‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’:
‘Homecoming’ fails to tap into web of feelings as teen discovers power
Action fantasy fails to tap into web of feelings as teen discovers powers.
Yes, the time has come for another Spider-Man movie. It’s time to reboot that whole thing again. And so here we are with “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” starring Tom Holland, who is not only the third Spider-Man in 15 years, but the third best. Still, he’s not bad. He’s even pretty good. And that’s what we are asked to celebrate today — a pretty good Spider-Man movie.
For some, that will be enough. After all, this is the first Spider-Man film to be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that in itself is cause for excitement in some quarters. All the same, we find ourselves at the beginning of a series that is neither an intelligent reconception of the previous versions, nor an improvement. In fact, in terms of acting and spectacle, it’s a comedown from the Tobey Maguire and An-
Spider-Man: Homecoming Action fantasy. Starring Tom Holland and Michael Keaton. Directed by Jon Watts. (PG-13. 133 minutes.)
drew Garfield movies that came before.
Really, is there something about this Spider-Man story, something nourishing and inspired, that makes it worth reliving over and over? Because if there is, we’re not getting it here. And sorry, but when you’re making the sixth major blockbuster blowout in 15 years, standing out from the pack is part of the job.
There are some nice touches, such as the calibration of Spider-Man’s abilities from stage to stage, as he grows in command of his gifts. And Holland, with his high voice and earnest manner, is as much a natural underdog as you can expect in a superhero, and is therefore easy to root for. Also, to its credit, “SpiderMan: Homecoming” keeps to a relatively modest scale, as superhero movies go, with a story that, for once, doesn’t involve the entire fate of the known universe.
In this iteration, Peter Parker (Holland) is a sophomore in high school, an earnest young fellow with a homemade costume. In possession of certain gifts — he can project sticky webs from his wrists, swing from buildings and move very quickly — he goes out every night looking to aid people in distress. But because he is still a clumsy adolescent, he sometimes does as much harm as good.
One day, making his rounds in his native New York, he encounters criminals wielding weapons that no one has ever seen, that can throw a force field of energy. These are the creation of Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), who is running an underground munitions business, selling material made from extraterrestrial components. Though Holland’s Spider-Man is the focus here, Keaton is at the center of all the movie’s best scenes. A blue-collar entrepreneur, Toomes is just trying to run a business. Keaton makes him a complicated and sympathetic villain, just as, a generation ago in “Batman” (1989), he made Bruce Wayne a dark and peculiar hero.
The Avengers connection is that Peter Parker is now an intern, working under the mentorship of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Iron Man, with the expectation of someday gaining full membership in the group. He is given an elaborate new Spider-Man suit and a program of training. But because he is the only one to recognize the threat posed by Toomes, he keeps putting himself into the midst of battles, even though he’s too green to be effective.
Much of the appeal of Spider-Man has always been entwined with his being a teenager and experiencing all the attendant pressures and indignities of those years. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” tries to capitalize on that. Peter has social anxieties. He likes a girl (Laura Harrier) in school. But these are more like gestures in the direction of something, not the thing itself. “Spider-Man 2,” with Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, was genuinely about the human side of being a superhero. “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” despite its title, is not really interested in that. It’s written by six screenwriters, and it feels like it.
The emphasis here is on the action. Jon Watts is a second-time director making his first attempt at a blockbuster, and if his ambition was to make a blockbuster that actually looked like one, he succeeded. But the movie breaks no new ground, and action sequences that were intended to be thrilling — such as an epic battle on the Staten Island Ferry — just sit there on the screen, incapable of stirring a single pulse, but content in their competence.
In the end, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is neither spectacular nor human enough to overcome the memory of the other “Spider-Man” movies.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” keeps to a relatively modest scale, as superhero movies go, with a story that, for once, doesn’t involve the entire fate of the known universe.