Spiderman: Homecoming

     Yet another reboot that strives to return the iconic character  to his "friendly neighborhood" Spiderman years and make us forget everything that has come before it. Peter Parker, aka Spiderman is once again a teenager in Queens but attempting to mix him into the continuity of the current Marvel universe still plays fast and loose with his actual origins.  

      This is an attempt at a lighter, more fun Spiderman film and for the average fan, it's certainly enjoyable enough. However, a true Spiderman fan (like myself) will miss the gravitas and "dark cloud" that always seems to follow our hero. It's part of his makeup to be a loner and every victory comes with a price. Now, he has a comic "sidekick", more people than I could count know his secret identity, Aunt May is a hot younger woman (played by Marisa Tomei), he no longer lives in a house but rather an apartment, Mary Jane (MJ) is now a odd girl named Michelle and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, nearly steals the film every time he is on screen. 

                   Tom Holland stars as Spiderman and he is a very engaging young actor. He captures the goofiness and awkwardness of Peter Parker's teenage years beautifully. Michael Keaton is the major villain, The Vulture, with a major upgrade from the comics. He seems to be the only actor taking his role seriously (but still having fun). Bokeem Woodbine and Logan Marshall-Green both play versions of another iconic Spidey villain, "The Shocker" sans the costume. Jon Favreau is once again, Happy Hogan (from the Iron Man films) with an even bigger role here. Chris Evans, as Captain America has two quick cameos and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts has the quickest cameo in history. The film also goes to great lengths to cast multi-racial actors in supporting roles in an obvious effort to reach a wider audience. I applaud this effort and the actors that play the parts but again, it messes with the original characters.

                    I did enjoy the sly nods to original Spiderman moments (many "easter eggs" here) and the three central action sequences are all well done and exciting. Overall though, I felt like I was watching a PG version of an alternate universe where Spiderman meets "Archie". There are over 50 years of Spiderman stories to tell, yet screenwriters still can't get seem to get it right. I'm sure that today's target audience will still make millions for "Homecoming".  While we are promised that "Spiderman will return", the trailers for "The Inhumans" and "Black Panther" filled me with much more anticipation and excitement. And by the way, the famous "after credit" scenes Marvel always adds, this time out, insults the audience and is not worth waiting for.