LogFAQs > #950666437

XIII Rocks
OK, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to explain this right, but here we go. There's two main problems with the MCU Spidey movies - the first and most obvious is the over-reliance on Iron Man as a mentor. I love their relationship, but having both villains be an Iron Man creation really makes Spidey feel like almost an afterthought. And it's not like you need Iron Man to sell a Spider-Man movie. Everybody loves Spider-Man already.
The second problem is harder to express but allow me to show this clip from TASM2 to start with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNPy_CO4zqA
TASM isn't a very good movie, for a ton of reasons, but this opening makes Spider-Man, and a Spider-Man movie, feel like A BIG FUCKING DEAL, in the same way the Maguire movies did. I use TASM because it was easier for Maguire to feel like a big deal when there weren't as many superhero movies out there. TASM came post-MCU, post-market saturation, and still managed it (though to a lesser extent). Both MCU Spider-Man movies have none of that. It's Spider-Man - maybe the world's most popular superhero - but folded into the MCU style. It feels so disposable, and I don't want Spider-Man to feel disposable. It should be the biggest event they have, right next to Avengers movies. Holland is a good Spider-Man but I honestly think he's worse than both Garfield and Maguire and it's probably because he feels so easily...broken compared to the others. I almost feel like I can ignore MCU Spidey.
This movie is still good, otherwise it wouldn't be this high. Keaton Vulture is a top 5 MCU villain (Killmonger, Thanos, Loki, Vulture, Hela) and some of the action is solid, the humour is handled well and Zendaya steals the show. But I just can't love MCU Spidey as much as some people do. I see it all through this prism of plasticity.

Inviso
Tom Holland is a great Spider-Man. He manages to convey the dorkiness of a teenaged Peter Parker a lot better than Andrew Garfields laid-back slacker vibe ever could, but he also comes across as cocky and charismatic when in costume, unlike Toby MacGuires bland hero. That being said, that authenticity makes the firstlets say half of the film feel very awkward and almost cringeworthy. Its a good performance in that I really didnt like it, if that makes sense. But thats just a personal thing about how realistic teen drama is shitty and awkward by design, because thats what being a teenager is. All that being said, the movie had a nice through line of Peter wanting to prove himself and trying so hard that he wound up failing, only to rise and prove himself for real, without the safety net of Tony Stark having his back. The Vulture plot twist caught me completely off-guard, and everything from that first introduction to scene with Michael Keaton driving Peter to the danceit was all great. A perfect amount of tension that all culminated in Peter proving himself by breaking free of a collapsed warehouse to stop Vulture from stealing Avengers tech. That back half carried a LOT of weight for this film, and it was enjoyable in that regard for sure.

Jesse Custer
Homecoming was a fine movie without any significant flaws, but I wouldnt rank it among my favorite MCU movies. It felt too safe to me, like Peter was never in any real danger he wouldnt be able to overcome, with the inevitable guest appearance from Tony Stark at the end to tell Peter hes proven himself as a true hero. Its nothing we havent seen many times before in other movies.

Probably my favorite thing about Homecoming was Michael Keatons performance, although I feel the movie failed to utilize his full potential. The scene in the car when Vulture reveals he knows Peters secret and threatens him was the most gripping moment in the entire movie, but after that the movie fell back into safe and predictable territory again. Its never bad, but the movie could have been so much better if they simply took more chances with the script.

---

Touch fuzzy. Get fuzzier.
Inviso