Spider-Man: Homecoming Swings Into Action This Week: And Here's The Review...

Spider-Man, Spider-Man... Where do we start? In 2002 with Toby Maguire? Or 2012 with Andrew Garfield, just five years after Maguire webbed up the suit? Or last year with Captain America: Civil War, just two years after Garfield was, like Maguire, forced to do the same? In just fifteen years we've seen - including the latest movie - six Spider-Man movies (or seven if you include Civil War) which include three separate incarnations. To call them all sinister, though, would be an insy winsy lie. 

The original, along with its superior sequel in 2004, were at least at the time damn-near perfect and even broke new ground with their special effects. But then there was the 2007 threequel, which came in on Sam Raimi's beloved series like a rhino in a china shop, leaving total carnage in its wake and provoking venomous backlash from fans. 

But then Garfield's entry – as superior to Spider-Man 3 as it most certainly was - was hardly as amazing as its own title promised. Its sequel in 2014, also directed by Marc Webb (no relation), while generally something of a mixed bag, was at least a major improvement. Sadly, Webb, as Raimi did with Spider-Man 3, set himself octopus-like tasks by shoehorning in too many villains and other characters. The film's only real saving grace was the electrifying chemistry and story between Garfield and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacey. And then there was the whole Gwen-thing which came as a real shocker, and has officially ruined my eyeballs forever. Seeing her alive and well in 2014’s Birdman filled me with joy, but maybe someone should have warned her about Michael Keaton and those birdish antics of his...

Maguire's Spidey lasted five years before he ran short of web

Garfield's lasted two, no thanks to the tangled webs Sony weaved

Yes, after plenty of hoo-ha between Marvel and Sony, we finally have Tom Holland's solo Spider-Man, going up against Michael Keaton's Vulture. Add to that plenty of adolescent challenges including crushes, acne, worried guardians, bullies and homework, and you have Peter Parker, too. This time, though, things are very different. If you remember Civil War (shame on you if you don't), Holland's Spidey was a breath of fresh air, even though it never seemed at all possible at the time to make a thrice-rebooted-in-ten-years-webslinger so. But even more refreshing and welcome was Marvel's choice to do away with the character's ever-familiar tragic backstory (which is no mysterio to any fan), having placed Parker some six months after that bite and that death scene (no offence, Uncle Ben).

The appropriately titled Spider-Man: Homecoming, from director Jon Watts, marks the fifteenth entry in the MCU, and while it follows up Civil War, the film that gave Holland’s Spidey the leg-up, its narrative ties in nicely with the events of 2012’s Avengers Assemble. Keaton plays Adrian Toomes, a city worker employed to help clean up the aftermath of the “Battle of New York”. But when other interests in the alien-tech cost him and his crew their jobs, they decide to take some of the tech for their own benefit. Eight years on - that's today - and tech-villain Vulture is already in full throttle, selling advanced weaponry to keep his family fed (a somewhat admirable motive for a Spidey villain - or any for that matter). Then there's Parker, who's not quite in full swing as the wallcrawler; desperate to impress "Mr. Stark" or Jon Favreau's Happy so that he can be enlisted as an Avenger. But when Parker's spidey-sense catches wind of Toomes’ criminal dealings, he sets out to prove he has what it takes, and that he's much more than just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

It sure makes a change from Uncle Ben

We have a feeling Keaton has a thing for big wings

Gone are the days when seeing a CGI-Spidey swinging wildly through the air or doing incredible backflips during a thug-fight in an alley render you slack-jawed. But that's not to say there's nothing impressive here. There are some incredible action sequences, as well as some amazing Spidey-choreography. In fact, it's the best CGI-Spidey yet, and the best Spidey all round. The trouble is that with an action-saturated market, audiences have – or at least I have - become much harder to impress. Instead, the film relies on charm, wit, humour and innovation to wow. And wow it does.

It's only fair to say that Maguire and Garfield set the bar as the dual-ego high, but Holland takes it to a whole new level. Perhaps it's that he's the youngest yet, portraying a fifteen year old Parker who actually looks fifteen and not twenty-five. But what's also endearing is the fact he's short on that angst that at times, or perhaps most of the time, which made his two predecessors a bit, well, annoying. In short, it's the lack of drama here that strangely makes Spider-Man, an otherwise very drama-oriented superhero story, more loveable than ever (no offence, Uncle Ben). Its silk-like lightness is deliberate though, and its eagerness to avoid the murky waters of the burden of death - whether Uncle Ben or a classmates' evil parent - is palpable, with the film never getting too serious. Equally it's also required to fit into the tonal framework of the MCU, and while tragedy is no stranger to the long-running multi-hero franchise, Homecoming must swiftly adapt into what is ultimately a prelude to next year's Avengers: Infinity Wars. 

Parker's a lot lighter this time. And a lot more chill

Come on, you two. It's not a race

On first glance it might have seemed that Iron Man's presence in the film would hinder its ability to perform as a Spidey flick, but consequently Stark's tech-genius allows for some really innovative Spidey-gear, from an emerging chest logo that's actually a cute little drone, to a multitude of web-shooting capabilities. And with all the hi-tech Stark-made, espionage-serving gadgetry and weaponry to boot, it’s as much a spy-caper as it is a superhero one.

Besides the awesome arsenal of Bond-esque tech, there are a lot of other changes here, too: Aunt May is noticeably younger (and hotter), there are some big changes to most of Parker's classmates – including their ethnicities, the villain is refreshingly absent of cheese, and thankfully there is no Green Goblin in sight. The same goes for that dreaded word starting with "R" (no offence, Uncle Ben). However, the biggest change is how Parker’s journey to become the ultimate Spider-Man is heavily influenced by Iron Man et al. But while Homecoming does of course exist in the Avengers-occupied film-verse, it does well to keep out most other cameos (bar some hilarious pre-recorded do-goodery from Captain America).

Sony still hold most the rights to the Spider-Man license, and have already announced a whole bunch of their own non-related Spidey spin-offs on the horizon including Venom, but with the webslinger at least now in the MCU, he is finally back where he belongs. Spider-Man has come home.