After five films of the friendly neighbor arachnid, Sony finally arranged with Marvel for Peter Parker to join the other heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is how a movie directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland emerged, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a totally different adaptation from what had been seen in previous years.
This movie is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Homecoming features a fifteen-year-old Peter Parker who is in high school and has been under Spider-Man's mantle for a while. Due to his little experience as a hero, Tony Stark becomes his mentor and savior when things get out of hand.
This adaptation of Spider-Man differs from the others because its director, Jon Watts, wanted to propose a realistic Peter and adapted to these modern times, with the concerns that adolescents plague: school, popularity and relationships with women. . The film moves away from the dramatic tone presented by the films prior to this one, making way for the joking Spider-Man, inexperienced, careless and influenced by the other heroes.
In order to present this new approach to the superhero, the decision was made to make way for new characters leaving behind the classics that appeared in other films, such as Harry and Norman Osborn, Gwen Stacy, J.J. Jameson, and of course the villains like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. In this way, Peter shares his adventures with his best friend Ned and a group of new characters under a different idea to break with the traditional direction that the movies of the arachnid had.
In this new path proposed by Jon Watts and Marvel Studios, Homecoming unfolds leaving aside the weight and moral drama explicitly implemented in other films to face the most urgent and real problems of a teenager, at the same time, who is learning how to be Spider -Man. Basically Homecoming gets the possibilities to continue developing the story of a young hero who is learning in each battle, while he must appear in classes and take courage to speak to the girl he likes.
Spider-Man Homecoming takes Miles Morales' Ultimate Spider-Man as a great point of reference, from his learning to become a hero, school oversights, to the participation and help of his great friend, who in Ned is quite evidence of the influence of that universe. In turn, there are many references and tributes to other MCU films that take place in this film, in addition to paying tribute to a classic Spider-Man comic.
Tom Holland achieves a good performance of an immature Spider-Man. His limitations, mistakes and doubts combined with a character's own sense of humor empower Holland, showing what the character's essence was like in its beginnings, without falling into the guilt and punishment of being a superhero. The actor carried the incredible weight of playing Spider-Man, but managed to do it well and with charisma; Robert Downey Jr's participation was fair, since he did not appear excessively, becoming a mentor and occasional companion.
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The villain,Vulture detaches himself from the inspirations he had, acquiring new ones in this adaptation such as family, honor and even a certain respect. Michael Keaton understands what it really means to play a character in superhero movies and, in this case, to be between both sides of the hero stories.
Spider-Man Homecoming entertains, amuses, and works in this new way of introducing the character, Peter's handling of humor, action, and conflict was accomplished very well with the new direction in which he is leading the character. May Parker went from being a frail old woman with health problems to being a much younger and independent woman, which is not bad but it didn't seem like a very good way to bring this character to life. However, in this new air that was wanted to give the character, they ignore an essential aspect for Peter's life, the death of Uncle Ben is omitted, but it was a positive thing since seeing his death twice was enough to show the story of the character.
Homecoming is a face lift to the character in the world of cinema, although I consider that it does not measure up to the first directed by Sam Raimi (at least narratively speaking). Skipping that point, Homecoming works the way it sets out to, introducing a Peter Parker to today's society while trying to save his city by being a good Spider-Man. A good movie that works its way and without major glitches.
