By Travis Johnson
Spider-Man being Marvel’s flagship character, it’s been bittersweet seeing the ol’ webhead in the hands of other screen creators, especially given the precipitous drop-off in quality after Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. Whatever boardroom voodoo yielded the unprecedented deal between rights-holders Sony and the House of Ideas is a mystery for the ages, but one thing is clear: Spider-Man: Homecoming needs to really knock it out of the park. By the looks of things here, that’s exactly what they’ve done.
There’s a lot to dig into here. While including RDJ’s Tony Stark might seem like they’re hedging their bets, his presence works to both connect Spidey to the larger Marvel universe and to reinforce some of the deeper themes – that “If you’re nothing without the suit…” line speaks volumes. Michael Keaton’s Vulture is shaping up to be a great villain – although, to be far, the bar is pretty low at Marvel – and the former Batman certainly brings an excess of menace to the role. But it’s Tom Holland’s nascent hero that really brings it. High school Spidey is the best Spidey, after all, and Holland’s performance, along with Jon Watt’s lithe direction, captures that mix of conflicting drives and emotions: yearning, joy, doubt, responsibility – great responsibility, even. Yes, we all lost our minds when Spider-Man turned up in Civil War, but this outing will prove whether Holland’s webslinger is one for the ages. T certainly looks promising so far.
Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Donald Glover, Tyne Daily, Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jnr, Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into Australian cinemas from July 7.
