Spider-Man: Homecoming Review
The day has finally come where Spider-Man has his own film within the MCU, called Spider-Man: Homecoming, which refers to the character coming home to Marvel. Even though I can clearly see what it is they are trying to do with the character, I am starting to question if the approach is for me. Spider-Man is my favourite superhero alongside Superman, therefore my expectations were high, and sadly the changes they have made to this version of our web-head are ones I am struggling to come to terms with.
The film starts off showing us Michael Keaton’s character ‘Adrian Toomes’ being in control of the clean up operation after the battle in New York, that took place during the first Avengers film. Sadly for certain reasons, which I won’t spoil, the job is pulled from him, leaving Toomes in a sticky situation financially. As the trailer shows, Adrian decides to not sit back and let his livelyhood be taken from him, therefore turns to a life of crime in order to maintain his financial income and, in turn, becoming one of Spider-Man’s famous villains - ‘Vulture’. This part of the film was done excellently in my opinion.They really couldn’t have done any better at bringing this character to life, even down to the furry collared jacket he wears being similar to the feathers the Vulture has round his neck in the comics to make him look like the animal itself. Not only did he look the part, but Keaton’s portrayal of the character was brilliant; focussed but ruthless.
So you would say we were off to a good start with the villain being executed so well, but sadly once we get to Peter Parker, this is, for me, where the film fell short. Parker is played by the up and coming star, Tom Holland, who, to be fair to him, plays the character well. He makes you feel for him in the emotional scenes, and makes you laugh during the comedic ones, so it isn’t him that brings the negativity to the character, it is the general approach to the character, and the changes they have made to him that really puts me off.
Our first introduction to Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man, is him trying to balance his school life whilst trying to keep up his hero career, which is driven by his belief that if he does a good enough job in keeping the streets safe from crime, he will be asked by Tony to become an Avenger. This really became the spine to the story, with Peter trying harder and harder to impress Tony, eventually crossing paths with the Vulture himself, and thus seeing this as the big opportunity for him to gain Iron Man’s approval, by stopping this Villain and the crime syndicate he has going on. I was worried by the trailers that Peter seeking Tony’s approval was going to be something I wasn’t going to enjoy, so to find out that this was the core of the films story, I wasn’t overly impressed.
Not only is Peter trying so desperately to seek Tony’s approval, Tony seems to be way too much a part of Spider-Man’s day-to-day heroism, with him providing Peter with his superhero costume. We had a glimpse of this in Civil War, but little did we know the extent of how this suit aids Peter in his crime fighting. The suit has countless gadgets, and God knows where they come from. For example, a parachute that pops out from his back, and a drone that is introduced from his chest. On top of all this, the suit talks to him, just how Jarvis and Friday speak to Tony when Stark is suited up. I think all of this really takes away what is so special about Spider-Man, personally. The final nail in the coffin for me was the fact that Tony seemed to be Peter’s moral compass, which I personally think was just wrong. There are only two people that makes Peter the hero we all know and love, and that is Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and I felt their presence in the film was way too small, especially as the focus of the film was Peter at a really young age, absorbing every bit of information he is given.
As the film progressed, it really highlighted how young Peter is, with it being mainly shot from within his school. Sadly, due to this approach, it made the film feel really aimed more at children, which is the first time I have ever felt like that when watching a Marvel Studios film. I have always felt they got the balance right between it being exciting for children, but interesting enough for adults.
When it comes to the film’s score, composed by Michael Giacchino, I also felt this was very weak. It was just the main Marvel title music rehashed. I also think it didn’t help that it followed an incredible score by Hans Zimmer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, making it seem weaker than it was.
Sadly I cannot go into too much detail in regards to why I wasn’t a fan of this film as a whole, due to the fact a lot of my issues with the picture lies within the details, but I hope I have given you the jist in regards to why this film just didn’t capture me. One thing I can say it did was really make me remember watching Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man for the first time and how much I loved that, making me think that this Spider-Man is not made for my generation.
I think my days of enjoying films that are part of a bigger picture/universe are starting to come to end, which makes me very excited for the final Avengers films, as it will be the finale to the MCU I have grown up with. I truly wanted to enjoy this version of Spider-Man, and who knows, I may still end up liking him in the future, but at this moment, Marvel have focussed on everything I was worried about when Peter was introduced to the MCU.
Let us know what you thought of Spider-Man: Homecoming in the comments section below...
