MTV Is Dead: "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is More Than Amazing But Not Quite Spectacular

Sunday, June 26, 2022

"Spider-Man: Homecoming" is More Than Amazing But Not Quite Spectacular

Peter Parker's crush Liz Toomes

Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr. must get along pretty well. This makes the fourth movie they've done together. You can catch 'em both in Chaplin, Only You and Civil War. Of course, they're just reprising their Civil War roles in Homecoming. Tomei's the new Aunt May and Downey's Tony Stark/Iron Man. The biggest casting surprise of Spider-Man: Homecoming is Michael Keaton, who returns to superhero cinema for the first time in 25 years (since his starring role in Batman Returns). He's also fresh off of starring roles in back-to-back Best Picture Oscar-winning movies. In one (Birdman), he satirizes comic book movies and the actors who star in them. Now, he's Spider-Man's second-oldest enemy in the comics. He went from a bat, to a miscellaneous bird, to a vulture. Whatever, man. Last year we got Batman v. Superman. Now we have Batman v. Spider-Man.

In the web-slinger's 2nd reboot in four years, a fifteen-year-old Peter Parker faces off against the Vulture. And the creative shot-callers behind the MCU should get kudos for making the Vulture compelling alone. He has always been exponentially lame on the page. But, surprisingly enough, he works onscreen. Oh yeah, a none-too-shabby Shocker comes along for the ride as well.

In fact, Spider-Man: Homecoming treats the villains much better than it does Captain America, who's back in his costume-shop-style suit from 2012's The Avengers -- even in a mid-credits scene which really amounts to a prank, as opposed to the usual future-movie-tease to which we've become accustomed.

That's just one of the changes. Flash Thompson is unfortunately no longer a jerky jock -- now he's a bench-warmer on the school's academic team.

The most significant alteration to Spidey's conventional history comes in the form of his mentorship by Tony Stark. And believe me, Homecoming could've used a lot less Iron Man. As a matter of fact, the web-slinger more or less comes across as Iron Man-in-training. This Spider-Man reboot essentially relegates the star to a sidekick. If you've ever wondered what a Robin solo film would look like -- this is it. The worst thing about the movie is the preponderance of Spider-gizmos and the Iron Man-style Spider-suit Peter Parker gets from Stark. You have to wonder how much inspiration the filmmakers drew from Inspector Gadget.

And I really could've done without seeing Peter whine because he worried that he was hopelessly trapped beneath a pile of rubble -- this despite the fact that he wasn't injured in the least when the various slabs of concrete landed on him to begin with. Note to Marvel: I know you guys pride yourselves on not taking yourselves too seriously but most of us would appreciate you not depicting our would-be heroes coming dangerously close to crying like bitches out of frustration or humiliating themselves while wearing cringe-worthy costumes in ridiculous PSAs.

There are some welcome additions as well. The object of Peter's crush is refreshingly not Gwen Stacy. Now he's got a thing for Liz Toomes -- captain of the academic team. And friendless oddball Michelle has a thing for him. And both of these new ladies happen to be African-American. Truthfully, Homecoming features more females of African ancestry in speaking -- even prominent -- roles than Wonder Woman. Having Michelle and an African-American security guard at the Washington Monument point out to a white academic decathlon coach that the structure was built by slaves was a nice touch as well.

Perhaps the biggest surprise here is the appearance of Donald Glover as Aaron Davis aka the Prowler. For those out of the loop, Davis is the uncle of Miles Morales -- the half-African-American and half-Puerto Rican Spider-Man in the comics. It gets deeper: Glover and the spidey pajamas that he wore on an episode of his former sitcom, Community, served as one of the inspirations that led to the creation of the mixed web-crawler in the first place. While Miles does get a mention in Homecoming, there are no plans to replace Peter in the MCU. Instead, Morales will be swinging to a theater near you next year in his own animated movie.

While most self-respecting superhero movies contain easter eggs related to comic books, Homecoming goes a step further. This thing is chock-full of references to classic high school films as well, including nods to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Risky Business.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a fun time and it surpasses the previous Spider-Man film adaptations but after so many missteps and so much build-up, it just wasn't quite enough. And unfortunately, it's more Batman and Robin than Batman Begins.

Originally Posted 7/13/17