Thursday, September 28, 2017

Raimi Did It Better (Spider-Man Homecoming review)

This writing was finished within days of release and never published. Likely because it's about an okay movie with a middling amount of staying power.


Sure, Raimi did it better, but situations change and the show must go on. This is a fun re-imagining of the franchise that was needed after the two consecutive duds of the "The Amazing Spider-Man" series.

As a testament to how good his acting is, Keaton is good enough to where I didn't realize the irony of a main villain played by the man who re-invented the film superhero until about 2/3rds in.

Thankfully, this film strays a bit from the design-by-committee, paint-by-numbers Marvel fare that's plagued most of their movies since Iron Man. It's good to have the characterization of an enemy instead of some random aliens, and the shoe-horning of the Avengers franchise isn't too overbearing here.

It still has problems. Spider-Man's suit has been updated to, basically, Iron Man's infinite-knowledge-in-his-eyes operating system, with a magic drone that flies out of his chest for even more of an edge. The comedy is very welcome, but sometimes it's so much so, it affects what might be most best and plausible for the storyline. The saving of an ocean-liner with Spidey's silly string was a bit much, as well. The racial diversity of the cast sometimes feels forced rather than realistic.

Overall a solid film, with perhaps a better Spider-Man than before seen, but not as good of a dramatic character arc for its good guys and bad guys. You don't get the sense of turmoil and great responsibility Spider-Man has in his new role like you did with Tobey. Still, if they can manage this quality in the next two films it'll have to be the best Spidey series, as anything usurps Spider-Man 3.

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