Hi there! Welcome to I’m So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, the blog with the proportional strength of a spider. I’m Dave-El, your friendly neighborhood Blogger-Man.
So the El family went forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude
to see Spider-Man: Homecoming, the first Spider-Man movie set in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe (MCU). There’s a lot that’s good about this iteration of
Spider-Man on film. And let’s start with the guy in the center of the web Tom Holland.
Holland imbues Peter Parker and his web slinging alter ego with a youthful energy, the awkward tension of being a social outcast and the exuberance of being a teenage with super powers. Holland’s Peter Parker is believable, trapped in that infuriating grey area of adolescence, between the innocence of childhood and the enticing promises of adulthood. Peter is under pressure; he can’t wait to show what he can do but not being quite he’s ready to do that.
There's a free wheeling energy that was missing from the too intense for it's own good Amazing Spider-Man reboot. Peter benefits from having a best bud named Ned who provides an effective sounding board and counter point to Peter's worst impulses. This friendship helps ground Holland's Peter Parker and makes his outcast high school nerd life more relatable.
On the super hero side of things, Spider-Man is dealing with a mechanized Vulture guy who's stealing cast off tech and reselling it as super advanced weaponry. Michael Keaton brings both intensity and humanity to this long time Spidey foe from the comics. Events pick up after the alien invasion of Newe York City from the first Avengers movie. Adrian Toomes is the owner of a recovery company that gets chased off their gig cleaning up the city from the alien attack. Toomes decides to hold on to some of the alien tech he's recovered so far and start a new business.
Business is good for the Vulture and his crew but they're tipping their hand. Spider-Man encounters a gang of bank robbers who are equipped way above their criminal class with some decidedly sci-fi weapons. Peter thinks he's found his next big mission.
Peter's still hyped up from his participation in the battle against Capt. America that Tony Stark recruited him for in last year's Captain America: Civil War. But Peter is frustrated by a lack of action or support from either Tony Stark or Tony's right hand guy, Happy Hogan. So Peter is determined to get to the bottom of this high tech arms ring, to make his mark and prove himself to Tony Stark.
Despite employing a high tech Spidey suit created by Stark with an A.I. Peter names Karen, Spider-Man finds himself on the losing end of his efforts to stop the Vulture's operation. Iron Man intervenes as Tony tells Peter to give up the Spidey suit.
Going on a date to his school's homecoming dance, Peter goes to pick up Liz and holy crap! Liz's dad is Adrian Toomes, the Vulture! Toomes is no dummy and pieces together that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Away from Liz, Toomes gives Peter some advice: back off or Toomes will kill Peter and anyone he cares about. He's cutting him some slack because spider-Man once saved his daughter's life. Otherwise, all bets are off.
Peter is stunned as he enters the school but he can't stay. He knows he has to stop the Vulture. And he knows where the Vulture is going to strike next.
Happy Hogan's been overseeing the shut down of the Avengers base in the New York City Stark Tower and is about to send a plane load of stuff to the Avengers upstate compound. Stuff the Vulture intends to steal.
In a ill fitting Spidey costume, Peter races into action, engaging the Vulture in an aerial battle that results in the plane crashing. Despite Toomes' knowledge of Peter's secret and his threats, Peter saves the Vulture's life.
And so... how was Spider-Man: Homecoming?
There's a lot of humor and heart. It's a teen high school movie right out of the John Hughes playbook except there's a guy with spider based super powers. It's enjoyable with an extremely likeable version of Peter parker at it's core.
But...
A lot of this movie hinges on Tony Stark and also happy Hogan being total dicks to Peter Parker. None of the bad stuff that goes down in Spidey's efforts to take out the Vulture would've been a thing if Tony or Happy had just taken a damn minute to actually talk with our young Mr. Parker. Yes, Tony has a point; he put the FBI on the Vulture's trail but did he bother to share that plan with Peter? All Peter knew was that Stark was shutting him down and keeping him out of the action. And I know happy was annoyed that Tony lefty him to babysit Peter but still, the complete outright disdain that Happy shows Peter is nothing less than troubling. He even hangs up on Ned when he tries to call Happy and tell him about the Vulture's plan and that Peter is in trouble. There are any number of ways for Peter to get in trouble without Tony & Happy helping Peter along by being total dicks towards him.
In fact, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that the real villain in this film wasn't the Vulture but Iron Man. Toomes was just a schmuck trying to make a living but only to get shut down by the very people who created the damage Toomes is there to clean up. So the Vulture comes about because Stark is being a dick about who's going to handle the post Avengers battle clean up.
Then Peter winds up in serious trouble because Tony was a dick, took away his high tech uniform and left him alone to sort out the Vulture once and for all.
