Writer: Naseem Randhawa

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Watch this if you liked: "Spider-Man" films, Marvel Cinematic Universe films, "Kick-Ass"

First "Logan" then "Wonder Woman" and now "Spider-Man: Homecoming". Is this the year where our faith in superhero movies are restored?

We hate it when movie properties keep getting unnecessarily rebooted, so imagine our surprise when the numero uno most rebooted franchise in history actually delivered all the goods to be a really fun ride!

Without getting too much into the story, let's just confirm that the tiresome Peter Parker-to-Spider-Man origin plot points are thankfully omitted out of this reboot (like Peter getting bitten by a radioactive spider and the death of poor Uncle Ben), as the story of our young hero takes place AFTER all of that, thus allowing more screen time to strengthen his connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, namely his relationship with the Avengers, namely Tony Stark.

So, it is two months after the events of "Civil War", and Peter Parker is still waiting for that call from Tony Stark to officially (maybe hopefully?) join the Avengers. Meanwhile, Peter tries to adorably fight crime in his Queens neighbourhood in order to impress Stark, but it all seems to be headed nowhere until he stumbles upon a metal winged man named Adrian Toomes who is dealing in illegal weaponry. In school, Peter has his own set of problems too as he has a crush who he's too afraid to talk to, is constantly picked on by a guy named Flash ("Hey, it's Penis Parker!"), and basically has to keep his superhero identity in the closet living with his not-so-cool resident geek status.

Baby-faced Tom Holland, like his "Civil War" appearance, is highly likeable and charismatic here for such a young actor with only minor star power. Yes, even more so than Andrew Garfield's mouthy hipster Spider-Man. The 15-year-old innocent Spidey adds a sense of childhood wonder to the film. His excitement meeting the Avengers (back in "Civil War") and basically fanboying over them until today is all of us, and if that's not relatable I don't what is. With his bestie, Ned (Jacob Batalon), the duo have plenty of hilarious moments together which make up for most of the comedic moments of the film. Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan (Tony Stark's head of security) also has plenty of moments with Holland and the exchange between them is just so fun to watch.

From playing Batman, Birdman and then this Vulture-type-man, Michael Keaton is not really your typical supervillain with a diabolical plan to take over the world. His blue collar character, Adrian Toomes a.k.a. Vulture is a logical opponent for a coming of age teen hero. Keaton is fleshed out like a fed up Tony Soprano businessman type who just wants to make money to take care of his family, and he is beyond annoyed that this Spidey kid keeps meddling in his illegal business. After all, "if the guys with the big bucks like Tony Stark can make a living out of dealing with weapons, so what's wrong with a middle-class family man trying to get his cut of the pie?", as Toomes so eloquently puts it.

Where the previous MCU movies overdid things by introducing out of this world supervillains and destroying cities on a colossal scale, "Spider-Man: Homecoming" humbly takes it all down a few notches back to Earth and is best described as a mash up between a John Hughes film (watch out for that Ferris Bueller" nod) and "Kick-Ass" (minus the swearing).

There are two end credits for "Spider-Man: Homecoming". The mid-credits one is related to the movie, while the other at the very end is not, but it will leave you howling in your seat!

Cinema Online, 03 July 2017