"Spider-Man: Homecoming" Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

"This is my chance to prove myself."​

Spider-Man: Homecoming
Release Date: July 7, 2017 (July 6 advance screenings)
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios
Directors: Jon Watts
MPAA Rating: PG -13 ( sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments)
Screenwriters: Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon

Plot Summary: Several months after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.

Discuss Spider-Man: Homecoming right here!

Related Discussion:
-Spider-Man: Homecoming Pre-Release News and Discussion Thread
-Doctor Strange Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Captain America: Civil War Feature Talkback (Spoilers)
-Marvel Cinematic Universe News & Discussion (Spoilers)

 

[Gold Guy]

Homecoming succeeds in many areas where the last few Spider-Man films have failed; likable characters, villains who actually have personality and feel like people, a fun story that never jumps the shark, and a hero who reminds us why it's fun to root for an underdog.

I know a lot of people still had doubts about Holland as Peter, but he really nails it. He really comes across as someone who loves being Spider-Man; he plays the character with an eagerness and spryness, but he also gets the serious scenes right. He's immensely likable, and feels like a kid you wouldn't have minded hanging out with.

The rest of the large cast are almost all pretty cool and handled with care. Favreau is a delight as Happy Hogan, Marisa Tomei gets to play Aunt May as realistic as possible (no overly ditzy aunt here!), Zendaya has some impact as one of the weirder classmates, and Jacob Batalon is surprisingly good as Peter's friend; I thought he'd be annoying, but he had some really good lines. Donald Glover, who only really has some cameos, still manages to own his scenes.

Michael Keaton wil leave many people relieved; he's surprisingly menacing as the Vulture, but also has enough humanity that some people may be tempted to root for him. One of the MCU's more layered villains.

Finally, I love how many people have to eat crow regarding Downey Jr's presence; he literally has less than six scenes, and whole Downey does elevate each one, he never gets in the way of Peter's character arc. Heck, I'd say the scene with him and Peter after the ferry incidents is one of the best scenes in the film; no teenage boy wants to disappoint their father figure.

They also addressed the complaints that the villains always die, and that they don't set up villains enough.

The film moves at a brisk pace, many of the jokes land and don't feel forced (sorry, Guardians 2), the teen dialogue actually does feel realistic (a rarity), and there is genuine diversity within the student body.

This film will also remind people why they loved Spidey in the first place: he isn't perfect. He screw up. He gets beat up by some villains. He doesn't always make the right call.

But no matter how many times he gets pushed down, he always gets back up.

I also loved how the film could feel so standalonish even with lots of MCU references. In this case, it just made the world feel more...real. Small moments, like when Glover's character complains that he doesn't want to buy some over-the-top alien weapon are some things that bigger films don't have time to show.

Anyway, some minor gripes aside (inconsistent power level, slightly underwhelming climax) this was a very fun film filled with youthful energy that a Spider-Man film should have. There will also be some fan-favorite scenes near the end.

But man, end credit stinger will be so divided among fans...

 

[Magmaster12]

Overall I enjoyed but there was certainly one thing that really bugged me.


Now I saw this coming a mile away but they seriously wrote themselves into a corner with this thing of Spiderman as an Avenger. Having him decide to be a street hero was pretty unsatisfying, what is he going to go back to helping old ladies for churros. If its because his high school life is so much better I don't really see that either aside from his friendship with Ned what is really so great about him being a student. Couldn't he help more people as a full-time Avengers after all with great power comes great responsibility and denying it like that is well stupid? They made it pretty clear the guy really can't do much, especially now that the vulture is out of the way. The Scorpion thing doesn't even make a lot of sense why would he go after Spiderman at all. I would really prefer it the next Spiderman movie just brought in Daredevil and Kingpin instead but that's probably not going to happen. I don't know I think Luke Cage is probably in jail at this point, Daredevil is blind so he probably couldn't see a giant explosion but would make the most sense, Jessica Jones has her own work cut out for her and Iron Fist just sucks at what he does so he doesn't matter.

Man, it's going to be hard placing these Spiderman movies in a timeline when compared to the TV shows.