And then there is something that I didn't think I would miss: seeing Peter getting bit by that damn spider and the death of his Uncle Ben. No, we did not need to see that again. But the absence of these events takes away a key motivation for Peter. Using his powers for personal gain, a selfish course that leads to the death of his uncle and the lesson that tragedy burns upon his heart. No, we may not have needed to see all that again but it's a character development that is missing from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Peter may have learned these lessons while we weren't looking but there is little sign that these lessons still resonate with him. His motivation is to impress Tony Stark, not to make amends for his failure.
And I like that we have a "hot" Aunt May in the form of Marisa Tomei but it seems she's there for Tony and the local bodega owner to make inappropriate comments regarding her hotness. It seems a big wrong to speak like this of someone who has recently lost her husband to murder.
Speaking of Aunt May's relative youth, this does remove the whole "Aunt May is so old and frail, she would just up and die if she knew Peter was Spider-Man". So I'm hoping the last scene of the movie with May's started "Peter! What the fu-?" when she finds Peter in his Spider-Man suit holds up for the sequel. I would like to see a different dynamic where May is a partner to Peter, not a burden.
Another facet of Peter's character is his intelligence, the same intellect that leads him to invent web-shooters. But that mind seems to take a back seat as Peter spends a good chunk of the movie as a passenger in the Tony Stark constructed Spidey suit.
That being said, I did enjoy Peter's relationship with the suit's AI that he names Karen. I wonder if that was for Karen, Plankton's computer wife in SpongeBob Squarepants. Peter's the right age to have watched Spongebob as a child. Really, I think that would be so cool if that's what Peter had in mind when he named the A.I.
And I do need to give a shout out to a classic Spider-Man comics scene brought to life. The Vulture drops a building on Peter, big honking pile of rubble that seems even beyond his powers to lift. But he forces himself to push himself past his limits to extricate himself. It's a scene lifted right from this classic Steve Ditko illustrated sequence.
And I should also mention that Spider-Man: Homecoming also features....
Zendaya.
No, she's not Mary Jane Watson so all the racists out there can settle down. She's an ascerbic observer of human nature who pops up at odd moments and her name is Michelle.
But she prefers to be called "MJ".
MJ?
What?
And that is the role in Spider-Man: Homecoming played by....
Zendaya!
All told, Spider-Man: Homecoming is an enjoyable film that does right by Peter Parker in a way that the previous two Amazing Spider-Man films did not. I just wish the story had not relied so much on boorish idiot ball hugging. But Tom Holland is a Spider-Man I'm looking forward to seeing more of.
So Mr. Parker, welcome to the MCU!
(Now if Marvel could wrest the Fantastic Four out of Fox's inept fingers.)
Thanks for dropping by. until next time, remember to be good to one another.
And remember to also be good to...
Zendaya!
Holland imbues Peter Parker and his web slinging alter ego with a youthful energy, the awkward tension of being a social outcast and the exuberance of being a teenage with super powers. Holland’s Peter Parker is believable, trapped in that infuriating grey area of adolescence, between the innocence of childhood and the enticing promises of adulthood. Peter is under pressure; he can’t wait to show what he can do but not being quite he’s ready to do that.
There's a free wheeling energy that was missing from the too intense for it's own good Amazing Spider-Man reboot. Peter benefits from having a best bud named Ned who provides an effective sounding board and counter point to Peter's worst impulses. This friendship helps ground Holland's Peter Parker and makes his outcast high school nerd life more relatable.
On the super hero side of things, Spider-Man is dealing with a mechanized Vulture guy who's stealing cast off tech and reselling it as super advanced weaponry. Michael Keaton brings both intensity and humanity to this long time Spidey foe from the comics. Events pick up after the alien invasion of Newe York City from the first Avengers movie. Adrian Toomes is the owner of a recovery company that gets chased off their gig cleaning up the city from the alien attack. Toomes decides to hold on to some of the alien tech he's recovered so far and start a new business.
Business is good for the Vulture and his crew but they're tipping their hand. Spider-Man encounters a gang of bank robbers who are equipped way above their criminal class with some decidedly sci-fi weapons. Peter thinks he's found his next big mission.
Peter's still hyped up from his participation in the battle against Capt. America that Tony Stark recruited him for in last year's Captain America: Civil War. But Peter is frustrated by a lack of action or support from either Tony Stark or Tony's right hand guy, Happy Hogan. So Peter is determined to get to the bottom of this high tech arms ring, to make his mark and prove himself to Tony Stark.
Despite employing a high tech Spidey suit created by Stark with an A.I. Peter names Karen, Spider-Man finds himself on the losing end of his efforts to stop the Vulture's operation. Iron Man intervenes as Tony tells Peter to give up the Spidey suit.
Going on a date to his school's homecoming dance, Peter goes to pick up Liz and holy crap! Liz's dad is Adrian Toomes, the Vulture! Toomes is no dummy and pieces together that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Away from Liz, Toomes gives Peter some advice: back off or Toomes will kill Peter and anyone he cares about. He's cutting him some slack because spider-Man once saved his daughter's life. Otherwise, all bets are off.
