Movie Review Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming
Kyle De Freitas - 300847149 Tony Cleave - CO118 Multimedia 1 General Overview -This movie is about one of the most famous superheroes ever, Spider-Man. This is the character’s 6th film adaptation and 2nd reboot. But with all that baggage this is arguably the best adaptation of the character.
-The film is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is the 16th movie set in these films. This movie is set right after Captain America: Civil War, in which Peter Parker helped Tony Stark during that movie. This film is set directly after that movie.
-An overview of the film is about Peter Parker/Spider-Man being really excited about his experience in Captain America: Civil War. He goes home to Queens, New York City which Tony Stark becomes his superhero mentor and Aunt May who cares for him. He tries to be the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man by going just local, but he wants to be more than that. But a new threat called the Vulture emerges in his neighbourhood. Genre of-The genrethe of the film Filmis primarily a superhero film which really is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Action Adventure film. I used these two pictures to show the balance of the film by being a superhero film and a high school film. I really loved it as a spider-man story is about the struggle of his life of balancing his hero life and his normal life.
-The top picture is Peter Parker walking down the halls of high school and the bottom picture is Spider-Man climbing the washington monument to save his friends.
-Superhero films are about the actions of character who possesses superhuman abilities and protects their city. They are usually based on existing material such as a comic book. This film is based on the marvel characters that are portrayed in the film but is not adapting any certain story from the comics as it is an original story. Plot of the Film -The plot is primarily about Peter Parker struggling to be both himself and Spider-Man. The film starts with actually the origin story of the villain. He own a salvage company who collects debris from city damage. He is cleaning the debris and damage from the final battle in The Avengers (2012) film. He then gets screwed over by Damage Control, a company made by the government and Iron Man. 8 years later, it shows him and his crime operation in which he salvages material such as alien weapons from battles in past Marvel films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This films explores the struggle of the middle class and how the upper class constantly screws over the them by replacing their jobs with corporate companies which Tony Stark symbolizes in this film.
-The rest of the plot is mainly about Peter and his friend, Ned doing normal high school tasks such as going to a field trip, parties, and homecoming dance. Peter constantly misses on these normal high school activities by being Spider-Man. It shows that being a Spider-Man isn’t so fun all the time. The film starts what his high school life is like which is just going to classes and spending time with his friend, Ned. It also shows him being the a local superhero by helping people out with directions, and stopping thieves.
-The plot of the film is about Peter Parker/Spider-Man struggling with both being a superhero and a tennager in high scool. The film is primarily about Peter Parker finding out the suit he wears from Iron Man is what makes him a Hero, but it is not as he defeats the villain without it. Video - Opening Scene (5 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW4Xi7e7yAY
00:00-04:55 Direction of the Film -Jon Watts is the director and co-screenwriter of the film. His past credits are directing episodes of The Onion News Network, Clown, and Cop Car. The direction of the film has a light tone which was praised by critics. The film is set in New York City but is local and set in Queens for the most part of the film. The director chose this I think because the past 5 films were set in manhattan and very big scale. Those films were about saving the love interest at the end and saving the city.
-Jon Watts chose to not to do this and make the story small scale which is Spider-Man stopping a weapons dealing operation in his neighbourhood. I loved that he did this since Spider-Man is more local and small scale.
-The direction of the film focuses on Spider-Man’s age by casting very young actors to portray him and other characters. He focuses on the innocence and naivety of Peter Parker being 15 years old. Actor - Main Protagonist -Tom Holland plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man, he is a british actor and dancer. Unknown for the most part till he played Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, he grew fame from that role. Tom Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker is great as he emphasizes the character's age and innocence through his body language and his shy sweet kid personality.
-Tom’s portrayal of Peter Parker is very grounded as he is just a normal teenager who is an outcast in high school as it seems like he has just one friend, Ned, and gets picked on by Flash Thompson throughout the film. So you understand why he wants to be Spider-Man and become an Avenger full-time cause his current life isn’t very great. You can relate to his impatience for wanting the bell to ring so he can leave school, we all had that feeling. Tom plays Peter very awkwardly when he is talking to the girl he likes and getting frustrated with adults telling him what to do and what is the right thing to do.
