Spider-Man: Homecoming scores average with encouragement (review)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s solo Spider-Man is a good recreation while waiting for more ambitious adventures.

TF1 takes advantage of the school holidays to rebroadcast this evening Spider-Man Homecomingthe first solo of Tom Holland version of the Weaver. Since then, director John Watts and the young star have done it again for Spider-Man: Far From Home And Spider-Man: No Way Home. A 4th film is currently in preparation.

Tom Holland: “I would like to be the Spider-Man of the next twenty years”

Let’s get things straight right away, Spider-Man Homecoming is not a reboot of the superhero, since it has already been successfully reintroduced in Captain America: Civil War. Freed from the task of reviving Spidey (a task which had crushed the imperfect but interesting The Amazing Spider-Man by Marc Webb), Homecoming serves as recreation within the Marvel Cinematic Universe : neither origin story nor major pivotal moment in the saga. A recreation while waiting for other more serious things (this review will inevitably be affected). And a reminder that the superhero of the MCU is also the reader/writer of the MCU, the geek nurtured in Star Wars and comics that exclaim “cool”, “awesome” Or “badass” whenever he sees a supervillain. Tony Stark, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, they are all avatars of the supposedly middle-aged white male geek “normal” who sees the world through the filter of pop culture (Spidey in Civil War who brings down Ant-Man using a stratagem taken from The Empire Strikes Back).

While waiting for Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) to shake it all up, Homecoming operates a slight change in scale compared to other superheroes. Peter Parker, 15, is a geek who grew up In the world of the MCU: what is it like to grow up in a world where Captain America shoots educational videos to teach high school students to respect the rules and play sports? In a world where your parents worked to clean up the big fight between the Avengers and the Chitauri? This is where the film is the funniest (the stuck-up high school students get just as bored when Cap lectures them on video), and even the deepest: the villain character played by Michael Keaton is by far the most successful in the film. MCU, because it fits very well into the continuity of the other films and its actions are perfectly motivated by the consequences ofAvengers. In counterpoint, the ball of energy Tom Holland is flanked by a sidekick who exclaims “cool”, “awesome” Or “badass” at the slightest superheroic thrust of the script.

Homecoming does not contain senseless cinematic gestures either, as in Sam Raimi’s seminal trilogy: which is expressed in this moment when our 2017 Spidey tries to hold the two halves of a ferry cut in two using his canvas, finds himself crucified and fails in his task where the Spidey of Spider-Man 2, in a similar posture (the skytrain scene) succeeded with the support of the population of New York. The recurring presence of Iron Man, deus ex machina which intervenes at key moments to correct and direct Spidey reinforces this impression of a side film, of recreation, of the B side of the MCU, not unpleasant (even if we are still entitled to the antiphon “If you’re nothing without your costume, it’s because you don’t deserve it”) but not unforgettable either. The equivalent of the Première class, before the Terminale, when you are champing at the bit while passing the French baccalaureate while waiting for the next year’s quill (Avengers: Infinity War next year, or even Thor: Ragnarok in October). That said, it’s still very hard to say bad things about a film whose soundtrack contains “Blitzkrieg Bop” of the Ramones. “Hey, ho, let’s go!”

Trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming :

Tom Holland talks about his audition with Robert Downey Jr. for Spider-Man