The 6th film in 15 years and the 3rd actor to play the iconic role. I admit, I wasn't really excited to see this film. With a baby in my life now, this was probably going to be one film I decided to miss at the cinema. Well, I am glad I took the opportunity to go with some mates - because it was a blast.
Tom Holland made his debut as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. He was often cited as stealing the show in that film. I don't think so, but he was a great addition to the already bumper cast. It intrigued me to see where they could go with the character, but, I wasn't exactly hanging out for it. I suppose I was still wanting to see Andrew Garfield get a chance to have a great third film in his turn as the character. I loved Amazing Spider-Man, somewhat liked Amazing Spider-Man 2, but really wanted to see where that universe would go. Oh well...
Back to this film. Holland nails it. I have absolutely no clue about how Spider-Man is portrayed in the comics or the animated shows, but he really does provide a fresh take on the characters of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. This is the aspect that got me the most - it didn't feel like a retread.
Peter Parker in this film is a real teenager. Although Holland is 20-21, he perfectly encapsulates what it is to be a teenage boy. He and his geeky sidekick build lego star wars, check out chicks out of their league and get teased by seniors.
Michael Keaton as the villain Vulture - excellent work from the 89/92 Batman. Keaton is great as a good guy and as a bad guy in films. Here he is really showing how masterfully he can play unhinged, not to the point of batshit insane, but just enough to make him unpredictably deadly.
Much to my surprise, the story is fairly grounded and the presence of Tony Stark/Iron-Man is limited. I was concerned that the film may focus too much on this character and take away from Peter - but, this is definitely a Spider-Man film. Stark plays a great mentoring role, and that's pretty much it.
There's plenty of humour in this. I was laughing out loud quite regularly, and very invested in the journey of the Parker/Spider-Man. The action is exciting but not over the top. This is an excellent film overall. It stands up there with the first two Tobey films - maybe even higher.
4.5/5
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