Peter is stunned as he enters the school but he can't stay. He knows he has to stop the Vulture. And he knows where the Vulture is going to strike next.
Happy Hogan's been overseeing the shut down of the Avengers base in the New York City Stark Tower and is about to send a plane load of stuff to the Avengers upstate compound. Stuff the Vulture intends to steal.
In a ill fitting Spidey costume, Peter races into action, engaging the Vulture in an aerial battle that results in the plane crashing. Despite Toomes' knowledge of Peter's secret and his threats, Peter saves the Vulture's life.
And so... how was Spider-Man: Homecoming?
There's a lot of humor and heart. It's a teen high school movie right out of the John Hughes playbook except there's a guy with spider based super powers. It's enjoyable with an extremely likeable version of Peter parker at it's core.
But...
A lot of this movie hinges on Tony Stark and also happy Hogan being total dicks to Peter Parker. None of the bad stuff that goes down in Spidey's efforts to take out the Vulture would've been a thing if Tony or Happy had just taken a damn minute to actually talk with our young Mr. Parker. Yes, Tony has a point; he put the FBI on the Vulture's trail but did he bother to share that plan with Peter? All Peter knew was that Stark was shutting him down and keeping him out of the action. And I know happy was annoyed that Tony lefty him to babysit Peter but still, the complete outright disdain that Happy shows Peter is nothing less than troubling. He even hangs up on Ned when he tries to call Happy and tell him about the Vulture's plan and that Peter is in trouble. There are any number of ways for Peter to get in trouble without Tony & Happy helping Peter along by being total dicks towards him.
In fact, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that the real villain in this film wasn't the Vulture but Iron Man. Toomes was just a schmuck trying to make a living but only to get shut down by the very people who created the damage Toomes is there to clean up. So the Vulture comes about because Stark is being a dick about who's going to handle the post Avengers battle clean up.
Then Peter winds up in serious trouble because Tony was a dick, took away his high tech uniform and left him alone to sort out the Vulture once and for all.
And then there is something that I didn't think I would miss: seeing Peter getting bit by that damn spider and the death of his Uncle Ben. No, we did not need to see that again. But the absence of these events takes away a key motivation for Peter. Using his powers for personal gain, a selfish course that leads to the death of his uncle and the lesson that tragedy burns upon his heart. No, we may not have needed to see all that again but it's a character development that is missing from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Peter may have learned these lessons while we weren't looking but there is little sign that these lessons still resonate with him. His motivation is to impress Tony Stark, not to make amends for his failure.
And I like that we have a "hot" Aunt May in the form of Marisa Tomei but it seems she's there for Tony and the local bodega owner to make inappropriate comments regarding her hotness. It seems a big wrong to speak like this of someone who has recently lost her husband to murder.
Speaking of Aunt May's relative youth, this does remove the whole "Aunt May is so old and frail, she would just up and die if she knew Peter was Spider-Man". So I'm hoping the last scene of the movie with May's started "Peter! What the fu-?" when she finds Peter in his Spider-Man suit holds up for the sequel. I would like to see a different dynamic where May is a partner to Peter, not a burden.
Another facet of Peter's character is his intelligence, the same intellect that leads him to invent web-shooters. But that mind seems to take a back seat as Peter spends a good chunk of the movie as a passenger in the Tony Stark constructed Spidey suit.
That being said, I did enjoy Peter's relationship with the suit's AI that he names Karen. I wonder if that was for Karen, Plankton's computer wife in SpongeBob Squarepants. Peter's the right age to have watched Spongebob as a child. Really, I think that would be so cool if that's what Peter had in mind when he named the A.I.
And I do need to give a shout out to a classic Spider-Man comics scene brought to life. The Vulture drops a building on Peter, big honking pile of rubble that seems even beyond his powers to lift. But he forces himself to push himself past his limits to extricate himself. It's a scene lifted right from this classic Steve Ditko illustrated sequence.
And I should also mention that Spider-Man: Homecoming also features....
Zendaya.
No, she's not Mary Jane Watson so all the racists out there can settle down. She's an ascerbic observer of human nature who pops up at odd moments and her name is Michelle.
But she prefers to be called "MJ".
MJ?
What?
And that is the role in Spider-Man: Homecoming played by....
Zendaya!
All told, Spider-Man: Homecoming is an enjoyable film that does right by Peter Parker in a way that the previous two Amazing Spider-Man films did not. I just wish the story had not relied so much on boorish idiot ball hugging. But Tom Holland is a Spider-Man I'm looking forward to seeing more of.
So Mr. Parker, welcome to the MCU!
(Now if Marvel could wrest the Fantastic Four out of Fox's inept fingers.)
Thanks for dropping by. until next time, remember to be good to one another.
And remember to also be good to...
Zendaya!
No comments:
Post a Comment