As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) continues to strive through being a success, they have done something that fans have been clamoring for since the franchise began in 2008 with Iron Man. Without question, Spider-Man is one of, if not, Marvel's famous character to date and after Marvel and Sony decided to share the film rights of the web slinger, he was brought to fight alongside heroes such as Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. The studio introduced him in last year's Captain America: Civil War and Tom Holland's portrayal, despite being minimal, was one of the movie's highlights and sparked excitement for how Peter Parker was going to be depicted in his own solo movie. The MCU has definitely had it rough patches and to be honest, I was mixed going into Spider-Man: Homecoming. The marketing was very iffy, but that's not on Marvel, more so on Sony and to my surprise, Spider-Man: Homecoming was the proper big-screen return for Spider-Man that fans have been clamoring for since Spider-Man 2.

The sixteenth feature in the universe takes place roughly two months after the events of Civil War and Peter Parker is living the normal life of a teenager as he attends high school, participates in academic decathlons, hangs with his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), tries to win the heart of Liz Allan (Laura Harrier) and supports his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). Desperately waiting to get a call from Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) for another mission with The Avengers, Peter decides to find ways to save New York City and be the superhero he wants to become, while trying to still learn how to handle his powers. While that is going on, Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) is terrorizing the city as Vulture and plans on continuing to build his crime-based company after a struggling turn of events for Toomes and his company prior to the movie's events. Without getting into anything in the spoiler territory, there are twists and turns in Homecomingthat were definitely unexpected and handled very well in what I'd consider to be the most grounded Spider-Man movie to date.

There was a lot of excitement injected into the second Spider-Man reboot that has felt absent since the beginning of disaster with this character's movies: Spider-Man 3. Something that Tobey Maguire (even though I love Sam Raimi's first two movies) and Andrew Garfield lacked in their portrayals of Peter Parker was the feeling of being a teenager, which is probably due to the fact they were in their late 20s to early 30s when in their respective movies. With Tom Holland being 21 years old, he completed his teenage years two years ago and manages to still capture the essence of being a teenager without making it feel out-of-place. This is also very light-hearted compared to the other Spider-Man movies and MCU installments. The homages to the classic works of John Hughes are very subtle and this is, without question, Marvel's coming-of-age story. Coming off the overlooked Kevin Bacon-starring Cop Car, Jon Watts did a terrific job of bringing the character in a new fashion by avoiding the full-on origin story we have seen twice already and that was a refreshing feeling to encounter. I hope this guy gets more offers in the future, as I've liked both films he has done so far.

Tom Holland is marvelous once again and he has become my favorite Peter Parker and Spider-Man. His awkwardness and genuine desire to help others is executed perfectly due to how natural Holland's portrayal of the character is. While this is not my favorite Spider-Man movie, no one can argue that Holland is Peter Parker in the most accurate of ways. Even before he was casted in this role, I knew he had a bright future ahead of time after his phenomenal debut performance in The Impossible and with a terrific supporting performance in The Lost City of Z, he continues to shine both outside and inside the MCU. My favorite performance in Homecoming comes from Michael Keaton, who is the movie's scene stealer and is the best antagonist in the universe since Loki. A majority of villains in the MCU lack development and depth, but those are things that the character of Adrian Toomes had within him and Keaton knocked it out of the park, as his strong comeback continues. To me, they were the only performances that shined in Homecoming, but I did enjoy a majority of the others here and there.

As enjoyable as the action sequences in Spider-Man: Homecoming are, they are forgettable compared to the ones we've seen in previous MCU movies. There was not a sense of suspense with any of them, with the exception of the brilliant Washington Monument set-piece. The climatic battle on the beach of Coney Island was unpredictable, but it is not as enthralling as climatic superhero battles in recent memory. I also found the pacing of this movie to be off-putting at times and it was distracting my enjoyment of the movie, considering how fast-paced Marvel's last feature Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 flew by for me. Some of the comedy also felt forced and caused some head scratching, which is also shocking considering how much I enjoy the humor from the MCU. It was, however, refreshing that Tony Stark wasn't in the movie as much as the marketing made it look to be. I went to the theater to see a Spider-Man movie and not Iron Man 4 and thankfully that is not what Jon Watts gave to us.

To my surprise, I found a lot to enjoy about Spider-Man: Homecoming as it was a solid return-to-form for the character that hasn't had a hit in cinematic form since 2004. Anchored by an outstanding leading turn from Tom Holland, this is another entertaining installment of the continuously successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite some weak pacing and sub-par action sequences, there was a great sense of fun thrown into the beginning of the newest chapter for Spidey on the big screen. With Infinity War right around the corner, I cannot wait to see what Holland continues to bring to his portrayal of the web slinger in this universe. Sony has done strong this time and partnering up with Marvel was the best decision they have made in a very long time!