After the events of Age of Ultron, Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man (Tom Holland) has returned to New York and been told to resume his “normal life” by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). Essentially he would like Peter to be a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, who stays out of trouble and doesn’t draw attention to himself.
However after the excitement of fighting alongside The Avengers, Peter has no intention of keeping a low profile, especially when the local criminals appear to have gotten their hands on some pretty scary alien tech. When his requests for help from Tony fall on deaf ears, he decides to take matters into his own hands, but is he ready to take on Vulture (Adrian Toomes)?
Spider-Man: Homecoming is a lot of fun. Tom Holland is adorable as the young Parker and really captures the exuberance that comes with teenage boys. He is reckless, idealistic and tends to believe he is invincible. He’s not a big fan of rules but he also has the strong sense of responsibility that the character is known for.
I really enjoyed Peter’s interactions with Tony’s security chief, Happy (Jon Favreau), who sees him as an endless annoyance as well as his conversations with his suit, “Karen” (voiced by Jennifer Connelly). The suit Tony has designed for him has some awesome features and gadgets and watching him figure out how to use them without the “training wheels” is really funny.
As super villains go, Vulture is one of the more realised ones. His blue collar motivations are easy to understand and they play to the ethical questions that are raised around Stark Enterprises using their power and capital to advantage themselves. It revisits many of the themes of Age of Ultron. Of course his methods leave a lot to be desired. I love Michael Keaton and he brings gravitas and menace to the character. It’s a great performance and I am hoping that Vulture is going to resurface at some stage.
With a great balance of humour, action and food for thought Spider-Man: Homecoming is an excellent addition to the MCU and it feels like the choice to have the character played as a teenager really works. Loved it.
4/5