Gwenith Paltrow showing up was pretty pointless, they just went from broken up to engaged just like that, also weird how Zendaya got lower billing then her. I don't know maybe Paltrow needs money for lawyers over her fraudulent products.

REALLY did not care for all the tech in Spidey's suit if I wanted to watch a superhero with gadgets I'd watch Iron Man, seeing another hero attempt it is, well boring.

Things I liked included a diverse cast since hey New York usually doesn't have just a slew of white people, Aunt May finding out Spiderman is Peter, going the Ultimates route with MJ being a hipster, and the twist with Liz being vultures daughter, who apparently has her mother's last name or something, that was kind of weird.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I don't know maybe Paltrow needs money for lawyers over her fraudulent products.

I don't think that's the reason why she's in the film.

And honestly, I really do hope we get Mary Jane (the real MJ, not Michelle since I refuse to consider her to be the MCU counterpart of Mary Jane) appearing in the sequel.

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[Magmaster12]

I don't think that's the reason why she's in the film.

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I was referring to the fact she got higher billing than MJ and probably asked for more money.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I was referring to the fact she got higher billing than MJ.

Okay but I refuse to consider Zendaya's role as Michelle Jones as the MCU equivalent of Mary Jane Watson. Just because she has the same initials as her doesn't mean she is based on her, hence why I'm hoping that Mary Jane (the real MJ) appears in the sequel.

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[Gold Guy]

Gwenith Paltrow showing up was pretty pointless, they just went from broken up to engaged just like that, also weird how Zendaya got lower billing then her. I don't know maybe Paltrow needs money for lawyers over her fraudulent products.
.

Wow, a lot of people in my showing cheered during that scene. A lot of people like Tony and Pepper together; they deserve their happy ending. It was just a cut small scene, nothing to get worked up over.

Also, not sure if that last part was necessary.

 

[rggkjg1]

Certainly way better and impressive than both Amazing Spider-Man films combined (all Spider-Man scenes in Civil War alone was better than Amazing Spider-Man 1-2 combined).

I know this is supposed to be the entire point of the movie, but I felt all the high school drama was weak. I'm not sure if it was too much, or because it felt like what I would expect to see in a Disney or Nickelodeon high school show. The decathlon group itself with their diverse characters, Peter/Liz romance, Peter/Ned buddies, a quirky teacher, and Flash as the rival within the group could be the entire premise of a Disney or Nick show. This incarnation of Flash Thompson was terrible. If the comic book Flash, or either of the movie Flash's approached this one, he would get whupped. And most likely start crying before any punches got thrown. Betty Brant as the student school news anchor was pointless. I worry if the high school setting is going to go too far. Are they going to make J Jonah Jameson the teacher who runs the school newspaper? And what of Black Cat (at least two scenes in school where a girl with matching silver hair easily is seen in the background, I'm sure that's exactly what they were doing)?

I have no problem setting the film in high school. Have a high school setting. Just don't tweak characters or mythos to make it "high school". If Mary Jane gets properly introduced (Zendaya is NOT MJ Watson), I would hope they do "who is that girl?!" for the high school antics. Hopefully doing that would shake things up and make the high school stuff more impressive than a Disney or Nick show.

 

[Checkerboard]

Should I stay or should I go? And what about the credits? Any hints towards 2 and a villain?

 

[the greenman]

Spider-Man in the MCU is okay, but I'm not in love with it either. And to call this a John Hughes film is a false reception. Hughes pulled alot of emotion from his characters; this film didn't.

Pros:
Spidey being funny, but still not enough for my taste. I think they could use a narration for Peter.

The ties with villains to his personal life. Toomes as Liz dad surpised me, but it did ferl kinda weird and possibly forced. Harkens back to comics and first film.

Ned, Betty Brant, Liz (though wasted now), Flash, and Michelle were good background characters.

Cons:

The villains were typically kinda lame with the exception of Toomes. Alot of that is on directors. I don't know why modern films don't have colorful characters, ugh, can't complain too much.

I don't know what it is about modern films and their over-realiance on music. I think one of my film teachers said the music video is to blame for this phenomenon.

