You thought that the Tobey Maguire version of Spider-Man of 2002, and the Andrew Garfield version of Amazing Spider-Man of 2012 were good? Well, then you definitely need to watch the Tom Holland version of Spider-Man of 2017. It will change your views about all the Spider-Man movies you have watched till date.
I watched Spider-Man: Homecoming at the UAE premiere last night, held at Novo Cinemas in Dubai Festival Center. As soon as I reached the venue I was overwhelmed with the crowd that had gotten there to watch one of their favourite superheroes on the big screen. I have never seen such a huge crowd at any of the premieres I have been to. That says a lot about the crowd pull Spider-Man still has!
Spider-Man: Homecoming is THE Spider-Man franchise reboot you have been waiting for. It’s a cheerful, charming and, as a character solo movie, it fits perfectly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with ease.
Homecoming centers on 15 year old Peter Parker (Tom Holland), a few months after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Gifted with a technologically advanced costume by Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark / Iron Man, Peter is still a “friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man” in the New York neighbourhood of Queens.
He spends his spare time catching bicycle thieves and helping lost old ladies. However, Peter’s role in the Avengers’ face-off has given him a taste for grander heroics, and he’s essentially put his high school life on hold while he waits to be officially recruited into the superhero squad.
When he encounters crooks using weaponry enhanced with scavenged alien technology, Peter decides to impress Stark by apprehending the gang’s mastermind, Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), AKA The Vulture. What happens when he encounters the villain is what forms the rest of the story.
I am an 80’s kid – so I am used to reading comic books where Spider-Man was depicted as someone who was smart and powerful at the same time. With the 2017 reboot, we get to see an average individual, who is also a superhero. He still struggles to find answers when he is faced with difficult situations.
We have all been there and it is no different for Spider-Man, too. And that part of the movie is what I liked about the reboot. Tom Holland certainly brings a youthful appeal to Marvel’s comedy-tinged reboot.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is not just another entry in the MCU. This is very much Spidey’s movie and director Jon Watts has managed to balance the MCU influence well. Tony Stark’s appearances are kept to a minimum and when he does appear, it’s with emotional purpose.
The icing on the cake is when Stark tells Peter to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man he is supposed to be, and it resonates with a lot of us who have read the comic books. Spider-Man: Homecoming is more comic book-y than cartoony, and that’s exactly what I liked about it.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is definitely a must watch and it continues 2017’s run as a very satisfying year for well-thought-out, and well-implemented, superhero movies.
