The perfomances are all knockouts. Tom Holland finds the perfect balance between being convincingly nerdy as Peter Parker and endearingly snarky as Spider-Man (in many ways, he's even better than Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield when you remember how both actors could only ever truly nail one side of the character). Michael Keaton does a bangup job as the Vulture, bringing an equal level of humanity and menace to the character (both of which manifest in a genuinely surprising turn of events when the third act comes around). There's even a potential, probably unintentional, bit of subtext as to his character's grudge against Stark being symbolic of how Marvel's essentially one-upped DC at their own game (after all, I doubt many would disagree when I say Batman is Keaton's most famous role). All of his classmates are also pretty good (especially the kid who played this new version of Flash Thompson). Marisa Tomei brings a certain sweetness and humor to the role of Aunt May that's unfamiliar but certainly welcome. Even Donald Glover has a fun cameo near the middle.
Ever since Doctor Strange came out last November, I've had a nagging feeling I'd end wanting Michael Giacchino to provide the score for every Marvel movie from here on out. His work here confirms . Giacchino's compositions for Homecoming are absolutely perfect for a character like Spider-Man. It's playful, suspenseful and overall fun to listen too. Plus, that orchestral reworking of the classic '60s cartoon theme is just plain awesome.
Outside of the spectacular action sequences, director Jon Watts doesn't pull off anything spectacular; but, he does bring a refreshing low-key feel to the proceedings. One of my favorite things about this flick is how well it captures what high school is like in this day and age. From how bullies are more like creeps than meatheads to the poorly-produced daily newscasts to the minor everyday struggles, I'm geniunely impressed with how much of it feels, well...genuine. Something like that, even if its a fairly minor background detail, deserves a lot of credit in my book.
Ultimately, this film feels like the first time I've watched a superhero movie that wasn't trying to mimic another genre and just felt comfortable with being a small-scale superhero flick. Aside from Tony Stark popping up as Spidey's consistently abesnt mentor and a prologue setting up Vulture's motivations, there are little to no ties to the rest of the MCU. It just feels like a much-needed breath of fresh air.
SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING gets a...
BADA$$ out of TEN
One last thing, this has what is easily the funniest post-credits scene since the first Guardians of the Galaxy.
No comments:
Post a Comment