I really don't care for Tomei as Aunt May.







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[reflection01]

Overall I enjoyed but there was certainly one thing that really bugged me.


Now I saw this coming a mile away but they seriously wrote themselves into a corner with this thing of Spiderman as an Avenger. Having him decide to be a street hero was pretty unsatisfying, what is he going to go back to helping old ladies for churros. If its because his high school life is so much better I don't really see that either aside from his friendship with Ned what is really so great about him being a student. Couldn't he help more people as a full-time Avengers after all with great power comes great responsibility and denying it like that is well stupid? They made it pretty clear the guy really can't do much, especially now that the vulture is out of the way. The Scorpion thing doesn't even make a lot of sense why would he go after Spiderman at all. I would really prefer it the next Spiderman movie just brought in Daredevil and Kingpin instead but that's probably not going to happen. I don't know I think Luke Cage is probably in jail at this point, Daredevil is blind so he probably couldn't see a giant explosion but would make the most sense, Jessica Jones has her own work cut out for her and Iron Fist just sucks at what he does so he doesn't matter.

Man, it's going to be hard placing these Spiderman movies in a timeline when compared to the TV shows.

Gwenith Paltrow showing up was pretty pointless, they just went from broken up to engaged just like that, also weird how Zendaya got lower billing then her. I don't know maybe Paltrow needs money for lawyers over her fraudulent products.

REALLY did not care for all the tech in Spidey's suit if I wanted to watch a superhero with gadgets I'd watch Iron Man, seeing another hero attempt it is, well boring.

Things I liked included a diverse cast since hey New York usually doesn't have just a slew of white people, Aunt May finding out Spiderman is Peter, going the Ultimates route with MJ being a hipster, and the twist with Liz being vultures daughter, who apparently has her mother's last name or something, that was kind of weird.

I just assumed Liz' mom remarried at some point.

I loved how well Stark and Peter both reflected their need for a father figure without beating us over the head with it.

The post fight scene with Peter just sitting was him realizing the enormity of the situation. I think he also realized the need for a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. To me the end scene was like a talented college basketball freshman deciding not to go to the NBA. He needed more seasoning and wasn't ready to make the leap.

More thoughts. Clearly Glover wasn't just there as a cameo due to the ASM fan casting. He's there for the Miles Morales set up in the third film. We may see Peter in the role of mentor by the time the fourth film rolls around.

I thought the Sinister Six set up was good. Neighborhood villains want the neighborhood hero to go down.

I don't think Spider-Man gets in the way of Netflix heroes. They operate in Manhattan. Spidey has the boroughs.

 

[Gold Guy]

Should I stay or should I go? And what about the credits? Any hints towards 2 and a villain?

So there are two end credit scenes.

The first foreshadows things for a sequel. The second is more of a fluff one - I won't spoil it, but it's basically dividing people online. You either find it clever, or infuriating.

 

[Yojimbo]

I was surprised that I totally loved this movie more than GoTG Vol 2 and is the best Spider-Man movie of all time, imo.

Gripes
-I still don't get who Michelle is from the comics. It's not MJ Watson. Felt like they were jerking us off and the 'Call me MJ' was a slap in the face.
-Ultra geek moment, but I was disappointed they got the '8 years later' wrong. I guess 7.4 would look kind of weird on screen.
-I was hoping it would end with Peter making his own suit based on the look of the main tech suit he had in the movie.
-Didn't care for Liz using her mom's maiden name for whatever reason. Or them leaving for Oregon even if it was to avoid the press from Adrian's trial.

One I was on the fence about, I was left really curious to learn more about the Department of Damage Control but understand they couldn't reveal too much more without diverging from Spidey. Was also on the fence about Flash Thompson. Instead of a jock bully, they made him into a rich brat troll.

A total relief that the abundance of Tony in advertising was just for marketing and he was hardly in the movie itself but still had the impact and not just a tacked on guest star.

Loved the John Huges tone and how it was really a New York movie. Could really feel it was Queens with great attention to detail like how the car alarm got set off and how the neighbors reacted then how Stan asked the other neighbor how her mom was. Or the sandwich guy. Even Aunt May.

