‘Spider-Man’ leaps into the MCU in ‘Homecoming’ (2017)

This blog series chronicles my first viewing of the complete MCU movie saga. I’ll examine each film under various categories that reflect popular discussion points. Next up is the 16th film, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017):

STRENGTHS

Spider-Man’s (Tom Holland) entry into the MCU is smartly constructed, as his adventure plays out within the confines of his high school Academic Decathlon team and the somewhat mean streets of his home neighborhood of Queens. At the same time, “Homecoming” makes good use of Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), who can’t be bothered to be Spidey’s mentor but ends up being a perfect one.

WEAKNESSES

Spider-Fans might miss Uncle Ben, Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy. And at times, Peter/Spider-Man flirts with being an annoying 15-year-old kid, often narrating his plight – sometimes to “Suit Lady” (as per the voice-command function of his suit), sometimes to no one in particular.

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I had “Spider-Pig” and “Scientifically Accurate Spider-Man” stuck in my head throughout my viewing. I admit that’s not really the film’s fault, though.

HEROES

As with “The Incredible Hulk,” this isn’t an origin story, owing to the fact that fans are overly familiar with Spider-Man’s origin – he’s already had two filmed origin stories, in 2002 and 2012. But it’s still an early enough step in his journey that we don’t feel cheated. This high school sophomore passes a test when he declines Tony’s invitation to join the Avengers, opting to do good work on the streets of Queens – and to get his diploma. I like how Tony makes Peter earn the Spidey suit, noting that if he needs the suit to be a hero, he isn’t truly a hero.

VILLAINS

Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) is a strong villain, as we understand his honest path to making a living was cut off by the feds and he turned to selling energy weapons on the streets. I almost wonder if the writers added the scene of Adrian gunning down his departing henchman — and showing little remorse — to make sure viewers see him as the villain. His overall plight is sympathetic. His personal connection to Spidey – he is the dad of Peter’s girlfriend – is convenient, but it does tie together the narrative.

WOMEN

Marisa Tomei gets good material to play with (including a great one-liner to close the movie) as May, the cool aunt who tries to give Peter his space. Yet she also has a warm relationship with him and is peeved in a motherly way when he keeps losing his backpacks.

Laura Harrier’s Liz is the object of Peter’s affections, and a nice girl, but she’s mostly a plot point – the pivot between Peter and Vulture. Another member of the Academic Decathlon team, the loner-who-doth-protest-too-much Michelle, strikes me as underused, perhaps because Zendaya is now a bigger star thanks to “The Greatest Showman.” Because Liz briefly talks to her mom and female friends, the film passes the Bechdel Test, barely.

MIRROR TO REALITY

In the opening flashback, Adrian lands a contract from New York City to clean up the post-“Avengers” rubble, and he has bought extra equipment for the job. Then the feds sweep in and steal the work from him, and apparently do not compensate him, thus putting him in financial ruin. Angry and desperate, he turns to selling weapons based on alien tech he has taken from the wreckage.

Adrian’s monologue to Peter is on point: He’s doing the same thing Tony Stark used to do, only on a smaller scale. It’s interesting to note that Adrian will always have to worry about the authorities (or vigilantes like Peter, as it were), whereas that has never been a serious worry for Tony. This is a parallel to the way the U.S. government hypocritically sees war weapons and personal guns as distinct categories – the former as a market for corporatists, the latter as something to be tightly controlled. Yet the former category kills far more innocent people.

BEST ACTION SCENE

Even watching at home, I almost got vertigo when Spidey is perched at the top of the Washington Monument, trying to get inside a small window to save his friends on the damaged elevator within. This sequence must be incredible in IMAX and 3D.

BEST COMEDIC MOMENT

Usually Spidey gleefully slings his webs among the tall buildings of New York. But he’s at a party in the suburbs when he needs to urgently get back to the city. He slings a web, and it flies off into the distance, disconnecting from his wrist. So he has to hoof it; after all, he is a teenager with no car.

WORLD BUILDING

We see how the feds’ heavy hand has the unintended consequence of creating a villain, Vulture. This ties into a major theme of the MCU in the wake of “Civil War”: The way Captain America (Chris Evans) and his team have been unnecessarily made into villains. Cap’s group is unnamed, apparently, since Tony is heading up the officially sanctioned Avengers, who move their HQ to upstate New York here.

Although Cap’s pep-talk videos are still screened for high school students, one teacher wonders off-handedly if Cap is a war criminal now. Still, “Homecoming” reminds us that some superheroes do help out the little guy; they don’t merely show up for giant battles. Spidey might have more in common with Cap than Tony, and I suspect he’ll have to grapple with that in the sequel.

FINAL THOUGHTS/EXPECTATIONS

I didn’t come into this film as the biggest Spider-Man fan, but I can’t deny that “Homecoming” is smartly and crisply structured (despite having six screenwriters, usually not a good sign). It addresses two oversights in the film saga by giving us a 15-year-old hero (it’s easy to forget amid modern geek culture that comics were originally aimed at kids) and by showing that some superheroes still pound the pavement, rather than luxuriating in towers and compounds.

“Homecoming” has piqued my interest in Spider-Man, making me want to revisit (or watch for the first time) his two previous film sagas.