-He excels with the role as you relate so easily with Peter since everyone has go to school. Actor - Main Antagonist -Michael Keaton plays Adrian Toomes/The Vulture. He is not in the film a lot as you watch the film from watching it quite a few times. But you really feel bad for the character. Michael Keaton has played characters with such a fierce intensity he does even more so in this film. But first, as you saw in the opening scene of the film, Michael portrays him as a working man who wants to support family but then gets screwed over by the government and Tony Stark.
-Michael Keaton plays him with sympathy and he does a monologue near the end of the film to explain why he is doing he does in the film. He explains to Peter that he doesn’t understand what it is to be a father and to work so hard while the one percenters take advantage of the working man. He does the sympathy well but also that you can see that Adrian Toomes will do anything to stop Spider-Man. There is this amazing scene of him threatening Peter by telling that he will kill his loved ones.
-Michael Keaton really played him well and made the villain three dimensional by giving him a clear motive for the actions he does. Some Marvel villains don’t do that and that's why I was so happy with his performance. Actors - Supporting Characters -Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark and he has a small role. He plays a superhero mentor to Peter. He was great in the film as he had that sarcastic wit and great comedic timing but also had a great scene by telling Peter the responsibility he has and how he needs. Robert really plays Tony Stark really different here as he is taking on a father figure for Peter and mentoring him on his superhero life. Its really interesting seeing Tony Stark like this as
-Marisa Tomei plays Aunt May. Aunt May is the aunt of Peter who is his guardian as his parents and uncle died. She plays her as a sweet caring aunt. I’ve always liked this character since she isn't even related to Peter but cares for him as if she is her son. Marisa Tomei is younger than other Aunt May portrayals and it is used for comedic purposes as people are always flirting with her.
-Jon Favreau plays Happy Hogan who is Tony Stark’s assistant and best friend. At the start of the film you see he is the first character Peter sees as he gets introduced to the superhero world in Captain America: Civil War. He has no interest in Peter and takes him for granted throughout the film until Peter proves himself. He is pretty funny as he is the opposite of Peter as Happy is not a enthusiastic person. Actors - Supporting Characters
-Jacob Batalon plays Ned Leeds who is Peter Parker’s best friend, his performance is very light hearted which is great. He helps Peter by hacking into his Spider-Man Suit and being his eyes and ears near the climax of the film. His comedic timing is great and is the highlight of the many jokes. I was glad that he is a support to Peter and helps him through the movie. But he does get mad when Peter ditches him at the party. So he is not perfect but understands that as he knows he had to go stop criminals.
Laura Harrier plays Liz Toomes who is the girl Peter likes. But also she has her own goals and personality. She is one of those kids who achieve to do the best and be the best in class. She says she does this since it is crucial to her future. Laura plays Liz as a very mature young woman who knows what she wants. Her relationship to Peter is that she doesn’t understand what he is going through as he is constantly ditching her throughout the film. She doesn’t know Peter is Spider-Man.
-Tony Revolori plays Flash Thompson who is Peter’s rival and bully. He never hurts Peter but just calls him names and is jealous of Peter’s intellect. He is for the most part one note as you don’t know why he acts the way he does. But he is not the stereotypical jock character and Tony plays him realistically as bullies are usually not punching but insulting and are rich, privileged, and spoiled. Strengths Weaknesses
-Great Performances from all cast members. -Villains like the Shockers, Tinkerer, and Flash Thompson don’t have much development in the film and are just used as -New original tone and perspective of the Spider-Man antagonists to Peter and nothing else. character. -Some characters get little screen time such as Tony Stark/Iron -Great visual effects with tense action scenes. Man.
-Great character development for villain and hero.
-Great plot twist that transitions into a great tense finale with the villain.
-A sympathetic but scary villain that you care for .
-Uses the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a cool way by using characters like Happy and Tony. Uses past events in the universe to influence the film such as the Battle of New York in The Avengers (2012). Recommendation and Score -My recommendation of the film is that it is great and to me is the best spider-man film ever made. It miraculously shined a new perspective on Spider-Man while being an entertaining film in it’s own right.
-I would give it 9 /10 (Webs)
-My Consensus: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming is a spectacular new entry into the MCU and it does this by giving you characters you love, tense action scenes, and a star making lead performance from Tom Holland. Sources Watts, Jon., Feige, Kevin., Pascal, Amy. “Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming”. Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures/Pascal Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing, 2017. Film.
No Author. “Spider-Man:Homecoming (2017) - IMDb.” IMDb Website, No Date, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2250912/.
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