Spider-Man: Homecoming was great! Hilarious, energetic, with great characters, swell actors and some awesome superheroic action. It’s very reassuring to have a great Spider-Man move in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He was wonderful in his introductory cameo in Captain America: Civil War. And I’m quite pleased to say that Marvel has continued that magic with a feature film.

Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I want to go see the movie in theaters again before it’s gone, though this month is jam-packed with movies. War for the Planet of the Apes, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, The Big Sick, Dunkirk; it’s a great month for movies! But I’ll try to squeeze in a bit more Spider-Man: Homecoming. It was just that damn good and fun.

Join me after the jump for my thoughts/review of Spider-Man: Homecoming! Expect full SPOILERS, so be careful!

6. It was a great Spider-Man movie!

He doesn’t belong in the sewer!

Quite simply, this was a great Spider-Man movie, and another great Marvel superhero movie. I’d definitely rank it among the highest echelons of Marvel movies. It’s hilarious throughout. I laughed out loud numerous times, both from witty dialogue to comedy bits to physical humor. This movie might as well have been a comedy. It was also an exciting character story, with the focus largely on Peter Parker’s maturation as a hero. Beyond that, the action was great, the Spidey adventures were great and the high school stuff was great. I don’t have any real complaints about the movie itself. It was a total blast to watch in theaters, and I’m thinking of seeing it again, just to experience it again on the big screen.

5. SONY needs to stop their nonsense

None of this!

SONY needs to cancel all plans for a Venom movie or this Black Cat/Silver Sable nonsense they keep spewing about. The last time SONY got all big for their britches and tried to make a Spider-Man Universe, they got smacked down so badly that they limped over to Marvel and asked for their help. Now that Marvel has gotten the world excited for Spider-Man movies again, SONY thinks they can go back to work on their original plans. This needs to stop. They’re not fooling anyone. Nobody wants what they’re putting out.

4. Give me the Scorpion!

Perfect casting!

Actor Michael Mando was awesome in his small cameo as Mac Gargan, the future Scorpion! Unfortunately, I was spoiled ahead of time of his arrival, but I thought he was great, especially in the mid-credits teaser at the end. He’s menacing, cool and should look even better in a giant, green mechanical scorpion costume. Mando is already superb on Better Call Saul, so I’m excited to see him as my all-time favorite Spider-Man villain.

Unless they make him Ultimate Scorpion, and not the good Ultimate Scorpion, but the random, new Ultimate Scorpion created to fight Miles Morales. Does anybody even remember this guy? He was just a normal, ordinary crime boss. But like Mando in the movie, Maximus Gargan was Hispanic, covered in tattoos and had a connection to Ultimate Prowler, who was played in Homecoming by Donald Glover. The only thing Scorpion about this guy was some gnarly chain he carried around. This would make for a lame villain.

Horrible character!

Unless they combine the two. As long as we get the rad scorpion costume with the mechanical tail, then I’ll be good. There’s nothing about 616 Mac Gargan’s origin or backstory that I wouldn’t mind replacing if the sequel writers have some better ideas.

3. Stellar casting all around

Spider-Man is like James Bond

Everybody was awesome in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Tom Holland is pitch perfect as both the down-on-his-luck Peter Parker and the quippy, down-on-his-luck Spider-Man. I never liked Tobey Maguire in either role. And while I was fine with Andrew Garfield, Holland’s performance shows us all just how Garfield was lacking. Tom Holland is effortless in the role and hugely entertaining.

Beyond Holland, Michael Keaton was, of course, fantastically chilling as Adrian Toomes. I loved everything about the revamp of the Vulture. The comic book Vulture is a silly old man in feathered long johns. Lame as hell. Movie Vulture is a working class guy who turned to crime to support his family and wears a personal fighter jet to get around. Bad ass! Plus, he’s just so chilling after figuring out Peter’s secret identity. And then even cooler when he refuses to rat out Parker to the other inmates in prison. Keaton nailed it.

So glad he’s still alive in the end

And all the supporting characters were great too! Ned Leeds was great as the best friend. Liz Allen was solid as the love interest. I even liked this nerdier Flash Thompson. Zendaya’s Michele was a little dull and a little too forced, but thankfully, Marvel has confirmed that their ‘MJ’ twist at the end does not mean she’s Mary Jane Watson. They were just being cute. That makes Michele a little easier to stand. Marisa Tomei makes a great, relatable, younger Aunt May. Tony Stark and Happy Hogan were a perfect one-two punch of reliable/flaky superhero mentors.

The only character I could have used more of was Bokeem Woodbine as the Shocker.

Needs more Shocker!

Woodbine was amazing in the second season of Fargo, and I was excited to see him as the Shocker, one of my favorite Spidey villains. . But he had a pretty small role, all things considered, had to share the Shocker name with some loser goon and didn’t even go full Shocker. Only one gauntlet? Yellow sleeves? C’mon! Go full Shocker!

2. Loved the subtle take on “Great Power/Great Responsibility”

We feel your pain, Pete!

I’ve seen some people or Internet articles complaining about the lack of the “With Great Power Must Also Come Great Responsibility” line, or the general lack of any mention of Uncle Ben.  I think it’s crazy that people are complaining about this. I was not bothered by the lack of either because I still thought the movie did a great job portraying the concept. We all know Spider-Man’s origin story at this point. Even non-comic book fans know the origin story. We absolutely didn’t need a retread of any of that. So I much preferred the way the movie handled it: by showing us that Spider-Man has to choose duty over personal gain instead of just spelling it out for us again.

When you open a new Spider-Man comic, do you need him to restate his guilt about Uncle Ben every single time?! Jeez louise, Internet people!

And I liked that Peter Parker didn’t even talk about his decisions out loud. He didn’t turn to the audience and tell them, “Oh no, I can’t pop into Liz’s party as Spider-Man, I have to go investigate that mysterious explosion because Uncle Ben taught me that blah blah blah.” Or at the homecoming dance, when he just walks right up to Liz and tells her he has to leave immediately. Just knowing that the Vulture is going to strike that night is enough to force Peter out of the dance, away from the girl and into costume. He doesn’t just call the cops, he doesn’t just call Iron Man. He puts himself into harm’s way, despite the direct threats against his life and his loved ones.

I can’t be the only one who wanted Peter Parker to enjoy his dance and have a quality night with Liz. But that’s not how Spider-Man works. That’s not how the very core of the character works. When he knows there’s trouble/danger, and he knows he can do something about it, he has to go be Spider-Man. That’s his tragedy. That’s why he’s so damn good.

And I’m glad that the screenwriters and director didn’t feel the need to spoon feed this to the audience. We understood. We felt that pain.

1. Not very memorable

Don’t let it get you down

This is going to be an odd nitpick, and I’m not entirely sure I can even explain it. I loved the movie, don’t get me wrong. But after it was over, I felt that…it wasn’t very memorable. There were no really amazing scenes that stuck with me. I was never very emotionally invested, either with excitement or tortured sorrow. There were no really amazing lines or gags or zingers. There were no moments of over-the-top action. It was all just a perfectly fine, hugely entertaining Spider-Man adventure. But I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s the sixth Spider-Man film, or if it’s due to the Marvel template or what, but I just don’t feel like the movie was anything super special or anything that will really stick with me.

But I suppose that’s what the sequel’s for! All my favorite Spider-Man memories — be it movie moments or video game love — come from the original Spider-Man 2!

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What were your thoughts on Spider-Man: Homecoming? Did you love it? Hate it? Accept it? Any favorite moments or characters? Let me know in the comments!

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