Surfing a new web

Film Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming

MANILA, Philippines - As the first Spider-Man film with direct Marvel input, Columbia’s Spider-Man: Homecoming is a crafty film that smartly concentrates on the “small story,” while nimbly allowing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to make its presence felt. By not allowing the nuclear storyline of Peter Parker (the excellent Tom Holland) as a 15 year old experiencing high school life, be run over by the incursions of Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man, the film charms, entertains and beguiles in a manner that gives this reboot franchise much promise. Much credit must be given to the sparkling screenplay, and Jon Watts’ deft direction.

The film’s prologue introduces us to Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) who will turn into Vulture, and this is a great way to kick off the film as it solidly shows us motive and moral ambiguity, turning our villain into something more than a one-dimensional bad guy. Working in construction and salvage, Toomes is a blue-collar businessman who deals with the destruction left behind by superheroes and their battles, and relies on this as his livelihood.

We are then treated to the smartphone selfie-video of Spidey’s inclusion in the airport scene of Captain America: Civil Wars, his baptism of fire working with the Avengers. This device is truly stupendous as it firmly places Peter as a gushy teenager, giddy with excitement over his superpowers and standing in line with his idol superheroes. What follows is a triple helix narrative of Peter in high school, his waiting to be called back by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) while exploring his powers with oftentimes bumbling results and his continuing saga of running into Vulture and his gang — and hoping to turn the success of these encounters into the justification of being called back by Stark.

It’s in the first narrative of regular high school life that Holland turns the trick of endearing himself to us, the audience. A dweeb and geek who can’t reveal his superhero identity, he stumbles and awkwardly negotiates the minefield of adolescence. Standouts here are Marisa Tomei as Peter’s Aunt Mary; Peter’s best friend Ned (Filipino actor Jacob Batalon); Laura Harrier as Liz, the apple of Peter’s eye; Zendaya as MJ, the smart, intellectual classmate; and Flash (Tony Revolori of the Grand Budapest Hotel), another classmate and Peter’s rival. They give the film a texture rooted in the real world, and provide excellent humor. This is also where the screenplay shines, deflating moments of high drama or potential tragedy with a quippy line or put-down.

A word about the director, as this is his first big budget feature after impressing with the indie Cop Car, which starred Kevin Bacon and two young boys. Watts showed a great touch there handling boys trying to be heroes, and depicting a villain who springs from everyday, working class roots.

Sticking to what he knows, Watts takes on similar themes in Homecoming, and thankfully, isn’t overwhelmed by the MCU pedigree. He limits the Stark appearances and lets it be more of casting a long shadow over the proceedings. He strives to keep organic the story points that tie in this film with the bigger Marvel Universe. And to my mind, is more successful than Guardians 2 or Doctor Strange, in keeping the joyride element of the story flowing.

Standing dead center in all this is Holland. At 21, he makes a far better case of Peter Parker, high school student than Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield ever did — they were both in their late 20s when they first assumed the role. Physical and nimble (Holland was a stage Billy Elliott), he wonderfully portrays Parker moments and Spider-Man moments as one cohesive whole, making the transformations much more credible.

Smart but impulsive, kind but immature, Holland gives us a very relatable 15-year-old young man, and it gives this Spider-Man a very unique sheen. It’s a new web that I’m happy to be caught in.