‘Spiderman: Homecoming’ brings it home for Marvel

Fri, 07/21/2017 - 8:00am

From director Jon Watts (“Clown,” “Cop Car”) featuring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya, Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr., “Spiderman: Homecoming,” now playing at The Harbor Theatre in Boothbay Harbor, is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments.

Peter Parker (Holland), fresh off his first assignment with (and against) the Avengers as Spiderman, has returned home to Aunt May (Tomei). While remaining on call for Tony Stark, boredom eats away at Peter as he sheds many of his responsibilities and extracurricular pursuits, replacing them with an attempt to put a stop to petty crime in Queens. Meanwhile, Adrian Toomes (Keaton) emerges as the Vulture, stealing and scrounging alien weapons from the aftermath of the Avengers’ misadventures.

With the Sony-Marvel joint venture, I didn’t expect “Spiderman: Homecoming” to be a rehash of “The Amazing Spiderman” and the travesty which was the sequel. I was not disappointed — Holland brought the depth and finesse that seemed to evade former Spiderman actor Andrew Garfield, and, to some extent, Tobey Maguire who preceded Garfield. Keaton delivers a desperate and chilling villain while Tomei brings the first ever sexy Aunt May iteration to the screen.

Having done mostly film shorts, television and TV movies until 2014, relative newcomer Watts directs a fun and witty script which had to pass six pens before being placed in his hands. Considering Watts had to follow what most critics would call three failures in a row for the franchise, he also had to follow Sam Raimi (Spiderman 1, 2, and 3) and his initial success as well as his inability to sustain interest in the characters and stories. All in all, Watts knocks it out of the park, bringing a keen interest back into the friendly neighborhood Spidey.

Ever since the first phase of Marvel films (“Iron Man,” “Thor,” etc.), the sound and visual elements have neither wowed me nor let me down. The creators of “Spiderman: Homecoming” did well not to try and reinvent the wheel as far as those facets of film are concerned. However, the acting and writing shine particularly well, putting the comedy close behind “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

The verdict? It's the type of fun for the kids that adults can enjoy. Go see it if superhero movies are your thing — it truly will not disappoint. 

The film plays at 7 p.m. July 21-26 and also has a 2 p.m. showing on Sunday, July 23.