Spider-Man: Homecoming
Hi all!
Due to my unbounded enthusiasm about every single film I've seen so far this summer, I've decided to do a mini-pop-culture-series about the things that like. I'm calling it Emily Likes Everything. Today's Emily Likes Everything is... SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING.
Spider-Man is a big deal to me. The original—unfortunately starring boring faces Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst—was the first PG-13 movie I saw. I was 12 at the time, so you could say I was preeetty rebellious (I watched it with my parents... which is more rebellious if you think about it, because it's like, "take that Mom and Dad, I'm precocious"). I'm almost certain it was the first superhero movie I saw, and I remember being amazed that people could tell this kind of story.
Like teens reading the original comic in the 1960s, I saw myself in Peter Parker. He's a smart kid who daydreams too much. He's a romantic, an unrequited piner. He's got money problems. He's afraid of letting down people he loves, but he's always doing it anyway. He's scrawny, but more than he seems.
Tobey Maguire sort of got this. Andrew Garfield came closer. But both were clearly adults playing an older teen. When I saw Tom Holland as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, I thought that this might finally really be it.
From his first moments in Homecoming, I knew that it was.
Tom Holland is kinetic. Spider-Man's lanky physicality is so important to his character; it makes the gangliness that's such a liability with school bullies into a superheroic asset. Anyone who saw Tom Holland's lip sync battle (you're SO welcome) can see that he's got it down. Tom Holland is also charming. Insanely charming. The most adorable thing on eight legs. He cracks wise to himself just like the memeable treasure that is the Spider-man cartoon series. He's probably as troubled as the two Spider-men before him, but he's infinitely more fun.
His high school is great. So much of Peter's story is about uniquely high school problems, so it should feel like a teen movie! I prayed that this one would have a John Hughes vibe to it, and was rewarded with an actual John Hughes reference during a chase scene (god bless us every one). Peter's cast of friends recalls the Breakfast Club: Peter's the aloof one, Liz is the pretty popular one, Ned is the nerd, Flash is the rich guy, and Michelle is the distant but cool one. And like the Breakfast Club kids, at least Peter, Ned, and Michelle contain multitudes. Most interestingly, of those five, only Peter is white. Millions of high school kids in America who don't see themselves in Breakfast Club (or, for that matter, The Avengers) are going to see themselves in this movie. The value of that is immeasurable.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of SM:H is its integration with the greater Marvel universe. DC is not doing itself any favors by letting the Justice League trailer precede this film. Its haphazard hero intros remind viewers just how much work Marvel has put into something that DC is trying to replicate so lazily. The Marvel universe is so rich that I spent much of SM:H worrying for/adoring one of the Avengers' bodyguards . A packing list made me choke up (I can't believe Tony is building that thing!!! For that person!!! Of all things and people, and with everything that's happened...) The post-credits scene toys with Marvel fans in a way that only this universe has earned the right to do. A character who is extremely near to my heart made me guffaw when he pulled my favorite "hello cool teens" move in the book. I did not laugh like that at any point during Batman vs. Superman.
Stray thoughts: I'm always down for Michael Keaton. Zendaya is a gift. Two of my favorite comedians appear in bit roles that serve up laughs (though yes, I do still wish one of them had gotten to play the lead at some point). A climatic scene veers into a level of cheesy reached by High School Musical 2, but it's brief and forgivable. There's resolution to a plot point mentioned briefly in CA:CW that I've been actively worried about, so I am now breathing much easier. Marisa Tomei is predictably wonderful (but we maybe needed two fewer jokes on how hot she is?). And the Black Panther trailer is EVEN BETTER on the big screen. MAN. WOW.
Basically, I was worried about Spider-Man: Homecoming. I haven't loved past projects by its writing team, and I was afraid that Tom Holland would be better in small doses. I'm so pleased to have been wrong. Emily likes this movie, and urges all Marvel fans to get off their butts and go see it so she can talk about it with them.