As a lifelong Spidey fan I was expecting good things of Homecoming. Sadly - and I appreciate that I seem to be in the minority - it did not deliver for me.
Let's start with the positives: Michael Keaton's Vulture was everything a villain should be with an added layer of charm and depth. The high school setting and our youngest Peter so far was definitely a step in the right direction (Tom Holland is a very capable actor although though his voice did grate after a while). Even the menacing Mac Gargan, a potential 'Scorpion', was a great addition.
Now the negatives. I think the casting for Flash Thompson, Liz Allen and Ned Leeds was absolutely ridiculous. Flash is supposed to be a jock who bullies Peter - not a smaller Asian guy who is also a member of the same quiz team! And that throwaway 'M J' comment at the end - unforgivable!!!
The costume AI also didn't work for me. I appreciate that this is a tool to integrate Spidey into the MCU - but for me he works better when he is on his own, a guy in a cloth suit overcoming the odds with a mixture of bravery and science.
I can appreciate that Homecoming had some issues to get over, especially as the other movie incarnations covered his unique origin in such depth. Was it brave to avoid the origin altogether - or did it detract from really getting us onside? Maybe a 20 minute opening section with Peter narrating, recapping his origin might have helped...
I've no doubt that younger viewers would have enjoyed this movie (and maybe that was the aim), but fans of the 60's, 70's or 80's Spidey might have wondered what had happened to their favourite wallcrawler.
For me, the first 45 minutes of Raimi's 'Spider-Man' nailed it and SM2 was equally as good. My GF, who has no knowledge of the Spider- Man lore, left the cinema with me and remarked 'that was the worst one'.
Though I don't necessarily agree with that comment, I certainly wasn't ready to hail SM:Homecoming as an all conquering triumph, instead a rather weak chapter in the MCU series.
Sorry Spidey, I so wanted to love this movie! Maybe better next time...
