Spider-Man: Homecoming English Movie

Feature Film | 2017 | UA | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Critics:
Audience:
Spider-Man: Homecoming is a film that dazzles more as a character study than an entertaining superhero story.
Jul 7, 2017 By Vighnesh Menon


Marvel''s Captain America: Civil War may have been about Captain America and Iron Man having a go at each other. But, for quite a few fans, the real stars of the star-studded line-up of superheroes were newcomers Black Panther(Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man(Tom Holland). The latter stars in the cinematic universe's second film of the year(after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2), Spider-Man: Homecoming and steals the show yet again.


Director and co-writer Jon Watts knows the ways in which his central character has been interpreted in previous installments. So, instead of bringing us another redundant origin story, he takes us straight into Spider-Man's private life, as Peter Parker. Watts and his team of five screenwriters keep an archaic coming-of-age story centre-stage and let the superhero tropes play second fiddle,


The 15-year-old superhero is played with child-like enthusiasm and inanity by Holland. He pays full justice to the scenario of an awkward school kid attempting to juggle academics, super-powers and crime-fighting. Unlike the other superheroes, the Spider-boy is yet to understand the famous line, "with great power comes great responsibility". It is Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man(Robert Downey Jr.) who acts as his mentor. Not surprising, since nobody else could teach the repercussions of recklessness better than him. And when Peter matures as a superhero, both Tony and the viewers see it safe to consider the teen a part of the elite club of Avengers.


All the same, Spider-Man: Homecoming's script endures many a hiccup. Even here, Marvel is in no mood to cure its "weak-villain syndrome". Apart from his own naivete, Spidey has to encounter an antagonist in Vulture a.k.a. Adrian Toomes(Michael Keaton). Now, the character of Vulture has flashes of depth. He is motivated by how larger-than-life superheroes have overbearing control and superiority on the common man. So, he sets out to prove these new power relations wrong. Unfortunately, we don't see too much of that as the film gets caught up with Spidey's character and explosive action. Keaton's measured performance makes Vulture more imposing than it was meant to be. But, that does not hide Marvel's habitual failure to conceive notable antagonists.


Additionally, scenes of tension and thrills are few and far between. Spider-Man: Homecoming is painfully predictable and cannot stand out from the rest of the MCU films, thanks to its aversion for creative risks. The fact that we have had three versions of the masked hero in under two decades goes against the film and its conformity. Eventually, we realize that this iteration is one of many examples of Marvel cleverly tweaking its stern form and playing safe. Nothing more, nothing less.


Vighnesh Menon

   

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