The Amazing . . .
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr.
Director: Jon Watts
The Plot: After his dramatic introduction in Civil War, 15 year-old Peter Parker (Holland) is desperate to prove that he's ready for Spider-Man to step up and join the Avengers. His mentor Tony Stark (Downey Jr.), on the other hand, doesn't think he's ready yet, and wants him to work his way up slowly. This proves difficult for Peter when he discovers that local businessman Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) is selling salvaged alien weapons to criminals, and becomes determined to stop him . . . all the while trying to keep his identity as Spider-Man a secret and figure out how to ask his crush on a date.
Review: "Homecoming" is a very apt subtitle for this film. Yes, it does contain a homecoming dance which Peter attends and significant events happen at it, but this is all about Spider-Man coming back to Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he belongs. It's a joint production with Sony, who retain the theatrical rights to the character, but from this point on all Spidey films will take place in the MCU with the full creative control of Marvel Studios, and when it produces films of this quality you realise why fans have been so excited for this. This is phenomenal.
(Spider-Man has always been my favourite superhero, so I was particularly thrilled back when the Sony/Marvel collaboration was announced in the run-up to Civil War. When I was a kid I had Spider-Man wallpaper, curtains, a duvet cover, you name it. It's pretty ironic considering I'm extremely arachnophobic and freak the fuck out whenever I see a spider.)
With no offence to the previous Spider-Man films, this is without a doubt the best depiction of the character we've had on the big screen. MS absolutely nails every aspect of Spidey here, but also seamlessly weaves him into the MCU as well. It just feels right, like he's been there all along and waiting for the right moment to emerge - something that works given the smart decision to not only make him a teenager, as he was in the comics when he first gained his powers, but to also do away with his origin story. Marvel knows that we, the audience, know it off by heart by now - we know what his powers are, we know how he got them, and we're comfortable with him being comfortable with them. While Peter has moments where he's endearingly clumsy, these, like the mentions of his origins, are few and far between. While the film has many spectacular action sequences, this is more about who he is, rather than what he can do.
It's impossible to talk about the character without talking about the performance from Tom Holland, who does a fantastic job and proves that he can carry an entire film. He doesn't just look the part (Holland is 21, but is convincingly fresh-faced enough to pass for 15) but captures the essence of Peter (and in turn, Spidey) perfectly - this is a teenage boy dealing with all the social problems that entails, who just so happens to have gained super powers. As Peter he's a quintessential nerd, enthralled by the tech of his new suit, low on the social chain (referred to as "Penis Parker" by Flash Thompson), and unsure how to approach his crush Liz. He's a local boy - with the exception of a brief excusion to Washington DC, the film takes place almost entirely in New York City, particularly Queens. As Spidey he's confident and wise-cracking, but not arrogant, which is important. We can sympathise with him when he does the one thing that Tony tells him not to, which is get involved with the big stuff. Peter, like most teenagers, feels like no-one is listening to him (literally, at some points) and when he sees a danger he feels he has the power to stop, he acts.
He's also very, very funny. The whole film is packed with jokes and gags, which is exactly the kind of tone we were looking for. A lot of them come from Peter's suit which, after he removes the "training wheels" restriction that Tony has installed, he discovers not only has much more tech built into it but also a fully-fledged A.I. which he christens Karen (after "Suit Lady"). His interactions with the suit are hilarious and verge on the adorable, as he begins to confide his feelings and worries to it as if it were a real person. This leads to one of the film's best jokes where, after saving Liz from a falling elevator, Peter (as Spidey) dangles upside-down in front of her. "This is your chance Peter," Karen the A.I. says in his ear. "Kiss her." It's incredibly funny and a nice little nod to the infamous kiss scene from 2002's Spider-Man.
A lot of the promotion of the film has focused on Iron Man's inclusion. Tony Stark has an important role to play in the film but he's used sparingly, and I for one was pleased with this approach, as his absence for notable chunks of the story further increases our sympathy with how Peter feels. Tony is not only his mentor and supplier of his amazing new suit, but he's also something of a father-figure to him (an extremely effective plot thread that I hope will be explored more in future films), so we get why Peter is so frustrated that the man who saw so much potential in him now wants him to play it safe and ignores his warnings about the danger Toomes presents. RDJ could play Tony Stark in his sleep these days, as he's made the role completely his own, but he's not phoning it in here at all. There's a particularly good scene which was used in the various trailers for the film where, after the attack on the ferry boat, Tony angrily dresses-down Peter and tells him "If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it." You get a real sense that behind the bravado of the character Tony genuinely cares about this kid, and he's speaking from experience - in the events of Iron Man 3 he had to prove it wasn't just his fabulous technology that makes him Iron Man.
