At the beginning of July, we were all invited to watch the beloved, super-heroic figure of Spider-Man swing onto screens “for the first time”.
For the third time.
In 11 years.
So why should we care at this point? A lot of people could rightly argue that the idea of a Spider-Man movie is a tired, played-to-death attempt, forever mired in the ugly feuds of franchise wars between production studios (RIP, Fantastic Four). With that in mind, a whole damn lot was riding on “Spider-Man: Homecoming”. Depending on its success or failure, new life could either be breathed into the character or stomped out of it forever. As was happily proven, there were still new sides to be seen in this much-beloved character, and Tom Holland did a spectacular job at providing them.
First of all--
This Peter actually looks like Peter.
No offense to Andrew Garfield or Tobey Maguire, but no live-action actor to date has captured the youthful wit, energy, and optimism of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Holland was the first to actually look like a kid. Had Maguire been a few years younger, I think he would have fit the role even better in the Sam Raimi trilogy. However, I don’t think any change in age could have improved the faces that this guy came up with. I mean…
Just look at ‘em.
Not to mention the fact that Maguire forced THIS monstrosity onto us in Spider-Man 3:
Never forget Emo Spidey.
As far as Garfield? He displayed Peter's charming and quirky dorkiness for sure, and he played off Emma Stone’s role as Gwen Stacy in an endearing manner. However, his overall appearance as Peter just felt...off.
Between the salon haircut, the deftly styled outfit, and the "mad skater skillz”, Garfield looked far too polished for the character of Peter Parker. In contrast, Holland gave us the best of both worlds. He had the youthful energy that Maguire lacked, wrapped in the homely, humble trappings that Garfield lacked. He just acted and looked a teenager, which is exactly what the character needed.
That being said--
“Homecoming" felt like a teen movie.
A basic part of the early Spider-Man comics was that you still saw Peter in and out of high school, often pre-occupied with basic high school crap—locker troubles, gym class, bullies—anything that an everyday kid might run into. “Homecoming" actually played that up and made it a central part of the movie. I mean, the proof of it is in the name: Homecoming. While Peter is still adjusting to the upper limits of his new suit and trying to solve a major crime case, he’s also struggling with the universal dilemma of any high-schooler: finding a date. Ironically, the climax of the movie comes down to Peter ditching homecoming, along with his date, to do what he knows he must, regardless of his personal safety or even his own life. Of course, the climax of any story is only as effective as the protagonist and antagonist that clash within it.
As such--
The villain was menacing, yet convincing.
Michael Keaton first broke into the super-hero film industry as Batman in the trend-setting 1989 Tim Burton film. Jumping over the rather ironic installation of Birdman in 2014, this is the first time that we've seen Keaton take on a roll in a super-hero film. However, we’ve never seen Keaton quite like this in any cape-and-spandex flick. Here, we see him turn what was originally a bad joke of a villain from the early Spider-Man comics into a viable threat for our web-slinger. Not only is he essentially the fulfilled revenge dream of any blue collar worker who’d love nothing more than to get back at “the man”, he's also the overprotective father of Peter’s crush—relatable and intimidating for any teenage boy. In combining both of these roles, you completely understand the character’s driving purpose to take care of and provide for his family. In his case, however, when he says he’ll do anything, he literally means anything—be it theft, collateral damage, or downright murder of a kid and his family. And he does it all with this charming, yet steely and creepy glint in his eye.
This picture doesn’t do it justice, but I got chills from Keaton during this scene.
Honestly, I could go on for pages and pages of why I think this film version of Spider-Man is superior, but these are my three major reasons why Holland stole my hero-loving heart with his portrayal of our friendly neighborhood wall-crawler. ‘Nuff said.
