I wasn’t sure the world needed another Spider-Man reboot… but was I wrong. Marvel has pulled Peter Parker into their Cinematic Universe with the assistance of cross-over appearances by Tony Stark, Pepper Pots, Happy Hogan and even Steve Rodgers. Peter Parker does exactly what any other fifteen year old boy would do when given supernatural strength and reflexes (as well as the ability to climb walls and ceilings… somehow): worry about impressing his crush.
While the origin of Spider-Man is implied and only mentioned briefly during conversation, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is young, sassy, impetuous and nervous — exactly the right combination for a Spider-Man feature film. You care about the boy and his journey into becoming a super hero, with all the responsibilities that entails.
There’s humor through most of the film in the vein of most of the recent Marvel films and it certainly helps the audience enjoy the journey. One of the Marvel execs recently told a reporter that humor is their hook into the audience’s attention, which they’ve successfully done here.
Marvel is firing on all cylinders lately and this latest entry doesn’t disappoint. I predict this will be one of the more successful summer movies of the year, especially given some of the competition (Wonder Woman, for example, and the excellent Baby Driver).
True Spider-Man comic nerds will appreciate the hidden (and sometimes obscure) references in the script to future villains and other characters in the Spider-Man history. And in true Marvel film spirit there are two post-credits “bonus” scenes. It pays to have patience…