Spider-Man: Homecoming
Marvel’s web-head scales new heights
The forthcoming Spider-Man game could only look hotter if all future demoes were broadcast from the surface of the sun. Unfortunately Insomniac’s offering is still a year away, but a big-screen Spidey has arrived to scratch that web-slinging itch.
Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man for a high schoolset superhero story that’s Iron-Manmeets-Ferris-Bueller’s-Day-Off. Desperate to re-team with The Avengers after Civil War’s life-changing airport barney, Peter lives to fight crime by night and prove himself to Tony Stark. But Peter’s powers – and swanky Stark Tech suit – are put to the test when the winged Vulture (Michael Keaton) swoops into town.
Homecoming is the first solo Spider-Man movie made by Marvel Studios, and confirms Holland’s Best Spidey Evs status. Whether awkwardly wisecracking while fumbling his way through fights with street level crims, or making a fool of himself at a house party, Holland’s wall-crawler is endearingly bobbins, and true to the comic-book character for the first time on screen.
Wisely skipping the over-familiar origin story, Spidey’s superheroics are inextricably linked to The Vulture – a bluecollar Marvel villain with sympathetic motivations and a killer secret. The final act gets a little too bombastic for its own good given the intimacy of everything that comes before, and Spidey’s high-tech suit blurs his abilities to a degree, turning him into a mini Iron Man, but it’s a film with heart and humour to spare. Jordan Farley