Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is getting used to being Spider-Man. He’s still very young, only 15-years-old, but his adventures with the Avengers has left him with a desire to do more. Feeling like he must prove himself worthy, Spidey takes it upon himself to use the new suit and technology that was given to him by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to defeat a new threat to the city. The Vulture (Michael Keaton) is repurposing stolen alien technology to sell it on the black market, but his idiot criminal salespeople keep using the weapons, making themselves easy to catch.
We say, “This may be the right fit for Spider-Man.”
TAYLOR: I’m a fan of the webcrawler — I have been since I was a kid. So far, I’m not a fan of the movies. I enjoyed the first half of the first attempt, 2002’s Spider-Man where Tobey Maguire is bitten by the radioactive spider and then transforms into the friendly neighbourhood superhero. But that series became all about Peter Parker’s love interest. 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew (my head is too big) Garfield looked too much like a video game. It also was boring and Garfield didn’t fit the bill. I think young and emotional Tom Holland, who is 21-years-old, with this new light and breezy treatment might just be the thing to really get Spider-Man on the big screen properly.
HOWE: Well that was a pleasant surprise, a Spider-Man movie that was accurate, well somewhat. Gone are the 30 and 40 year olds playing Peter Parker. In Tom Holland we have a younger, more believable Spider-Man. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some aspects that I don’t agree with: the updated, super gizmoed out Spidersuit and no spider senses tingling. Things like that I can let slide but not too much.
FENIN: Oh come on Dad, get with the times. It’s not the ’70s anymore. I thought the movie was really good, and I loved his suit. I don’t want to be Antman anymore for Halloween, this year I want to be Spidey. And the twist? That was great. I was really surprised.
TAYLOR: Spider-Man is supposed to be fun. Yes he’s a superhero, but he’s supposed to make cheeky quips as he incapacitates criminals without violence. The first two attempts at Spidey movies were bogged down in, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and what a bummer that responsibility is. Spidey is a kid because Parker is a kid. He should be shouting “Woo-hoo” as he’s swinging from skyscrapers. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, he does exactly that. I think anyone could enjoy this film, even if they’re jaded film reviewers that are sick of superhero movies. True fans, by the way, will be treated to more hidden information than I could discover.
HOWE: The casting of Keaton was a stroke of genius — he makes a believable baddy. He’s likeable on the surface, but lying just below, his nasty side appears. He was better in this role as Toomes/the Vulture than he was as Bruce Wayne. I really hope that we haven’t seen the last of him in this role.
Taylor gives Spider-Man: Homecoming 4 guys in the chair out of 5.
Howe gives it 4 pairs of red pyjamas out of 5.
Fenin gives it 5 gasps out of 5.
— Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are film reviewers based in Vernon. Their column, Reel Reviews, appears every Friday.