I have to agree this one trumped GoTG Vol. 2 and how the jokes landed way better. The restroom scene with Happy at the end, lmao. Michelle was more funny than the credits led us to believe.

I liked the blue collar, street level villains. Keaton killed it. I'm glad he didn't die and Spider-Man tried to save him then saved him from the wreckage.

Loved all the little easter egg references to the MCU. They were done well enough they didn't get in the way of the movie itself. Like Principal Morita being a relative of Jim Morita.

I loved they were able to add-in/advance a few points in the MCU like the quiet end of the Avengers Tower and explaining the New Avengers Facility in upstate is the new main HQ. Even seeding a few things like Iron Man was working on a new shield for Cap, or there is a new Spidey tech suit waiting in the HQ, Pepper and Tony being on better terms. Even the fact that Tony recognized he wanted Peter to be better than him rather than be him.

The first teaser I thought they're totally setting up

Spoiler

Kraven since Garan mentioned a guy he knows that wants to take Spider-Man's head.

Second teaser, I loved it because it was so meta.

 

[hobbyfan]

Meh. Better than the Garfield Spideys, but that ain't sayin' much. We get the jokey, reckless Spidey of the Silver Age transposed into the 21st century, but he's too much of a Inspector Clouseau in tights, so much more of a klutz.

The by-play between Toomes & Peter sounds like a call-back to the psych games between, ironically enough, Batman & the Joker nearly 30 years ago, but Keaton as the bad guy this time. Adrian Toomes has always been a noble sort, just warped by the frustration of having something pulled out from under him.

Ned comes across as a typical Disney Channel teen-com sidekick. Please. We'll see this kid on a Disney Channel sitcom soon enough, if not already.

Marisa Tomei is still hot after all these years. Period. So she's not into Tony. Nice.

Anyone notice how Marble has suggested the time frame of these movies? This is supposed to be 8 years after "The Avengers"???

 

[Troy Troodon]

So... I just watched it; I'm mostly mixed about it, but I'm more inclined to actually not be very pleased with it. :/

 

[SweetShop209]

I'm not exactly a follower of cinematic universes, but I thought this movie, on its own, is pretty good. It's a return to form for our favorite web slinger.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

WARNING: Long fairly spoilery review ahead read at your own risk.

You know as much of a technical hit that Sony's Spider-Man 3 was, it was unfortunately a blunder in terms of technical movie making and reviews they've never really been able to recover from. See there was still suppose to be a Spider Man 4 after that with Sam Rammi and Tobey MacGuire. The problem was that after how many issues he had with the third one from what the studio and executives were trying to shove into it, Rammi was super insecure about how to go about the fourth one and took ages getting a draft together he would actually want to film. Too long for Sony since by that point the MCU had started in earnest and they had a limited window of when they could still churn out Spider-Man movies as the rights to the character depended on continuously being able to make films about it. Thus they rebooted the character and we got Amazing Spider Man series which though did decently well it's pretty clear in the age of MCU and even of Christopher Nolan's Batman movie it was a much lower priority for viewers. So Sony decided to try and rip off the MCU formula to try and get more people invested in their property and start making a bunch more Spider Man related movies including a Venom film, a Sinister Six spin off and many other ideas. The jumping board for this was Amazing Spider Man 2 which thought IMHO wasn't the worst movie it suffered major issues. And I was someone with a generally more positive out look as feedback and even box office from that movie dropped lower then any other Spider Man movie and though I guess in some sense not a flop, it was not a hit the way Sony needed to be. And pretty obvious their franchise again was damaged goods and just one of the many Sony failures that was honestly sort of draining the company of really any chance of a come back. And though they still had Spider Man they had really ebbed a lot of the character's marketability and their plans for their own universe got slimmer and slimmer as days went on.

