Spider-Man: Homecoming: The Franchise is Reborn

We all know the Spider-Man jokes. This franchise has been re-booted endlessly in the past decade and everyone regarded the advent of Tom Holland as yet another fresh-faced Peter Parker/Spider-Man with the deepest apathy. Why do we need to reboot this ailing franchise? How could it possibly be any good? What is the point? Well, the point is that it isn't just anyone rebooting the franchise. Marvel has officially joined forces with Sony, and the resulting Spider-Man: Homecoming is spectacular.

First off, some critical story elements. The studio has wisely shied away from the origin story. The tale picks up right where we left off with the new Spidey's appearance in last year's Captain America: Civil War. Therefore, we don't have to go through the rigamarole of watching him being bitten by a radioactive spider, having Uncle Ben utter "with great power comes great responsibility," etc. Ben's dead, Peter Parker has his powers and is swinging around Queens being a friendly neighborhood vigilante, and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is going to help him become an Avenger. So this is really the origin story of how Spidey became an Avenger, but is also a tale of how a scrawny 15-year old learns to harness his power to become a genuine superhero that fights supervillains armed with extraterrestrial weapons.

Like with any Marvel movie, there's a ton of action courtesy of Michael Keaton as the villain, Vulture, who is manufacturing crazy weapons using alien technology that he smuggles from the sites of every Avengers battle. He is a formidable opponent for Peter and there's a certain amount of meta joy the audience can experience on two fronts: first, the Vulture is a lot like the Birdman, and second, it's hilarious to see the former Batman now playing a Marvel villain.

But the action is not what's important about this movie. What is important is Marvel's ability to inject every single film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with humor and character development. Throw in a brilliant sidekick in the form of Peter's best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), who is thrilled to bits when he discovers Peter's secret identity, and you've got the makings of a fine teen comedy. In fact, this is the first Spider-Man who legitimately seems like he belongs in high school. While there's a need for some crime fighting and avenging, the movie is mostly about Peter's foray into adolescence and the complications that causes, which are oftentimes worse than the complications of being a superhero. Holland is a terrific actor and his Spider-Man is both heroic and awkward, a potent combination that allows for much hilarity.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is a legitimately entertaining film that doesn't require you to be steeped in the MCU. You can enjoy it entirely on its own merits and have a grand time. There is a big twist towards the end that genuinely surprised me, and my friend Laura and I had moments when we actually gasped out loud. The fact that a Spider-Man movie can still contain surprises is quite astonishing, so tamp down your incredulity and give this movie a chance. The franchise is in good hands once again.