MCU Sunday #16 Spider-Man: Homecoming

 

 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the sixteenth installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

  

The first thing to note here is that Spider-Man: Homecoming is not an origin story. For the origin of the current Spider-Man you will have to wait until after the MCU Sunday series ends, because The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are not considered a part of the MCU series. These will appear in the Marvel Movies series that will follow after the MCU series has been completed.  

Andrew Garfield, the actor who had original played Spider-Man in those first two Spider-Man movies' was replaced.  Apparently there were some issues with Garfield and the studio, the best I can figure is that Garfield was not entirely on board with the way that the brass wanted to promote Spider-Man..  A story I read was that was a no-show for a promotional event, which probably wasn't the only issue (otherwise his ouster would seem rather egregious..)

Tom Holland was the next one in line for the role.  And Holland, in my opinion, was just a substitute for Tobey Maguire. His performance is mostly indistinguishable from Maguire's portrayal in those earlier Spider-Man movies. But by the time Captain America: Civil War came out Maguire, at about 40,  was way too old for the role.  But Holland did the part justice, especially as a teenager who is over-exuberant about his potential role as a superhero.

In the tradition of previous entries in the MCU, the studio got yet another big name to play the role of the villain: Michael Keaton as Vulture.  Having Keaton in the role was probably one of the better decisions made by Marvel.  Considering that Parker is a young, inexperienced (read: not-hardened) superhero, he really needed a (somewhat) sympathetic villain, and who else but Keaton (or maybe Tom Hanks) could have pulled that off?

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017):

The movie opens just after the Battle of New York (see The Avengers).  After the Avengers defeated the Chitauri's plans to invade, New York City was a mess.  Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), the owner of a salvage company, is running an operation to clean up the damage. But a government bureaucracy gets involved and shuts down his salvage operation.  (And surely, his wasn't the only company involved in salvage, I'm sure, but then, I guess he was the only one who turned to super-crime as a result.)

But Toomes finds out that all of the Chitauri stuff they got had not been turned over to the authorities, and he decides to use it to make stuff (including what will become known as the suit he uses to be The Vulture.)

Flash forward to the present.  After having been called in to help in the fight with Captain America (see Captain America: Civil War), Peter. "Spider-Man" Parker (Tom Holland) is desperate to become a part of the Avengers. But less important things...you know...things like school, and keeping his role as Spider-Man a secret from his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), keep getting in the way.  And then, of course, there's that whole "I want to be  a superhero", but he doesn't have a clue when his help is needed and when he is just butting in on regular things that aren't really crimes.

For instance, stopping a guy from trying to jimmy the lock on his car with a Slim Jim because he locked his keys in the car, thus not only annoying the actual car owner but setting off the car's alarm and annoying the rest of the neighborhood, too,  Including..

Where is Stan Lee?:

One of the neighbors, who was just trying to get some sleep, apparently, opens up his window and yells "Don't make me come down there, punk!"

 

The good thing is Spidey finally gets to do some good when he spots some guys trying to rip off an ATM. The bad news is the bad guys have some wicked technology that proves to destroy not only the building, but pretty much mess up half a city block.  When he finds the backpack he had his regular clothes in stolen he has to sneak home.  Only to find his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon) waiting in his room 

And Ned, being the total nerd, is stoked that his best friend is Spider-Man. But struggles with that whole "can you just keep a secret identity a secret, dude" thing.  Thus causing some seriously difficult situations... such as causing a girl he really likes, Liz (Laura Harrier), to invite him to a party because she wants him to bring his friend, Spider-Man, whom she is crushing on.  (Because, you know, Ned told her that Peter knows Spider-Man).

But while Peter is changing into the Spider-Man suit on the roof he sees something dirty going on across town and goes to check it out instead.  Where he finds a couple Toomes men engaged in trying to sell some of their advanced weaponry to a small-time hood who really only wants something like a simple revolver, not a super ray gun.

As the bad guys try to get away, Spidey gives chase. But just when he is about to catch up, in pops The Vulture, who wraps him up in a parachute that is part of Spidey's suit arsenal and drops him in the East River.  (Which would be bad enough, even if he wasn't tied up with trying to get entangled from the parachute... have you heard how much a mess that river is...?)

Spidey ends up having to be rescued.by Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.)  Or at least one of his remote controlled suits, since Stark is elsewhere.  And even though Peter tries to explain that he had a handle on it, Stark tells him to lay off the big stuff and just try to be the "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

Meanwhile, Toomes, still as The Vulture, has some serious words with the guy who is supposed to be "discreetly" getting rid of some of the weapons. Like the anti-gravity gun he left behind at the scene. He shoots the underling, who had been also known as The Shocker, and gives the moniker to the next guy in line, who is now The Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine).