Until of course the day came when Sony finally agreed to partner up with Marvel so the MCU could FINALLY be able to use the web head. Now technically Marvel Entertainment probably didn't need this deal as much as Sony did as obviously Marvel could take any of their other characters to turn into house hold names but Spider Man is still one of their top brands and Marvel likely wasn't going to take the chance of it sinking that much. Thus them actually agreeing to the deal that Sony could do the advertisements and even keep the profit of any of the solo Spider Man movies they came up with and still technically have the rights to other Spider Man related characters, thus why Sony is trying to relaunch their own cinematic universe though this time more in the vein of a deadpool "let's go for the fans who want an R that will likely make for cheaper but could still do well more edgy cinematic outings". What did Marvel get from this? Not only being able to put Spider Man in their other properties like Captain America or Avengers but also creative control of the films thus being able to incoperate them into the MCU. And having learned form the mistakes Sony made, Spider-Man was already introduced as a hero in his own right in Civil War without needing a "get bitten by a spider hears uncle Ben get shot and learns with great power comes great responsibility" and could just start as his own thing without the need to constantly cram in other characters or properties just to start his own cinematic universe, now that he's part of one. Which is why this movie has been getting such good buzz. Honestly the most a Spider Man movie has gotten since the second all the way back in 2004. So is that buzz warranted and is this the Spider Man movie all the fans have really been waiting for?

I would say so as there's only a couple of personal quibbles or annoyances I have with this one that I do feel sort of annoyed about.

Though yeah one thing I do feel annoyed about is honestly was Sony handling the promotion and marketing of the movie and saying what happens in it. As yeah contrary to what they said, they did over market and expose a lot of what was going to be in the movie long before it came out with the ads. There was NO need for the preview that showed Iron Man bailing Peter out and asking for the suit back. That would of had so much more impact if I didn't know that was happening, same with a lot of the stuff they talked about or mentioned or buzzed about claiming "oh no there's so much more in the movie." I mean yeah there is and a lot of it is good but it feels like a lot of stuff was spoiled and shown and spotlighted when it didn't really need to be. And some stuff they outright lied about. "Oh yeah Michele is totally just her own character with no relation to anyone else... but ha ha turns out she's also MJ". And yeah I guess she's not a Mary Jane Watson but why else call her MJ at the end hinting that yeah that's where they're going with the character? I guess it's not as bad as the studios promising "Benedict Cumberbtach is not playing Kahn in Star Trek Into Darkness" but I'm honestly sick of them out right trying to lie about it. Just either own it or be sly about it don't contradict what's going to happen. Though I guess really that's not a problem of the movie itself since yeah Sony may have their name and products all over the start of this movie but it is really a Marvel Studios picture so it's not like from what we know they really changed the actual content. And really my biggest problem with that is... I didn't really feel like there was a lot of splendid action scenes or amazing battles. Like any of the actual fight between the crooks or with Toomes's men or the Shocker and Vulture were... okay but there was no amazing stand out moment with them. Even Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 did that better and honestly that is like the one major thing I can say was a step down compared to the other Spider Man movies. Even the first Spider Man, outdated CG or not had some impressive climatic action scenes against the Goblin even bouncing along the balloons and then the second movie had that train scene and the third had bits with Peter vs Harry and then encountering the Sand Man in regular form and symboite form and the amazing series had well done scuffles with Lizard and Electro while here... it felt like there were less impactful and impressive action. Even the climax with the Vulture was more landing the plane and Peter trying to stop Toomes's from accidentally blowing himself up when they landed. I mean that's good from a character perspective but not really a good action piece in itself. I mean at least most of the action sans maybe the first Vulture encounter was easy to easy to and keep track of but again nothing that impressive. I guess if I also had another personal annoyance I find it weird this movie implies the battle of New York aka the major finale of Avengers was 8 years away. Granted it was over 5 years even by our time but... kind of thought our times were running parallel in the MCU. Then again GotG volume 2 apparently takes place right before Age of Ultron and Ant Man and other movies so there are differing times on these movies but again felt weird for this movie to have but again very personal issue really.

