Welcome to my second movie review ever! I can't believe Spider-Man: Homecoming has already been out for a month, and it is one of my favorite Marvel movies ever. It did so many things right, such as casting people of color as the supporting characters, and casting an actual age-appropriate Spider-Man. Let's get into it!
I once saw someone who compared the MCU to that ex you swear you're done with but respond to instantly whenever they text, and I'm still not over how accurate it is. Disney and Marvel have fucked up several times by allowing Joss Whedon's sexist ass to direct Avengers movies, and of course, with the whole Dr. Strange whitewashing scandal. But with genuinely good content such as GOTG 2 and Spidey: HC (I'll be abbreviating it that way from here on out) recently released, and a slate of upcoming movies with diverse casts and interesting storylines such as Thor 3 and Black Panther, the MCU seems to be looking up for the better.
Let's break it down: Ever since the events of CA:CW, Peter Parker has been itching to go on another official Avengers mission. Desperately wanting to impress Tony Stark, Peter stumbles upon an issue bigger than he can resolve on his own. Marvel movie plots and villains are always pretty generic, and this one continues the pattern (one exception: the plot twist of the antagonist being Liz's father was pretty cool). But despite this, Spidey: HC ends up being fast paced, hilarious, and simply fun.
Why is that, you may ask? What makes this movie so special? First off, Peter is a wonderful protagonist. He's easy to sympathize with, especially since Tom Holland is a fantastic actor who has genuine chemistry with his co-stars. Spidey: HC really makes the effort to differentiate between the mask and the kid, compared to the previous installments - we see his school activities and "extracurricular" ones pretty equally. That's the thing the audience tends to forget - the all-powerful Spider-Man is just a 15 year old. A minor. A student in band, robotics club, and the academic decathlon. A sophomore who just wants to maintain his grades so he can go to a good university (Cue war flashbacks to the nightmare that was my junior year). Peter's childlike innocence shines through, and I'm really excited to see his future emotional development, when he starts to realize that being a superhero isn't as exciting as it seems. We get a little bit of that in Spidey: HC, even - if the scene in which Peter realizes only he can save himself, persevering to successfully lift an entire building off his back didn't make you cry, then I can only assume you are heartless.
It's refreshing to see Peter struggle with actual teenager issues, and it raises the stakes for future missions. Seriously, seeing Peter leave his family and friends to fight during Infinity War is actually going to kill me.
Secondly, all the supporting characters, who are mostly students, are well-written and interesting; what's even better is that every student is intelligent, given that they go to a school of science and technology. We have not one, but two smart black women mains, which is more than in....all the MCU movies combined. (Sad.) Liz and Michelle "MJ" have distinct personalities, and are lovable in their own way. As the leader of several student clubs, Liz won't let anything get in the way of her ambitions, and I loved how her popularity didn't get in the way of her kindness. MJ, on the other hand, is a quiet loner, using sarcasm to hide her desire to fit in. She's a literal genius, and I can't wait for her and Peter to fall in love in the sequels. PeterMJ is the dream, and Tomdaya have so much chemistry.
There's also Flash and Ned, who play very different roles in Peter's life. Ned is my chubby Filipino son, and I would die for him. As the "guy in the chair", he always has Peter's back. No, seriously - in one of the movie's most iconic scenes, Ned lies and says he's watching porn to protect Peter's identity. Peter and Ned's
One of the most surprising parts of Spidey: HC is that Tony Stark doesn't overshadow Peter's arc. In fact, he's not even half bad in the movie. I still haven't forgiven him for selfishly recruiting a minor into battle, but he sort of redeems himself by being a semi-decent mentor to Peter. "If you're nothing without the suit, you shouldn't have it," Tony chastises Peter, wanting him to learn from his own mistakes. But best of all, he's back with Pepper!! Pepperony is one of my favorite (and only) canon MCU ships, and I missed Pepper so much.
Something I didn't appreciate, however, were the plot holes. I know, I know, it's not that deep, but it bothered me a lot that Peter could join the academic decathlon team at nationals at the last minute. Out-of state school trips are a hassle, okay? You can't just decide to go whenever you want to. You need permission slips and medical forms and guardian approval, and Peter had none of that. Also, he randomly goes missing during the actual competition, and nobody panics? UNREALISTIC!!!!!!
Regardless, Spider-Man: Homecoming is one of the summer's best blockbusters, and I encourage everyone, even non-superhero fans, to give it a try. Marvel broke me with the disaster that is CA:CW, but it's slowly gaining back my trust. Bonus: it even gives Maryland, my home state, a special shoutout!!!! We rock.
See you next time! Oh, and stick around for the post-credit scene. It's definitely worth it.
Movie Rating: 8.8
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