Spider-Man Homecoming (2017)

Welcome one and all to my review blog for the latest "Marvel Studios" film "Spider-Man: Homecoming". Before I begin I would like to thank all of you for reading all of my previous posts such as reviews for "The Autopsy Of Jane Doe" and "Before I Wake" as well as talking about upcoming releases such as "Oats Studios" and upcoming horror films and remakes such as "Polaroid" and "DeathNote" but, I don't receive much feedback. Please fell free to leave comments below or by following me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

"Spider-Man:Homecoming" is a first for the "Disney" owned "Marvel Studios" features as it sees a collaboration between the studio and "Sony Pictures". Whilst the previous efforts from "Sony Pictures" have been relatively successful the second "Amazing Spider-Man" instalment was met with mixed reviews and cost the studio a lot of money. A mutually beneficial partnership was set up between "Disney" and "Sony" allowing arguably one of the top non "Disney" owned properties and allowing him to appear alongside the popular "Marvel Cinematic Universe" roster. "Spider-Man" appeared briefly in "Captain America:Civil War" and was met with a high level of praise.

"Spider-Man:Homecoming" follows the story of Peter Parker as he navigates through his teenage life as well as moonlighting as a vigilante in New York. Adrian Toomes and his group of workers are left bitter after a clean up contract is cancelled following the "Battle Of New York" and begins to steal alien and other technology to develop into weapons for the black market. Meanwhile Peter has been taken under the wing of Tony Stark, who has developed an upgraded suit for "Spider-Man" Peter foils a bank robbery and unknowingly puts himself on the radar of Toomes, now known as "The Vulture", and his gang.

I want to begin by saying I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the previous "Spider-Man" movies. The Sam Rami trilogy were the films I loved growing up and were great movies with a darkly comedic tone at times. I enjoyed the "Amazing" films less. That's not saying they weren't good films I felt they were very dreary and focused far too much on visual effects rather than proper story telling.

"Homecoming" is a fantastic film that, in my opinion, finally gets the point of "Spider-Man": he is an average teenager who just happens to be a super hero and not the other way round. The tone of the film is that of a classic 80's teen comedy/drama in the vain of a John Hughes movie (including a great nod to "Ferris Bueller") mixing drama and comedy seamlessly. Other studios could learn a thing or too from both "Homecoming" and "Logan". Whilst two very different films the style of story telling follows a similar pattern. "Logan" was told in a way of a classic western that just happened to have mutants and likewise "Homecoming" is a teenage comedy/drama that just happens to have super heroes. This makes for a much more enjoyable viewing experience.

The action set pieces are handled with the usual "MCU" ability. Unlike the "DC Universe" and their sheer destruction filled action sequences "Homecoming" continues the theme of previous "MCU" films that destruction has consequences. The sequence at the "Washington Monument" was a great action sequence that displayed this fact and brings Spider-Man and Peter clarity of his actions.

The cast is fantastic throughout. The problem I had with the previous two incarnations of "Spider-Man" was that whilst there were supporting players in his life they weren't really shown as important in the sense that Peter had to go through being "Spider-Man" alone. The addition of Jacob Batalon as Peters friend "Ned" was fantastic. there were some real "belly laugh" moments when the two shared the screen. Holland himself is phenomenal as "Peter" playing the role of "lucky geek" in such a way that it was almost a comic page come to life. Michael Keaton is fantastic as "Adrian Toomes" playing the role of villain so well you almost forget that he was "Batman". Zendaya is entertaining enough as Michelle, having some comedic moments of sheer sarcasm. Marisa Tomei is a welcome change to the "Aunt May" character, although in my opinion she is not used enough. Other notable performances come from Donald Glover as "Aaron Davis" and the enjoyable performance of the returning Jon Favreau as "Happy Hogan". Then one performance that could be overlooked is that of Jennifer Connelly as the voice of Peters A.I enhanced suit. There is some great banter between the two throughout the film including a great back and forth in the warehouse scene.

Overall "Spider-Man Homecoming" is the "Spidey" film that was needed. The relationship between "Disney" and "Sony" has been more than successful for both parties. I can't wait to see what comes next for not only Tom Holland but his incarnation of the "Spider-Man" character and the universe it's in.