Along SPIDEY came another
...but however you spin it, this third version isn’t a patch on the first – and it takes Iron Man to save the day
Spider-Man: Homecoming Cert: 12A 2hrs 13mins ★★★★★
Somewhat amazingly, Spider-Man: Homecoming is the sixth Spider-Man film to be released in just 15 years. The old Marvel character has now been rebooted three times and been played by three different actors: Tobey Maguire for three films, Andrew Garfield for two, and now young Tom Holland – possibly the luckiest 21-year-old actor on the planet – makes his debut.
But the one thing genuinely new about the latest version is that, following a deal struck between Sony and Disney (now the owners of Marvel, of course), it is the first film in which Spider-Man becomes properly part of the hugely successful Avengers ‘universe’. Yes, Iron Man, his alter ego Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Captain America (Chris Evans), even jokes about Thor’s hammer… they’re all here, albeit some a lot more than others.
It’s this tie-up with the Avengers and the feverish anticipation surrounding the likely contribution of Spider-Man to next year’s Avengers: Infinity War – already one of the most eagerly awaited films of 2018 – that perhaps explains the almost astonishing levels of excitement that surround this film. At the packed screening I attended, the audience were whooping, cheering, even applauding with delight. And yet, barring one undeniably brilliantly concealed plot twist that I wouldn’t dream of spoiling, and a couple of spectacular set-pieces, I couldn’t really see why.
There’s no denying that a pleasing continuity with previous Avengers films and last year’s Captain America: Civil War – in which Spider-Man played a late cameo – is efficiently established. Holland does his best as Peter Parker but this isn’t a patch on the best of the preceding Spider-Man films, which, for my money, were Spider-Man 2 and the original Spider-Man, both with Maguire and his co-star Kirsten Dunst.
You’ve got to get the basics right, and here Jon Watts, a young and relatively inexperienced director, doesn’t always. On at least half a dozen occasions, the visual effects – particularly when trying to demonstrate Spider-Man’s enhanced athleticism – notably fail to convince, which in 2017 is unforgivable. I’m no expert, but I’d say a bit more old-school wire-work – where actors appear to defy gravity by being suspended from wires that are then ‘painted’ out – and a bit less computer trickery would not go amiss.
Then there are occasional problems with the sound, especially when Peter and his geeky new best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalan), are talking. This is a film that deliberately sets out to make a virtue of Peter’s youth – presumably to attract a similarly young, franchise-boosting audience – but in order to convince us that Peter and, presumably, Ned are 15, both young actors employ quite highpitched voices that, with a bit of fashionable mumbling and Ned’s accent, can be difficult to follow. Given the decision to make Peter so young, another casualty is the romantic subplot, hitherto a vital component of every Spider-Man film. Maguire’s Peter had Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane (remember their iconic upside-down kiss in the rain?), while Garfield’s had Emma Stone’s Gwen. But here all Peter can have is a schoolboy
‘Michael Keaton – a former Batman – is outstanding as the main baddie’
crush on his quiz team team-mate, Liz (Laura Harrier). As someone who always appreciates a bit of emotional depth with their swinging through the skyscrapers, I feel that Peter being urged on by his talking in-suit computer (nicely voiced by Jennifer Connelly) with the words ‘This is your chance, Peter – kiss her’ isn’t quite enough. But I suspect young male teenagers might disagree, especially with both humour and silliness brought very much to the fore. Of course, there are compensations that ensure that this is a decent SpiderMan film if never a great one. Holland, following the shy, awkward template laid down by both Maguire and Garfield, is decent enough, as the teenager struggles to channel his new super-powers. But Michael Keaton – a former Batman, of course – is outstanding as the main baddie, a man who not only spots a way to make a fortune out of all the alien tech left behind at the end of Avengers Assemble but builds a pair of spectacular gravity-defying wings for himself. Small wonder he’s The Vulture.
But with Jon Favreau phoning in his performance – sometimes literally – as Happy Hogan, and Paltrow making only a late, blink-and-you’ll-miss-her appearance, it falls to Downey to not only give some grown-up gravitas to proceedings but also to officially welcome Spider-Man to the Avengers universe. I suspect he would have been extraordinarily well paid for what is essentially a supporting role but, on this occasion, he’s worth every penny. Iron Man rides to the rescue again, eh.