Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Review

Spider-Man: Homecoming Review

Director: Jon Watts 

Story Writers: Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley

Screenwriters: Jonathan Goldstein, Joh Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers (Jeez, that's a lot of John's and Chris's)

Producers: Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal 

Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, and Robert Downey Jr.

Composer: Michael Giacchino

Cinematographer: Salvatore Totino

Editors: Dan Lebental and Debbie Berman

Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, and Pascal Pictures

Part I: Introduction

I wasn't that excited for Spider-Man: Homecoming to be honest. The earlier Amazing Spider-Man films weren't great, and I was even less excited because of the trailers. I think the trailers kinda spoiled a bit too much for my liking and I thought going to this movie was going to be ruined due to the trailers. So, is this new Spider-Man movie good? Actually, yes.

Part II: Plot Synopsis

Set two months after Civil War, Peter Parker a.k.a Spider-Man wants to prove himself to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) that he is a worthy addition to the Avengers by finding and capturing the Vulture played by Michael Keaton.

Part III: Direction & Style

Direction
The direction for this movie is pretty standard for a Marvel film. You can tell the director just wants this to be a light toned entertaining film and Jon Watts accomplished that goal here.

The direction isn't anything special here but it works. I enjoyed how he handled Peter Parker and Spiderman as characters in this MCU version.

Style
Again, the style here is light and exuberance. Because of it, this movie is fun to watch. There's a lot of funny quips thrown here like the typical standard Marvel movie.

Part IV: Visual Presentation

Cinematography & Framing
The framing and visual techniques used here were actually above average compared to the standard Marvel film. It doesn't really look impressive other than the visual effects and CGI but I will consider the cinematography noteworthy here because there were some shots that I did like.

Camerawork
The camerawork and the action scenes were fine. I didn't see anything special in how the action scenes were shot, but action in itself did keep me entertained for the most part. There was actually one scene I didn't like. I won't spoil it but it was so flashy that it bothered my eyes a little. You'll notice it when you see it.

Acting
I think Tom Holland delivered a solid performance as Spider-Man. Obviously, it's not some Oscar-worthy performance. I didn't come to this movie expecting Tom Holland to grab an Academy Awards nomination, but in terms of the portrayal of Peter Parker, Tom Holland does well here in my opinion.

Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as Iron Man as he is always.

Michael Keaton is also perfect as the Vulture because he's always playing bird-related character (Batman, Birdman, and Vulture). I know Bats aren't really birds, but you get the point.

Everybody else does an okay job portraying their characters.

Editing
The editing was okay. I think the first act could have been done better in terms of making the movie flow more. The action scenes were edited fine. I didn't notice any glaring editing issues.

Visual Effects
The visual effects are great as usual from Marvel. Again, that one flashy scene I mentioned was the only scene I didn't like.

Part V: Sound Design and Musical Composition

Sound Design 

The sound design is pretty solid here. Nothing much to say about the sound design other than it's solid.

Score

 The score doesn't sound bad, but the soundtrack here doesn't stand out. Marvel never really focuses on musical composition and it kinda bothers me that they don't. Michael Giacchino is one of my favorite musical composers for film but, this time, it doesn't really deliver that musical punch I look for when I listen to Giacchino's scores. The score is just "okay". 

Part VI: Screenwriting & Character Composition

Script & Screenwriting

The movie has a well-made script when we look at it from a comedic perspective. Like I said, the movie delivers some funny gags and quips that make it entertaining to sit through. It delivers a lot of quips but not so much that it felt like Age of Ultron where they just throw a bunch of quips left and right every 5 seconds. From a storytelling standpoint, it's a decent script. It has okay storytelling, but I liked the movie's uprising story (kinda like the Sam Raimi trilogy) and it borrows some of the same magic that was present in the Sam Raimi trilogy.

I do have some problems with how the movie clarifies Spider-Man's powers, especially Spider sense. His natural powers are vaguely defined. There are parts where he should sense an incoming attack but he doesn't react, and there are other parts where he does react. It's inconsistent.

I do also have a problem with the movie not maintaining a sense of tension throughout its scenes (except this one reveal that happened towards the end of the movie). A lot of the time, it feels like Marvel is just playing it safe and doesn't do anything to shock the audience. Every time there's a scene where there's an opportunity to build up tension, it gets held down by throwing in a random joke in there. Except for that one reveal I mentioned, there's nothing in the movie that made me have a sense that there are stakes. That is the thing that I felt most disappointed by. 

Character Composition

The character composition, in my opinion, is good here. I liked the dynamic between Tony Stark and Peter Parker that resembles a father-son dynamic.

The movie does a good job giving the right balance and a sense of duality between Peter Parker's normal life and his superhero life (like how it was shown in the Sam Raimi trilogy).

The villain, in my opinion, is pretty good compared to other MCU villains. This villain is better set-up than most Marvel villains and I'll give Marvel credit for that. For the longest, their biggest weakness to their films was always their villains and how poorly developed they were. The villain doesn't suck this time. This time, he has motivation and you can see why he does the things he does.

Pacing

I think the film's pacing was fine.....when it was at the second act and all the way through. I wasn't very impressed with the first act though. I think some things could have been changed in the first maybe 30-50 minutes of the movie to make it a bit more exciting. 

Part VII: Verdict & Conclusion

This movie is kinda better than I expected. It's not better than Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 because Spider-Man 2 was a masterpiece, but it's most certainly better than The Amazing Spider-Man movies and it's way better than Spider-Man 3. I consider it #5 of my Top 5 MCU movies now. It's no Logan, but it's better than I think it could have been. Yes, it still follows a lot of the same Marvel movie formula but I think this movie kinda adds to that formula a bit by doing a bit of unique things with it and delivers some quality in the movie, which in return doesn't make it very shallow compared to other MCU movies.

Score: B+