Director: Jon Watts
Notable Cast: Tom
Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey, Jr, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya,
Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Donald Glover, Gwyneth Paltrow,
Chris Evans
Third time’s a charm right? As the third version of Spider-Man that mainstream audiences
have seen in recent memory (with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man being one of the films to truly kick off the box office
obsession with superhero films back in 2002), Spider-Man: Homecoming had a lot of things that could have gone
horrifically wrong with it. Could is meld the Sony and Disney/Marvel production
concepts? Would audiences accept another new cast and “soft reboot” of the hero
when both of the previous incarnations crashed and burned with fans and critics
in some weird ways? Yet, as surprisingly unsurprising as it is, Homecoming not only looks to dominate
the box office, but it’s a remarkably good Spider-Man
film that strikes a great balance and manages to fix so many of the issues that
were bogging down the last series of films. It’s light-hearted, fun, and
ultimately stripped down of the melodramatic densities that this figure had accrued
over the last decade and a half. Enough so that it, even compared to other MCU
properties, seems a bit refreshing if not occasionally too consumable. With a
few flaws in tow, it’s hard not to appreciate the execution and intent of Homecoming for what it is and how it
succeeds in that manner.