By Nadia Ranaputri
As a Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a refreshing new take on the Spider-Man story without it having to repeat his origin for the third time. Though it’s the very familiar friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Homecoming feels very new and fresh, and it’s mostly helped by its way of placing familiar colors on a new slate. For a welcome return in the MCU, Spidey is right where he needs to be: right home.
 |
| Source: IMDB |
Director:
Jon Watts
Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Zendaya, Laura Harrier, and Marisa Tomei.
Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Zendaya, Laura Harrier, and Marisa Tomei.
Spidey’s come back home, a sentence that we thought
we’d never say all those years ago. After his short yet memorable debut in Captain America: Civil War, Spidey has
returned with his very own solo debut that crosses out the norm of having his
film be a repetition of his origin.
Taking place after the events of Civil War, Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker,
returns to his normal life in Queens, New York, where he yearns for something
bigger than just being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man who does simple
missions that drives him further away from any actual danger; despite the
advice from Tony Stark to “stay close to the ground.” Eventually, he’s got his
yearn fulfilled when a new villain by the name of the Vulture rises from the
radar.
Tom Holland’s second round of playing the main role
of the web-slinger is unlike the others. There’s such a relatable vibe to this
Peter Parker, which is probably helped by its portrayer Tom Holland, whose performance
and appearance bears a very genuine childish charm that the other portrayers
(Maguire and Garfield) did not have. Peter Parker is a high school kid, who just
so happens to be Spider-Man, but overall he’s just a kid, and even if he is
Spider-Man, it doesn’t exclude him from the fact that he still has a lot to
learn. What makes this particular Spider-Man so endearing, especially being
portrayed as a young boy in high school, is that even if his fighting skills
were shown to be impressive in Civil War, he still hasn’t fully harnessed his
powers; from struggling through the upgrades on his suit to not fully harnessing
his web-slingers at times in the middle of a fight. A minor downgrade to this
particular Spider-Man however, is how his suit is modified this time around (by Tony
Stark, who fortunately, does not take over the whole film). Sometimes
the line is a blur between which of his powers are from the modifications of
his suit or from himself, something that did bother as the film
progresses.
Rivaling our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is MCU’s
newest villain the Vulture. As MCU villains go, the Vulture has a surprising
amount of depth and backstory, though his motivations lacks slightly the more
you know about him. Unlike most MCU villains, the Vulture plays quite an
integral role in Spider-Man’s life, which was refreshing to see.
 |
| Source: IMDB |
Spider-Man:
Homecoming derives from the usual story that of the
web-slinger’s origin arc, straying from the obligatory repetition of how
Spider-Man got his powers and the Uncle Ben arc, since it’s already a common
story among fans. Instead, Homecoming
takes place right after the events of Civil
War, dropping hints of his origin without overpowering the whole story. Though
his origin is not the film’s main arc, it is still very much a Peter Parker-centered
story, mostly centering on Peter himself in his normal mundane life, and feels
very close to a coming-of-age teen film at times, even more so than the
previous films, yet it has a natural transition from this coming-of-age film to
an actual Spider-Man film. You have story about a teen on one side, and a story
about a superhero on the other without it fretting a lot of the pacing.
The action sequences were fun and entertaining to
watch, but they do lack a little bit of tension, though it’s not much of a
bother. The action scenes are fun and pack that familiar Spider-Man vibe to
them, but some do feel very contained, despite the vast MCU universe
that surrounds him. It might not be up to the standards of the action in other
MCU films, but it certainly feels a little fresh to see a contained action
sequence, especially in an MCU film.
 |
| Source: IMDB |
As a Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a refreshing new take on the Spider-Man story without it having to repeat his origin for the third time. Though it’s the very familiar friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Homecoming feels very new and fresh, and it’s mostly helped by its way of placing familiar colors on a new slate. For a welcome return in the MCU, Spidey is right where he needs to be: right home.
Stars: 4/5
0 Comments