Movie Reviews

Did we really need another Spider-man reboot? The logical reaction would be ‘no’. Then again, the movies with Andrew Garfield were better than the Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi trilogy and they always say the third time’s a charm.

This time around it’s up to a very young Tom Holland to sling from building to building. But you already knew that if you’ve seen Captain America: Civil War where Holland got to make his debut as Spider-Man.

Which brings us to Spider-man: Homecoming. Following his adventure with the Avengers, Spidey returns home to Aunt Mae (Marisa Tomei) and tries to fall back in his daily high school routine. Not quite as thrilling. And so Peter is eager to prove to his mentors Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) that he is more than just the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Opportunity then comes knocking in the form of the Vulture (Michael Keaton).

The fact that this time around Spider-Man/Peter Parker is a high school kid, works wonders for the movie. The same can be said for moving the action to Queens, a much smaller playground. A setting that leads to fun scenes like the one where Spidey tries stop a weapon deal from happening and then has to run instead of using his webshooters because of a lack of tall buildings. Oh, and the inclusion of the Ramones on the soundtrack is pretty cool as well. Especially if you know that Queens was the Ramones’ old stomping ground and that Joey Ramone was a big Spidey fan. Hell, the Ramones even covered the 60ies cartoon’s theme song.

It’s this kind of jokes and little nods that remind you of Deadpool, by far my favorite superhero movie in recent years. Spider-Man: Homecoming is not a perfect movie though. The plot is pretty convoluted (that’s what you get with no less than six screenwriters) and I’m not sure the movie really needed to go on for a whopping 133 minutes. And seriously, whoever decided to dress Aunt Mae like my late grandmother needs a kick in the ass. But overall, Spider-man: Homecoming is a breath of fresh air and leaves me looking forward to more. Maybe a Deadpool/Spider-man crossover?