To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I got this movie, especially after two previous Spiderman series. But…what I got was something I enjoyed a lot.
Also, I have a new area of grading: effects. This doesn’t just mean the visuals and special effects, it also includes sound quality and the score.
Just to let you know, I was busy today, so for now there will be only one image. I will try to add more images this weekend!
Story: 4/5: What makes Homecoming a breath of fresh air in the superhero movie genre, is that it was also a slice of life. It focused on Peter Parker and his experiences as a high school sophomore in a world of superheroes just as much as it did on your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. And that’s what I loved. While the story isn’t totally different, it’s the fact that it’s a different genre that makes it so appealing, and what makes it much more unique than some of the latest Marvel movies.
Plus, I have a feeling some of the writers have teenagers at home to help them write the script. I absolutely loved the dialogue; it had the same feeling as the 60s-70s comic books my dad raised me on. The fights were filled with classic Spiderman sass, but the way the teenagers spoke in general felt very realistic, like actual high schoolers.
Okay, and can we mention the twists? None of them were earth-shattering, but boy, did I not see some of them coming…
Characters: 4/5: They were so likable, and much more colorful than some of the more recent Marvel films.
Peter, or Spiderman, felt so much like a modern version of the 60s hero. He was at once a stressed out student with a nerdy side and a major secret, but also the wise cracking, talkative hero we love. But what I do like is that, while his life is by no means easy or perfect, it doesn’t cause the second hand embarrassment I always felt while reading the comics. I can’t give much away, but let’s say that while he’s unlucky, he’s not painfully unlucky.
Ned may be my favorite character. While he’s nothing like the comic version, I’m happy about that. In Homecoming, he’s Peter’s nerdy best friend who discovers his secret pretty quickly. He is a far cry from the useless best friend/comic relief character, and actually makes major contributions to the story while being funny and having some of the best lines in the movie, in my opinion.
A few of my more major complaints about recent Marvel movies is the bland love interests. Liz, Peter’s crush, defies the blandness and is a dynamic character, thankfully. She’s at once sweet and smart, without feeling boring. She’s also not the unobservant crush either. Plus, her kindness doesn’t feel fake or annoying; it feels honest. She also has a part in a great twist.
Similar to the above, an even bigger complaint I’ve had lately is the boring villains. But The Vulture is surprisingly a great one!When I first heard that he would be the villain, all I could think was, “Really? All the great villains in the Spiderman universe, and you choose that one?” But he has great writing, a personality, motivations, and is genuinely really creepy, with his own twists.
Iron Man is great in this one too, and we see parts of his personality we usually don’t see, which was nice, especially after Civil War.
While I had been iffy with this version of Aunt May, I realized that this interpretation makes more sense than the comics. In the comics she looked more like a grandmother than his aunt, and she had major health problems, which is why he kept the secret from her. But changing her age made no difference for me there. She and Peter had a sweet relationship I wish we saw more of.
A character I had mixed feelings on was Michelle. While she was funny and well-acted, I wish she contributed more to the plot. She just seemed to be there to make snarky comments. While funny (and feeling real), she just didn’t play a strong enough role.
Acting: 4.5/5: The acting was amazing, simply put.
There’s Tom Holland as Peter Parker. He feels like the Spiderman in the comics I grew up with. He can be funny, sweet, awkward, and really make you feel. He balances the humor with emotions, and your heart just goes out to him. For me, at least, he is the best Spiderman on screen up to this point. He just matches the character so well, and I think he is perfect for the role.
Jacob Batalon as Ned. I pretty much summarized what I liked about him and his performance in the character section, I feel. But one thing that truly stood out about his performance was his delivery of his lines; they were already great, but the way he acted and said them just made them so much better.
And then there’s Michael Keaton, who I feel was perfectly cast as well. In the comics, The Vulture was…lame, to be blunt. Not intimidating in the slightest. But with this revamp of his story, some good lines, and of course Michael Keaton’s acting, he is genuinely scary. I mean, really scary. Scary enough to make you forget that this guy started off doing movies like Beetlejuice.
Effects: 4/5: The special effects were great, as to be expected from a Marvel movie. I really have no complaints on that regard. Plus, a special mention goes out to costume design here. The Spiderman costume looks so much like the comics counterpart (but cooler, of course) which I loved. But oh my goodness, the Vulture costume. That costume is unrecognizable from the comics version, and I love it! It’s so creative, and you can see how much work was put into it.
The soundtrack was good, but nothing particularly remarkable, at least to me.
World Building: 4/5: This showed a new side to the Marvel universe: the ordinary world, and how they act with superheroes around. And another world they showed was the world of high school, which was brilliantly captured with the actors actually looking their age, the writing, and the sets.
Grade: 4/5. Needless to say, I loved this. It truly felt like if Stan Lee was young today and decided to create Spiderman now. It captured the feel of the stories I grew up on while retaining the values and mindset of the modern world, which is truly a hard thing to do that the film pulled off.
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