Spider-Man: Homecoming

Quite a surprise. Before the screening, I would have said that the thematic chest around the spider hero had been emptied by the completion of the Raimi trilogy, but Kevin Feige at Marvel proves time and time again that he knows exactly what he wants to do and how to do it. Homecoming's weaknesses, though, are precisely that it doesn't bring anything too original to the general Spidey themes around the dream girl or his loserism, and that it is a bit skeletal in its attempts to connect the overarching Avenger level to its own story, but it remains a highly entertaining and light-hearted piece that Marvel has been missing from its mosaic – that of the boy within the superhero, a boy who, in addition to the bad guys, has to deal primarily with himself and his teenage problems. One of those comics films that is not so visually imaginative, but definitely the most thoughtful, which benefits a lot from the characterful and unconventionally human villain performed by Michael Keaton. Nowhere near as rushed and forced towards the impending massive team-up as I feared. (01/01/2018)

The main goal that the creators set for themselves came out only halfway. The anticipated connection of superhero grandeur with ordinary high school adventure ultimately endures moments when they don't fit well together and often clash loudly. The teenage storyline, in fact, is sewn with an unnecessarily hot needle compared to the purely Marvel-esque (events from The Avengers and Captain America: Civil War are mined almost to the core) and thus the resulting impressions surprisingly have to be pulled up by Tony Stark himself in an unsurprisingly awesome performance by Robert Downey, Jr. Tom Holland enjoys the costume to the last line and tries to be that modern version of Spidey, but even though I was optimistic after he was introduced, he has been slow to win me over. Even though he is as close to Spider-Man as Tobey Maguire once was, the memories of Andrew Garfield and the whole Amazing Spider-Man are too intense and positive for me to accept this new reboot so quickly. 70% and the hope that when entering the same river for the third time, they will not cowardly retreat this time. (10/26/2017)

At last Spider man filmed right! Coming into the Marvel fold brought the desired emphasis on story and the endeavor not to repeat needless fatefulness paid off. Young Parker is a really nice guy and loser, which were the main ingredients that past adaptations were unable to put across with any success. Maguire was a jerk from the outset and Garfield was unnecessarily sullen. Under Stark’s command, it all colors out nicely and his dialogs with the suit lightens everything up a little. Keaton as Toomes is one of Marvel’s best bad guys. On a classic, but dynamic story level, Homecoming gives us an original twist on Parker’s bad luck. The action scenes are handled excellently. The comedy scenes are even better. The scenes with the tubby friend are super. Giacchino’s music outstrips any preceding spider composers with playful melodies and even some variations of old TV themes. P.S: Birdman is back! (07/09/2017)

Marvel is going a little differently again. Spider-Man draws heavily on teen and high school comedies from the 1980s, and it's in the moments when the lovable Tom Holland tackles the problems of an ordinary teenager that the film is most entertaining. Spider-Man lags a bit in the action, which is unfortunately especially evident in the finale, but it's still a solid above average film. Plus, it can lean on the excellent Michael Keaton, whose villain is more interesting than he first appears. The two actors' scenes together are the strongest moments of the entire film. It's all the more disappointing that Jon Watts overstays his welcome unnecessarily and that he's a little short on the visual effects scenes. Still, it's a very fine Marvel film that tries to embrace the comic book genre a little differently than the previous ones. And I kind of like it that way. (08/16/2017)

From the sympathetic protagonist to one of Marvel's finest protagonists to Giacchino's music, almost ubiquitous but unobtrusive humor and one very mildly unexpected twist... Everything is done right here. I'm not gonna blame Spider-Man for targeting a younger audience when Peter Parker is a teen this time. On the contrary, it is an advantage, because from his age stems the great desire of a boy to be big, to belong somewhere and to be useful, which drives it all forward. The latest addition to this comic book family is, in short, a lively spectacle that does not hold things back with things we've already seen (Spider-Man's origin and so on), but tells something new nicely, clearly and with ease. (07/06/2017)