Once again, our favorite web slinger swings into the theaters competing for our money alongside several other comic book-based movies. I am not your average superhero movie fan; I have been collecting comic books in a serious way since I was a child.
Every week I make my way to the local comic shop to pick up the latest issue of books. Spider-Man has long been one of my favorites out of all the comic book movie franchises – that was until Sony Pictures released two below average movies starring Andrew Garfield as the hipster version of Spider-Man.
The previous two Spider-Man movies were dark in tone and devoid of the youthful glee that is expected from our friendly neighborhood Spiderman. With Tom Holland now taking his turn in the blue and red suit, we return to the fun and youthful Peter Parker learning how to manage high school along with his newly-found super powers.
Thankfully, we don’t have yet another origin story reminding us how he got his powers. I think just about everyone knows how Spiderman got his powers by now. After making a big splash in the movie Captain America: Civil War in 2016, Peter Parker is back in school, longing for another chance to fight along side his idols.
None other than the man in the Iron suit, Tony Stark, is mentoring Peter Parker. Young Peter is in a hurry to take on bigger and tougher foes, but Tony attempts to constrain him to smaller task while he learns what it means to be a hero.
Thankfully, this didn’t turn into Iron Man 4. Stark’s appearances are brief and only help to move the story along. It was also a delight to see Michael Keaton as the nemesis playing an updated version of The Vulture, one of Spidey’s oldest foes in the comics.
What you see in this movie is what you often see in real life. There are three stages in maturity whether that is with children or discipleship. The first stage is when you are a sponge, absorbing everything that you are being taught.
The second stage is what I call the “teenage years of leadership.” You’ve got enough information, and you now think you know better than the one who taught you. This is where much of the conflict lies in Spiderman: Homecoming.
Peter Parker has a little experience and thinks he should be trusted with more responsibility. If you have ever tried to teach and disciple others then you know how frustrating this stage can be.
The final stage is when the student appreciates all that the teacher has tried to teach them and gains some hard-earned humility. Director Jon Watts does a decent job of walking us through all these stages while still keeping the humor and action you expect.
Although this film was far better than the last two, it still doesn’t have some of the magic that can be found in the original trilogy of Spider-Man movies. Tobey Maguire will always be my favorite actor to portray the character. But with Sony now partnering with Marvel on this big dollar franchise, I assume things can only get better.