The Plot

Peter Parker adapts to life back at home in New York after his recent brush with the Avengers. Under Tony Stark’s mentorship he explores his new suit and amazing powers whilst struggling with typical teenage dramas. When a deadly new enemy appears Peter has to learn quickly what it really takes to be a superhero.

The Good

Comic fans will welcome the return of one of the most enduringly popular heroes in a fun and colourful adventure that sit closer to the original spirit of the comics than perhaps the darker Andrew Garfield version. In particular joining the combined Marvel universe is a big and exciting step for the franchise. Which yield the immediate benefit of allowing Robert Downey Jr to lend his swaggering ego/charm to the film. Building upon the playful chemistry established between the billionaire Avenger and wide eyed teenager in Civil War.

The ‘new’ Spider-Man suit is perhaps the closest yet to the iconic comic book design. This will be welcomed especially by more devoted comic book fans for whom such details matter almost above all else. Faithfulness such as this may also soften the blow of some of the new film’s more significant changes. Such as turning elderly Aunt May into a more youthfully attractive Marisa Tomei.

Michael Keaton continues his amazing career resurgence playing The Vulture. Keaton’s flare for wild eyed intensity and gravel voiced gravitas is a perfect fit for the role, making him genuinely dramatic and menacing by equal turn. It’s a huge asset for the film which offers audiences originality in action sequences and storytelling.

Overall the comedic tone and well-polished effects work makes this latest Spider-Man imagining an easy watch for faithful fans and younger audiences learning to love the character for the first time.

The Bad

Spider-Man Homecoming marks the third reboot for the web slinging hero in barely ten years. While Toby Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s versions both had their flaws they are still very familiar and much beloved by many fans. While Marvel clearly relishes having a guiding hand in the franchise at last, in truth the five previous Spider-Man films have narrowed the available territory for the new series. As a result most of Spider-Man’s familiar villains couldn’t be reused so quickly. While the film and Michael Keaton does a great job at turning one of the comic’s least plausible character The Vulture into something believably menacing, it’s hard to ignore noticing the absence of more familiar threats.

Likewise faced with the awkward reality of having to rehash Spider-Man’s origin story yet again the film simply chooses to avoid that obligation entirely. There’s no flashback scene explaining the origin of Peter’s amazing abilities and no lectures from Uncle Ben about great power and responsibility.

No doubt many audiences may be relieved to bypass this apparently redundant storytelling and merely to proceed on the basis that by now everyone knows who Spider-Man is and how he became the web crawling hero. Unfortunately though it means that this ‘new’ Spider-Man has no clear identity. Basic questions about his origin remain entirely unanswered, which feels even stranger after an entire standalone film than it did after his rushed introduction in Captain America Civil War.

Tom Holland is the most legitimately adolescent actor yet to be given the chance to play Peter Parker. While the young brit does a good job at mastering the American accent and Spidey’s glib wit, he treads a fine line. At times he threatens to be even more breathless and smug than Andrew Garfield was. The problem with making Peter Parker an actual tween is that you’re left with an occasionally immature superhero who’s still finding his feet.

The Ugly truth

Spider-Man Homecoming benefits from the sensible guiding hand of Marvel studios, allowing Sony to finally deliver a big screen version which integrates into the existing Marvel cinematic universe. Though the film gets much right and succeeds in distancing itself from the five previous films some of those changes will yet again be divisive for fans and leave them wondering why Spidey needed to be rebooted again so soon.