The rest of my feelings are overall very positive though as pretty much every other major point they handle better then the other Spider Man movies. Especially how they handle the villains. Yeah I guess there were technically three to five credited villains but all were in support of one. You just the Prowler who thought the advance gun usage was too much, the Tinkerer crafting the gadgets, the two Shockers as sort of a sub boss but yeah the main villain and the one we focus on was The Vulture. Who yeah works much more as a serious actual threat then any baddie we've gotten so far. He doesn't have some alter ego forcing him to be more villainous or some super diabolical could destroy the entire world plan or some personal vendetta that makes him do overly elaborate things or suddenly go from fawning over Spider Man to wanting to hate him or anything like that. Just pretty much a guy who got screwed over wanting to stick it back to society to make a living for his crew and his family and being forced to take more and more risks in order to keep in business but never going too overly well cartoony or just vile for the sake of vile about it. Hell I really like the scene where he realizes that Peter is Spider-Man and pretty much tells him "hey you saved my daughter once so I don't want to hurt you If I don't have to. But you mess with me again and I will do that" and feels intimating but understanding in a weird way at the same time. There's this code and feel to this guy that makes him respectable which is... odd because I always thought the Vulture was like one of the lamest villains in Spider Man's rogue gallery but give the guy a serious actor give him a script that perfectly makes you understand his motives and actually something that uses him well and you get this character. Honestly I don't know if we'll see him again in the MCU but I do hope so as I'd like to know what happened to the guy after being locked away especially if he's not going out of his way to sell out Spider Man at all. And I admit though I was spoiled on the fact he was someone's father I had thought it was Michele's though if I hadn't known at all man would that of been such an epic reveal seeing him as the father and having Peter tense up so much. But again he played the part well and honestly anytime you even thought he would do something lame or standard he flips it. Like when taking out the old Shocker actually accidentally as he just wanted to hit him with the Anti gravity gun or doing this whole "you and I are a lot alike" not to tempt Spider Man but to distract him so he could bury him with rubble and get away. Honestly just a really thought out villain. Hmmm maybe they will use him again since it seems the best villains like Loki and Zemo are being held as Marvel as further plans for them so maybe the same will hold true for this guy as well. But yeah everything really about him works and again feels like he had the right level of menace mixed with the right amount of sympathy to really feel like Peter saving him really matters not just in the "oh he's just the good guy who saves everyone" sort of arc.

And speaking of Peter I actually really liked what this movie did with him. I don't know if Tom Holland is my favorite take on the character as there is an edge with Spider-Man that MacGuire and Garfield got to showcase that made them really stand out, but he really worked with this movie. I'm honestly glad we didn't really get anything of the origin at all. It's mentioned and obviously Peter is tap dancing around telling Aunt May I'm sure because of what happened with Ben but no this just starts out with him being Spider Man. I remember a friend of mine ages ago when X-Men or Spider-Man first came out saying "oh they always have to have a villain and hero somehow acquire their powers at the same time just for dramatic irony in these sort of movies starting out" but I like how low key a lot of this is. Really if it wasn't Peter just sort of looking for more trouble to prove himself as an Avenger he wouldn't of likely found out about anything that was going on. And yeah that's an aspect that I'm glad was explored: we've had so many movies of Spider Man being the lone hero I like setting up now how he feels wanting to prove himself as a proper hero and being able to do more and how much he is seemingly sacrificing for that even if Tony Stark and co don't think he's ready or even should step up at all. And I'm also glad that yeah it was pointed out as sort of Tony's fault for Peter's action due to his own inability or not having the time to properly guide him so leaving him alone for so long and seemingly ignoring him making Spider Man want to rebel and prove himself. I think it's obvious Tony took him even if he somehow knew about other heroes for Civil War was because of how eager he would be to help out and seemingly not ask questions or look into anything due to being over eager and that sort of backfiring. As I like the arc of this Peter Parker wasn't learning "with great power comes great responsibility" as he obviously knows that but learning how there is more sort of grey morality in the world and his own personal limitations and when actually to strike out and prove himself. And though kind of predictable him turning down to be an Avenger it works for honestly his character arc especially knowing the power of secrets and how people finding that out could lead to trouble. Though thankfully in this case that doesn't mean villains going out personally to hold his friends and family in danger just him manning up to learn this. Also like his interactions with most everyone else in his supporting cast. I'm glad that though there is a bit of "Hot Aunt May" here it's more just her being helpful through Peter's teenage troubles and turmoils. Ned could of easily been really annoying but they make him exitable and wanting to be involved without being obnoxiously always around or overly a loser and pathetic and actually useful to feel warranted. I actually really liked Michele's sort of social recluse attitude and though stupid of them to have the Mary Jane thing do like her actually being happy to be part of a group at the end. Thankfully Flash wasn't used enough to be grating and his harassment which could of been over done (like if he actually followed up on that threat to Peter like lesser movies would have) that he felt enough of a jerk to not just be something that makes the audience groan anytime he comes as even the "P*nis Parker" is face it stuff a kid would do but wasn't in your face enough to be hateful. And though Liz isn't as engaging a romance as say Peter and Gwen from amazing there stuff works well as you get a sense of her actually being outgoing and kind and pushing herself a lot and actually liking Peter since he's also like that and seeing he's going through things so isn't too overly harsh when he disappoints her. So yeah all of that was good and honestly I do hope we see most of these guys in the sequel as well which I'm sure they're signed up for but they work well in viewing. So yeah good stuff from the cast and honestly it's also really nice to see a Spider-Man in a movie that for the most part always keeps his mask on. Yeah like a couple of times he drops it like with the rubble (which props to Holland's acting as he really nailed a scene I would of felt corny and cliché in a spider man work) or saving Toomes but those are the rare exception not the rule like we usually see in the climax of every Spider Man movie.

