3.5 Out of 5 Stars
After finally coming to their senses Sony has teamed up with the MCU for the webslingers first post Andrew Garfield standalone adventure, Spider-Man: Homecoming. After their second reboot fizzled out thanks to what some would argue was the same mistake made by Spider-Man 3; it was only a matter of time until Sony took another shot with one of their most profitable properties to date. To be completely honest thanks to the marketing on this one I was a bit worried this film would make that very same mistake with a story cluttered with unnecessary characters all focused on franchising up. Thankfully I was wrong and got a very cohesive standalone adventure with a villain that felt really true to this universe.

Spider-Man: Homecoming smartly skips the origin story and instead begins with Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) recruitment and appearance in Civil War, showing us the excruciating high that came with fighting with the world’s mightiest heroes. This really sets the stage for the rest of the film as Peter is then dropped off in New York with his new Spidersuit to resume his boring life as a normal high school sophomore. This sends the young man on a journey to both prove himself to his mentor Tony Stark and also attempt to reach those dizzying heights yet again. This causes our hero it get a bit over his head investigating a black market weapons ring led by the Vulture (Michael Keaton). Using stolen Chitary technology salvaged from the remnants of the New York invasion, the Vulture’s crew has been hard at work making super weapons to sell on the black market.
Homecoming is a fun balancing act as it takes your standard Marvel superhero formula and imbues that with a very John Hughes-esque high school romantic comedy.

Firstly given how heavily Tony Stark was used in the marketing I was relieved with just how sparingly the character is used in the film. Tony’s presence is more of an overarching influence over the film to help guide Spider-Man through this awkward phase of his superhero career, which we have yet to really see in the Marvel film. We usually just catch origin or check in on an already established hero, but we rarely see a hero after the origin attempting to navigate his way in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. This coupled with a coherent narrative and interesting villain thanks to Michael Keaton’s turn as the Vulture gives Spidey fans the first Spider-Man finally worth their time since Raimi’s 2004’s Spider-Man 2.

 Tom Holland gives a fresh take on Peter Parker as an awkward teenager who is just as big a fan of the Avengers as the audience is. This makes him one of the more accessible heroes so far on the Marvel roster. Director John Watts has crafted a film that just gets everything about the character right thanks a script that had more writers than Snow White had Dwarves and it shows. It’s the Marvel machine at its best as the film burns through its two and half-hour runtime turning in the kind of action these films are known for coupled with the levity this particular story needs. Most of these moments are thanks to Jacob Batalon who plays Peter’s best friend Ned and who is vying to be Spider-Man’s “guy in the chair”, you know, that unsung sidekick behind the monitor that is our heroes’ second eyes and ears.

While most Marvel fans are going to see this no matter what, I think Spider-Man: Homecoming has the thing the best Marvel films do, and that is replay value. There is definitely enough going on that you’re not going to be able to catch everything the first time around given how littered the film is with call outs and Easter Eggs. And while rumors still circulate as to just how permanent this is alliance, Sony would be a fool to sabotage the best thing that happened to the character in almost a decade. Spider-Man: Homecoming is funny, heartwarming and a damn fine superhero film. Tom Holland has definitely earned his place in the MCU and just in time for the Infinity War when we will see him forced to grow up and carry the mantle as a full fledged Avenger.