#go watch challengers though that movie is so good and zendaya’s role in this dynamic makes it sooooo interesting

[skeletonzimms]

boy best friends playing together in juniors to bitter sort-of-exes playing against each other in pro sports is my favorite thing

[empress-of-snark]

(@caseyblu can’t do whatever a spider can, but he can make a cool header)

SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING (2017)

AKA: Tony Stark, reluctant father figure (Part II).

(Spoilers, obvi.)

Ah, another one of my top favorites of the MCU. I’ve actually rewatched this one several times since it came out, so I know it a bit better than lots of the others, and I still enjoy every bit of it. It’s just so fun.

Like Incredible Hulk, Marvel chose to skip right over the whole backstory where Peter gets his powers because after two failed attempts at Spiderman franchises in the past twenty years, we know what happens. Plus, we’ve already been introduced to Peter in Civil War, meaning that going back to his spiderbite would be even more of a hassle because it would be a flashback and they wouldn’t have a chance to expand on his relationship to Tony.

The Tony and Peter dynamic is one of my favorites in the MCU. Tony as the Exasperated Dad parenting his rebellious adopted son Peter is just so fun to watch every time. It really shows how much Tony has grown as a character, because 2008 Tony would absolutely not be giving fatherly speeches to anyone about responsibility, but that’s where he is now. He doesn’t want Peter making the same reckless mistakes he has in the past.

And I mentioned this in the review for it, but all of Iron Man 3 gives so much more context and weight to the line, “If you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it.” Tony had grown so dependant on his suits that he didn’t think he was really Iron Man without them, and he couldn’t cope by himself. He doesn’t want that happening to Peter.

I’m so sorry that every review is just turning into “Why I Love Tony Stark” hour but this is where I am. This is the problem with watching all the Marvel movies together in less than two weeks. Things get emotional.

Anyway, he can recognize that Peter is acting reckless and impatient when he really needs to slow down a bit and focus on helping the little guy until he’s ready for a bigger challenge.

This movie is great partially because it lowers the stakes a little and gives us some breathing room after all the intense movies that came right before it. Lowering the stakes can be underwhelming if done wrong, but it’s a good choice for a Spiderman movie because he’s still a Beginner Superhero. Maybe he’s not ready to save the entire world just yet, but he can save Queens.

Actually, this is one of the few cases of a villain who’s actually not out for blood. There’s no grand plot to blow up the city, kill Spiderman, or topple buildings. Toomes is literally just looking out for his family, doing whatever he can to survive. He’s a working class anti-hero. Yeah, he’s selling dangerous weapons to people, but he’s just making ends meet in these trying times. He’s another really relatable villain.

Tom Holland was a fantastic casting choice for Peter partly because, unlike the last two actors to play him, he actually looks like a teenager. He’s just so short and skinny and baby-faced that I almost can’t believe he’s not really 15. And out of all the fake Americans of the MCU, he may be the best at covering his natural accent, which is impressive.

By the way, shout-out to one of my favorite shots of the entire movie--Peter sprinting down the dark school hallway while dramatically ripping off his tie. It’s such a classic superhero shot and I love it.

This is just such a fun, teen movie. It’s a nice reprieve from all the intense, more action-packed MCU movies of the past few years and good to watch if you need a good laugh. It’s also got some of the most accurate representations of high schoolers and their teachers that I’ve ever seen. And Captain America’s cameos are a treasure.

RANKINGS:      Hero: 9 frogs-in-the-mouth out of 10. It’s refreshing to see such a young hero who hasn’t yet grown bitter and hardened by the world. He’s still idealistic and hopeful and saves the Vulture when he could’ve easily let him die. Peter’s just a joy to watch and so so easy to like.

     Villain: 9.5 mistaken anti-gravity guns out of 10. Michael Keaton is just so perfectly menacing in this role. He’s come so far from playing Batman. The car ride is the most stressful scene in the entire movie and even though you still sympathize with him a little, you recognize that he may very well be a psychopath.

     Supporting characters: 8 confidence hats out of 10. The supporting characters are part of what makes this movie so great. Aunt May, Ned, Liz, Happy, etc. are all just so loveable, even when Happy’s just the most annoyed babysitter. Tony shows up enough times to make an impression but not so often that he steals the show. And Zendaya is, as always, flawless.           Female characters: 6.5 Bechdels out of 10. This one does not pass the Bechdel test and none of the women really have a huge impact on the plot. Liz and her mother serve as Toomes’ motivation for what he does, and Aunt May looks after Peter, but that’s about it for them. To be fair, they’re all still fairly dynamic characters. And if Karen can be considered a woman (even though she’s a robot), she helps Peter out a lot, too. I’m thinking maybe May and Michelle/MJ might have bigger roles in the sequel.

     Action scenes: 7.5 punches out of 10. Each action scene is unique and shows off a different aspect of Peter’s powers. They’re fun to watch especially for the fact that he’s still not very experienced in doing this, so he’s just kind of fumbling his way through.

     Stan Lee: 2 cameos out of 5. He’s the grumpy neighbor who starts yelling with everyone else when Peter tries to prevent a ‘carjacking.’ Not one of his better cameos. This one’s just okay.

     Charisma: 8.5 points out of 10. The overall tone of this movie is very lighthearted and fun--it only deviates from this tone a few times in some more sinister scenes, but these are done very well. The themes of responsibility are very evident (as they always are in Spiderman movies, but at least this one didn’t include that one Overused Quote) and carry through until the end, where Peter decides to do the responsible thing and keep looking after New York for the time being. You leave this movie feeling very good.

In total: 51 out of 65, a 78%. Rotten Tomatoes said 92%.

Onto Thor: Ragnarok!