Zwia Reviews: Spider-Man Homecoming a.k.a. Oh Thank God

SPOILER FREE until I say Spoiler Alert

You know what I cannot stand? People on my news feed complaining about “ANOTHER Spider-Man movie.” “We’ve already had five Spider-Man movies. Why do we need ANOTHER???” You want to know why? You REALLY want to know why??? Because Spider-Man is THE Marvel hero, and frankly he has not been done justice in his own movie yet. You think Iron Man is awesome? You think Captain America is cool? Before the MCU NO ONE gave a damn about any of these characters. These were the character Marvel COULDN’T even sell the rights to when they needed the money in the 90’s.

But Spider-Man, he’s Marvel’s best. He’s their big gun (popularity and story-wise. Power level he… he’s pretty outclassed)  And this movie is important because he… well… he finally came home and showed just what a company that knows what they are doing can do with a GOOD character.

That is not to say the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies aren’t amazing, because they are. (Well the first two) and that’s not to say the Amazing Spider-Man movies aren’t… uh… lets not talk about those rushed cash grabs. What I’m saying is, Tom Holland’s portrayal of Spider-Man is the best and most accurate portrayal of the character we have ever had, and it is about gosh darn time Marvel finally had an “A” List character in their Cinematic Universe.

So, BEST SPIDER-MAN MOVIE EVER… right?

…right?

uh…

Kinda???

Before I go further, let me make this clear. Go see this movie. It’s a great and entertaining time. If you know nothing about Spider-Man (shame on you) you’ll still enjoy the movie whether it be it’s strong humor, it’s action, it’s likable characters, its drama. There will be something for you.

And if you DO know Spider-Man, you will enjoy all the references and clever nods. OMG so many references. Not even just talking about referring to all the MCU stuff. There is just… SO MUCH ELSE.

But BEST SPIDER-MAN MOVIE EVER?????

Well, Spider-Man 1 and 2… I think are better actual movies. They have very clear messages and structure. They are creatively done. They pushed boundaries for their time. They balance dramatic moments and humorous moments and action beats and are unafraid to take chances and go all out… and frankly, they are lightning in a bottle experiences. They are just really incredible movies. (Even if the acting is kinda… meh)

So, objectively, I’d say Homecoming isn’t on paper a better movie. But it IS the best Spider-Man character piece we’ve ever gotten.

If you want me to tell you who Spider-Man as a character is, this is what I’d show you. It may lack some of his more depressing struggles and turmoil… but everything else, is just pure Spider-Man.

If anything, Homecoming doesn’t really feel like a movie. It’s more of a really long TV episode. It’s not some Epic Spider-Man set piece. It’s more of a glimpse at one of his small adventures, which works out really well.

So lets talk about it. The story follows Peter after Civil War when he is struggling to impress Tony Stark and prove he’s superhero material. Most of his actions reflect this one track mindset and basically he gets himself into trouble because of it. It isn’t really the whole “Great Power/Great Responsibility” motivation that we’re used to, but it does the trick and pretty accurately shows Peter’s struggle to balance the real world with his super heroing, so I dig it.

Also real quick, love this one subtle moment in the gym early in the movie. Peter is doing sit ups like a champ, coach tells him he’s doing good work, and Peter subtly starts to look like he’s struggling. It’s quick and simple and easy to overlook, but I loved it. It’s a VERY Peter thing to do. God shit like this make me really feel like these guys totally understand the character. And they KEPT doing stuff like this. Just damn.

Stark himself is barely in the movie, but he’s pretty great when he is. This of course should be no surprise. Downey Jr. was pretty much born for this role.

Keaton’s Vulture has very clear motivation and is pretty darn interesting because of it. He basically plays up the current climate of people against the 1% that’s hitting the nation… and it’s just great. I have small issues with some changes they’ve done with his character, but overall its a great take and I’m happy they chose to delve more into his character than setting up Peter… a story we already know way too much of.

And pretty much everyone else ever has their own little moments to shine. Everyone is pretty well-defined, you understand who every person is for the most part. It’s just all good things. The plot itself is pretty weak. Spider-Man wants to prove himself, keeps hunting down these arms dealer guys, keeps screwing things up. Rinse. Repeat. Enjoy the ride. But we’re not really in the movie for anything super major plot wise. It’s a character piece. And it delivers. And then it adds some fun action and jokes as well. Hell, if you just give me a montage of Spider-Man doing random acts of heroics around NYC I’d be happy. What? We get that in the first ten minutes??? HELL YEAH!

And that’s really all I can say without getting into some Spoiler territory. It’s a special movie because it’s finally Spider-Man being the lovable screwup kid he’s supposed to be. BUT it doesn’t really do anything super crazy beyond that. Still, I’d say you need to see it.

NOW FOR SPOILERS where I get into the fun stuff.

Firstly OMG some of the references. For starters, DAMAGE CONTROL. OMG. For those that don’t know Damage Control is a company in the Marvel Universe that basically go around cleaning up the messes from superhero fights. They had their own comic and everything and it’s hilarious. I have been waiting for Damage Control to be name dropped for SO DAMN LONG and I am pumped that they went all out with it.

Next, Donald Glover as Prowler… mentioning his nephew??? Uh… you mean Miles Morales???? Damn right that’s what they meant. That’s amazing.

(No this reboot should not have been Miles. YES we all want a Miles movie, but not yet. Let Peter have his time. Half of Miles’s stories are all about him trying to step in Peter’s boots anyway. Y’all gotta build up to that people.)

Okay, have I given enough space before I talk about the REALLY big stuff yet?

Good.

FUCKING VULTURE father reveal thing. You seriously gonna do that movie? Vulture’s kid is Peter’s friend??? Seriously??? You’re gonna pull a damn Green Goblin here??? You literally gonna steal almost beat for beat the Thanksgiving meal scene from Spider-Man 1????

Fine. You did it well. But here’s my problem.

What happens when we bring Green Goblin into the MCU? You just gonna do the same thing over again??? Or is Vulture gonna be the new Goblin now…? Just… Damnit. I don’t hate it and I appreciate that you made a shocking moment that totally fits the themes of Spider-Man balancing his responsibilities over his personal desires. And I LOVE that Peter didn’t even flinch with his decision. He just ran off and was like, nope. This is what I gotta do. But DAMN.

Uh… okay, I probably have more to say… uhh… Iron Spider reference, neat. Captain America stuff was amazing. Fuck yeah Scorpion.

OH, the building falling on Peter and he struggling to get up? Literally one of the MOST FAMOUS SPIDER-MAN MOMENTS EVER. I don’t think it did the moment particular justice, but I do think it was done well enough and it was certainly awesome to see it done on the big screen.

Finally, the final battle… eh, kinda anticlimactic. The fight on the plane was cool, but once they hit the beach… Vulture just punches him a couple times, gets distracted, and blows himself up??? Really????

Oh, and little issues: 1. How did the boat get cut PERFECTLY in half?

2. If Peter knocked the wings off the plane to create a vacuum… how did Vulture get back in his wings to fight Peter outside the plane?

Meh whatever, GO SEE THE MOVIE! OR GO SEE THE MOVIE AGAIN!!!!

Buy it on Bluray.

Tell your friends to see it.

I NEED MORE!!!!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *