me. Some people are above the idea of wanting to emotionally connect to every movie they see. For me, it's preferred. However, I didn't feel a whole lot at all throughout Spider-Man: Homecoming.

It made me laugh a little bit and I liked at least one of the major action scenes. I also enjoyed Donald Glover's part but I wish that was fleshed out slightly more.

But I kept feeling that something was missing. Peter seems to be driven here to impress Tony Stark. There's nothing emotional about that. In fact, I felt more emotion towards Tony Stark's reasoning for mentoring Peter than Peter's journey. Having said that, while I somewhat understand Tony's reasoning for making such a deal about what happened, it didn't resonate with me.

Also, it bothered me that while the big, showstopping fight from Civil War is mentioned. Here, they pretend like there were no stakes in that fight and while no one was trying to kill each other, it was definitely dangerous. In fact, there was a major consequence that resulted from that fight, something that is criminally not mentioned in the film, even in an early scene that presumably happens not too long after that happened. Yet, here, Tony seems un-phased by what happened to his friend. Something that if brought up in THIS film might have made his reasonings for taking away the suit make slightly more sense. At least, emotional sense. Although, a part of me wonders if he should have taken the suit away immediately at the start of the film because of what happened to Rhodes and then have Spider-Man earn that suit back towards the end of the film.

The movie was fun, but unfortunately it didn't have a huge amount of emotional significance to me. In fact, sometimes I feel like it lampoons the universe a little. The climax of the film is centered around something that could have easily been the focus of a Lego Marvel movie.

[Silver Nemesis]

I'm sorry to hear your experience of the film was marred by ill health, GoNerdYourself. I hope you'll be feeling better next time you see it.

I think you're absolutely on point about the lack of emotional depth. I did like the movie overall, and I give it a marginal thumbs up, but I agree that it lacks the pathos of the earlier Spider-Man films. One of the reasons Spider-Man 2 is so brilliant is that it engages the audience's sympathies and makes us feel for Peter. We laugh at his misfortune, but we also pity him for it. Peter's a nice guy and it's genuinely sad to see him so unhappy with himself. There's laughter, but there's also tragedy. The confluence of the two is the essence of drama.

Homecoming doesn't have that. It just has laughter. There were only a couple of scenes in the whole film where I really felt Peter's vulnerability shine through. The first was when he tells Aunt May he lost his internship. The other was the scene where he's trapped beneath the rubble. Incidentally, that was a cool nod to Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #33.

Maybe it's because they omitted the Uncle Ben aspect of the story, but I just felt it was an emotionally shallow experience compared to some of the earlier films. I still liked it. It was funny and at times suspenseful, and I never felt bored. But I would have liked it to have contained just a little more drama.

A few other things I liked that I neglected to mention in my previous post.

I love that they used an orchestral arrangement of the classic Spider-Man theme at the beginning. I've said in the past that I'd like to see classic superhero themes make a return, and this is a good example of how a recognisable motif can be incorporated into a modern score in such a way that blends with that picture's unique tone.

The final act of most blockbuster films is usually the weakest IMO, because that's where character and plot take a backseat to action and special effects. Homecoming is a very rare example of a popcorn flick where I thought the final act was actually more engaging than the first two thirds. And I think the reason for that is the interaction between Spider-Man and Vulture. (SPOILERS) From the moment Peter arrives at Liz's house, the level of tension increases a hundredfold. Suddenly there's a real sense of threat that wasn't there before now. The whole sequence with Toomes driving them to the dance is superb, and much of that is down to Keaton's performance. You can see his internal thought process written in his expression as he realises his passenger is his enemy. The finale is also a lot more exciting than any of the earlier action scenes owing to the fact Spider-Man no longer has his hi-tech suit to rely on. Now it's classic Spidey, armed only with his web-shooters and unique skill set. There's no cavalry to help him out, no Iron Man to save the day. I thought the final act was the best part of the film and contained the strongest hero-villain interaction of any MCU movie so far. (END SPOILERS)

One last thing I'd like to mention is this panel from the Vulture's debut story in Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #2. I can't remember if this has already been posted or not, but it's remarkably prophetic.