And yeah there was a lot of great comedy here. Honestly most of the movie made me laugh so I don't want to list every single joke but I'll list the ones that stand out the most; Peter doing a vlog style video of his trip to Germany and being impressed at how large his room is, the take Tony did of the vlog where Happy's phone went off in the background and then Happy actually glad not to carry Peter's stuff up, a lot of Michels's comments throughout the movie like admitting she doesn't have friends and not wanting to go in the Washington monument as it was built by slaves and drawing sad people in detention, the sandwitch shop guy saying Peter should stay in school so he doesn't end up like him, Spider Man actually taping the "Stolen bike if it's yours take it if not don't steal it" note after retrieving the stolen bike, the Stan Lee cameo actually having an interplay with a room mate (him just having one line wasn't honestly as funny as the two having a two line banter honestly), Peter noting the matinee'd having a crush on his aunt and saying he "louvers" her, Peter talking about his entrance in the party as Spider Man to try and make Flash look like a fool, Spider Man not having any web to shoot out of in the park and having to run through it (honestly I'm surprised it took... 6 movies to have that as a joke. Forget the "how does he never run out of web liner" the "how does he move around in areas that he can't just web to" feels like something that should be addressed more and glad it was here), the Prowler admitting he doesn't need an anti gravity gun for the hook up he needs, the Iron Man drone going in the river to get Spider Man and Tony being at some party on another country to talk with him, Ned wanting to be Peter's "guy in the chair" support system (is that a slam at the DC Arrowverse shows since I heard that kind of character appears a lot in those series) and Peter saying the spider that bit him is dead, Peter being accepted right away in the decatahalon tour, the suit's computer having a "kill in one blow" function that Peter wants to deactivate, Peter calling the computer Karen and her saying he should try making a move on Liz, him being stuck in the room for 37 minutes and just being driven mad, Spider Man trying to break through the window in what should be this impressive scene but it just not breaking, him being dragged down further after seemingly saving everyone from the elevator and being dragged further away before he could tell Liz who he is, the two students doing news (I know one of them is Betty Brant who is from the comics... is the other someone we should know form the comics at all?) always being so de-enthused even with reports of people nearly dying, Peter just running out of detention and the teacher just half trying to get him back, Michele flipping him off when he's about to go into the homecoming dance, Ned making an excuse of looking at porn when someone tries getting him out of the room and actually webbing a guy to help Peter out, Happy admitting he's been in the bathroom long enough to be creepy, Peter asking if the invitation was a test and Tony saying he passed it, actually seeing Pepper again (something else I was spoiled about but glad that yeah she is still in these movies and guess she got back together with Tony... eh whatever I'm just glad she isn't Jane Foster gone) and Happy suggesting showing the engagement ring to give them news and her deciding that wasn't good enough, May finding out Peter is Spider Man and her "what the f" reaction before the credits and yeah all of Captain America's little infomercial bits. I thought they spoiled the one he did but he had at least three including the post credits stinger so that's good.