No superhero film is complete without a good villain, and Michael Keaton knocks it out of the park as Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture, although I don't think I actually heard him referred to by that name once. In the comics Toomes was an elderly man whose motivation was to stay alive; this version is considerably younger and driven by an anger at those he sees as above him (the government, the Avengers) taking away his business and the ability to provide for his family. It's a believable anger, but one that proves to be flawed as, when he's revealed to be Liz's father (a very nice plot twist and way for Peter's identity as Spider-Man to be exposed), we know that his family are now living comfortably, so his claims that everything he's doing is for them are bullshit. It's become about power for him and sticking it to "The Man", and Keaton turns in a menacing performance that's left open for a return.
The supporting cast flesh out the film nicely. It's great to see Jon Favreau return as Happy Hogan, offering his trademark dry performance as Happy has now been assigned to monitor Peter for Tony, much to his chagrin. Jacob Batalon brings warmth and humour as Peter's best-friend Ned, who learns of Peter's identity as Spidey early on and is incapable of dealing with his excitement about it. Marisa Tomei, as Aunt May, is used sparingly in the film (like RDJ) but her rappor with Peter is obvious and the joke about how hot she is runs throughout. Fans will be pleased to see Donald Glover make an appearance as a small-time criminal that Spidey attempts to interrogate, with hilarious results, and also a brief mention should be given to Laura Harrier who, as Liz, is given quite an important role to play as the object of Peter's affections here. She isn't given that much to work with, but their scenes together are adorable.
Now, there's one character I haven't mentioned so far and it brings me on to something I need to talk about. There are a number of things that Marvel have changed for this new version of Spider-Man, and I can totally see purists not being happy about them. I've already briefly mentioned Flash Thompson earlier - he's still the source of Peter's ridicule at school, but he's no longer the stereotypical jock and instead a rich-kid member of Peter's mathematics club. As we've skipped over the origin story there's no Uncle Ben (Peter briefly mentions the "hard time" May has been going through), and because of that the film lacks the great mantra of "With great power, there must also come great responsibility." This is very imporant, as it's the code Peter lives his life by, as given to him by Uncle Ben. The closest we come to it is the earlier-mentioned scene of Tony and the importance of being more than the suit, which I personally found fine and works really well, but I hope the classic theme of responsibility will be explored in a future film. I was fine with all of the changes made, in all honesty, except for one:
Ah, Mary-Jane Watson. The stuff dreams are made of. Well, maybe just mine, being a very big fan of redheads. There is an MJ in this film, but she's not who you think. She's not even called Mary-Jane. Instead she's Michelle, played by Zendaya. I need to be very careful here and stress that it's not the casting I'm unhappy with, or her appearance, or her peformance - she's really good, and really funny. The character of Michelle is something of an outcast, a very sarcastic member of Peter's mathematics club (along with Ned, Liz and Flash) who seems to be taking an altogether too obvious interest in Peter, much to his complete ignorance. But this isn't Mary-Jane, despite her reveal at the end of the film that "My friends call me MJ." Mary-Jane was and always has been the ultimate girl-next-door, high up on the social scale and completely out of Peter's league. I'm all for change when it makes something fresh and interesting, but they've changed the character completely here and I don't like it. And not just because she's not a redhead anymore, honest.
But let's not end on a bum note, as my unhappiness with MJ in no way affected my enjoyment of this utterly fantastic film. This was a statement of intent from Marvel, showing that when they're given the reigns to their poster character, they can deliver him into the MCU in spectacular fashion. Visually stunning, full of heart, humour and action, this is the best Spider-Man film to date and, quite possibly, one of the best MCU films so far. I can't wait to see more of this version of Spidey and see where Marvel take him in the future.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
The future is bright for Spider-Man and the MCU, based on this film. With an appearance in Avengers: Infinity War and more stand-alone films planned as part of Marvel's "Phase 3" of MCU films, there's a great deal more to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment