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Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Spider-Man: Homecoming Review


Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: Peter Parker must juggle typical high school life with being a superhero.

Review: So we are on the third version of Spider-Man at this point, but this was, surprisingly, not bad at all. There are still some serious problems, however, I think a major part of the fun was that Spider-Man finally connected into the rest of the Marvel universe. Since Spidey was one of the main comics I grew up reading, it has annoyed me that so many of his movies are garbage. With Sony, seemingly, dead set on destroying their movie division, who knows how long any of this positivity will last. In the meantime, I guess we can celebrate this small victory for the moment.

The best aspect was finally presenting Peter Parker and Spider-Man properly. The Raimi trilogy nailed the cornball nature of the comics, but they did not understand the humorous side of Peter whatsoever. The Amazing version had a better grasp yet screwed it all up due to idiocy. Here, Peter is back to his roots of being a dweeb who jokes around. It's tough to explain since artists draw Peter in different ways, but I think this is the best representation of the character yet. As such, Spider-Man's power level is adjusted to what it should be, and he has a sleeker, smaller look that matches the comic. All around, I'm impressed with Tom Holland in the role. The other aspects that were done well include the ongoing gag of people flirting with Aunt May, solid pacing, that sexy, sexy voice of Jennifer Connelly, decent action, and the story addressing the aftermath of "The Avengers" while also explaining the whole street level hero concept to the audience. Finally, the twist regarding the Vulture and Peter's love interest was fantastic. I wish there would be more twists in these superhero movies beyond just someone turning out to be a villain.

As for the bad decisions...Sony, Sony, Sony, quit fucking with the characters! That ain't MJ, you fuckwits. It was dumb enough to change Flash and Shocker, but MJ is a notorious red head even in the general public's mind! And on top of that, you've altered her personality to be a stalker, hipster street-trash future college lesbian?! She's the goddamn girl next door type! And Kirsten Dunst already fucked up the character, but you want to make things even worse?! Oh yeaaaah, I can just picture fucking Zendaya saying, "Face it, Tiger...you just hit jackpot!" She looks like she hasn't bathed in a month. As I mentioned in my review for "The Amazing Spider-Man," Emma Stone should have been cast as MJ. Oh well. Besides these annoyances, Vulture just wasn't a worthy adversary. Michael Keaton is good in the role, but every encounter with Vulture would have resulted in his defeat if he just held his ground and fought Spider-Man; he's just a guy with wings for the most part. It felt like the plot was artificially extended by making Vulture never just fight to the finish. At least with past villains, they appeared more formidable.

All things considered, I'd probably rate this slightly above "The Amazing Spider-Man," but below the first Raimi entry. This, sort of, puts the franchise back on track, but we'll have to see since Sony is run by complete fucking morons who won't listen to Marvel. Basically, watch this entry for its depiction of Peter Park and a glimpse at street level superheroes. There is a lot of humor which will please casual moviegoers and those who've grown accustomed to Marvel's film structure. Be wary of the pointless race swaps and flimsy villains that, realistically, could have been beaten right away. Lastly, just stick with this Spider-Man or ditch the character altogether. I don't think anyone could take a godforsaken FOURTH incarnation!

Notable Moment: When Ned is caught by the teacher during the dance. His excuse of looking at porn was perfect.

Final Rating: 7/10

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