So yeah solid stuff. Honestly though the action isn't the best the story and characters and comedy are all great and in terms of investment and least cringe or major holes this is by far the best Spider Man movie. Again some of the fights and maybe this not having a huge dramatic core do hurt it a smidge but it's still really solid and I can see why everyone loves it so much. And I'm pretty high on it as well. Not as much as some Marvel movies but honestly in terms of a "first" better then most really and still really solid overall.

 

[Greg91]

I thought it was pretty good and definitely more enjoyable than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. However, I still enjoyed Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 more. Homecoming was still a solid movie though.

Tom Holland and Michael Keaton were fantastic. I enjoyed Peter's struggles and enthusiasm though he screws up a lot, especially with Liz Allan. His character was compelling and endearing. He felt like a person you wanted to root for, unlike Peter in ASM2 for me.

The Vulture continues this year's particularly strong line-up of MCU villains, following Ego. His grounded and somewhat justified reason for making the choices he made worked very well. As for the other villains, I just wish Shocker wore his costume. It looks like Hela will wrap up the year on an amazing note for 2017's MCU villains.

I felt like Aunt May was underused, Liz Allan was a really solid character and Ned was a pretty good though a little talkative. Michelle felt unnecessary at times and mildly humorous as well.

Happy and Tony had really solid and enjoy roles in the movie, including Tony's talk with Peter after the ferry accident and Happy at the school. Iron Man's new suit looked really great.

A couple more nitpicks include Betty Brant being a teenager while looking like Gwen Stacy, the 8 year timeline from Avengers to Spider-Man Homecoming, somewhat maniac fight scenes and the jokey post-credit scenes. Overall, solid stuff.

 

[Yojimbo]

Looked at the gap btw Avengers and Homecoming more closely and it's worse than I remembered. They were wrong by 4 years. Someone forgot it's at that point where the release dates of the movies are no longer the same as the in-universe date of said movie.

In-universe: Avengers was in early May 2012.

The two GoTG take place in 2014.

Age of Ultron was Spring 2015

Ant-Man was July 2015

Civil War was from May to June 2016.

Homecoming was from August to September 2016.

 

[Ed Liu]

Caught this over the weekend, and enjoyed myself even if I felt way more often than not that the trailer gave away all the big plot beats. Regardless of how I felt about GotG2, I was more surprised than not even after watching all the trailers and stuff. In "Homecoming," I was constantly feeling like my guesses about the overall plot of the movie were just being validated.

I have to admit I'm not much of a fan of the running "Aunt May is Hot" gag. Not that Marisa Tomei isn't hot, or that I didn't love her as Aunt May. I just thought the way it was handled was more reductive of her than it needed to be.

I'm mixed on the super high-tech Spidey suit. I think it's a bit of flair that the character doesn't really need, even if the movie finds good ways to use it. Jennifer Connelly is wonderful as Karen/Suit Lady, though.

Classic reference to Spidey overcoming adversity when the Vulture drops a building on him is classic.

Speaking of, as much as I loved Michael Keaton's performance as Toomes, one of my favorite things about him is how they incorporated that weird furry frill on the original costume as fringe on his aviator jacket.

Also loved the link between Principal Morita and Jim Morita the Howling Commando. At first I thought it was just a reference to the 442RCT (which already earned big brownie points with me), but it got better when I realized who the actor was and what his character's name was.

I suspect I won't win friends by saying I'd be totally OK with it if Michelle/MJ turned into this Peter Parker's MJ Watson. Functionally, she's a character who puts up a false front to hide her own vulnerability, and who "gets" Peter Parker in ways that he doesn't even himself. She's the one who can not only see through his deceptions (good-intentioned and not) or rationalizations, but has the ability to call him on them in ways that even someone like Aunt May can't. The movie sure seems to be setting her up for that kind of role in Peter's life, even if she's not the vivacious white redhead party girl from the comics.