And back on the home front, Peter, who has found the discarded anti-gravity ray-gun is trying to figure out what makes it work. And it turns out it has a tracking device that tells him where the bad guys are. Which turns out to be the same area where his school is going to a Jeopardy-like school function.  And since Peter is the smartest guy in the school, he gets on the school team.

But while he is doing his thing as Spidey, the team has to do their function without him.  After they win they celebrate by going to the Washington Monument.  Where the tracking device, which his friend Ned has in his backpack, also turns out to have some capabilities you don't want in a tall building.  Like turning into a bomb...

Spidey has to show up to save his friends who are on the elevator at the top of the Washington Monument before all hell breaks loose and the elevator makes an unscheduled descent. After saving the day, Spidey, who is gradually learning the things he can do with his suit by trial and error begins to track down The Vulture.  (If you've ever watched the old TV show The Greatest American Hero, you know how much difficulty he's going to have with that whole "trial and error" thing.)

(And hey, BTW, just in case you think I've been a little flippant in this review, I think the whole point might have been to kind of use that old TV show as a template for this entry.  The film has more funny moments than the entire series of MCU movies up to this point.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing.  The MCU could use a shot in the arm at some point.  It was getting a bit serious.  But it is going to get serious again real soon...)

So back at home base, Toomes is starting to get a little perturbed.  8 years without any frustration from either the government or even, God forbid, those "costumed bozos in Stark's tower". And then along comes this red-suited pipsqueak to put a kibosh on his work.  So he has only one choice; kill him.

When Spidey tries to stop the transfer of illegal weapons on a ferry, The Vulture shows up and tries to convince him that's a bad move.  To make his point he uses his own weapons to cause the ferry to split apart.  Even though Spider-Man makes a valiant effort to keep things together, ultimately it requires the help of a convenient appearance of Iron Man. And Iron Man/Stark is disappointed in Peter and takes away the enhanced suit he provided.

So Peter has to resume a normal life as what he is supposed to really be; a high school student just trying to get through the daily grind of life as a teenager. (How boring!)  But guess what?  The bonus is that, by just being a regular kid, he gets to go to the high school homecoming dance with Liz.  But when he shows up to picker her up for the dance he discovers that Liz's dad is Toomes. (geez, from bad to worse.  I mean your would-be girlfriend being the daughter of your would-be arch-nemesis?  That's really gotta suck...)

And because good old dad is driving the two to the dance he gets to chat a little with Peter.  And gradually comes to the conclusion that Peter is actually the guy who has been giving him problems in his illegal activities...  And he tells Peter in no uncertain terms that he'd better lay off or some really bad things are going to happen to the people he loves.  Especially, and make that ESPECIALLY, don't try to stop him from his current plan.  Which turns out to be a hijacking of a plane loaded down with advanced weaponry that belongs to the Avengers.

Without the advanced suit that Stark had provided him, Peter has to go back to his old suit.  Which may (or may not) be up to the task of defeating The Vulture.  The end result is Toomes is captured, of course, but in doing so Spidey also saves his life.

Once again, the ultimate battle in the tradition of superhero movies is the part we've all been waiting for, and the ultimate showdown between Spider-Man and The Vulture does not disappoint.  One thing I'd like to say: of all the villains and their advanced gadgetry that has appeared so far, I think my favorite is the Vulture suit. Although you don't get to see the villain's face when he's wearing it... (at least the comic book version of the Vulture wasn't afraid to let everyone know who he was.  And I do miss that neck line.  Although just before the final confrontation, Toomes is wearing a tufted jacket reminiscent of the comic book villain.)

And the Credits Roll: 

Toomes, now in jail, meets up with a former associate who says he heard a rumor that Toomes knows the secret identity of Spider-Man, but Toomes pretends ignorance.

So where does Spider-Man: Homecoming rank in the MCU pantheon?  I loved the comic twists that appeared in this one.  And as I said way back last year, because I was a teenager when I discovered Spider-Man, he is one of my favorites in the Marvel comics world.  Personally, however, I don't think Tom Holland is quite up to Tobey Maguire in terms of presence on screen.  But he will do for now.  He is definitely more entertaining a character than say Norton as The Incredible Hulk, and somewhat better than Ant-Man.  And thus, Spider-Man: Homecoming gets into the upper third of the pantheon on my rankings list.

Time to get all this spider goo off the Plymouth and head home.  Drive safe, folks.  You never know.  With Spider-Man on the job, you might have to deal with him thinking you are a criminal on the run from the law if you speed...

Quiggy