Review | Film review – Marvel reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming turns spotlight on Tom Holland’s charming webslinger
There is something for everyone in Jon Watts’ version of the superhero’s origin. This time, Peter Parker is at school and becomes part of the Marvel Universe
4/5 stars
You could almost call this Spider-Boy: Homecoming.
Tom Holland, who first stretched into the Marvel superhero’s spandex for last year’s Captain America: Civil War cameo, is only 21. The British actor looks in his late teens, making him ideal casting as the adolescent New Yorker, Peter Parker, who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and starts developing acrobatic powers. His boyish enthusiasm for the role shines through in this stand-alone blockbuster.
For sheer fun, Spider-Man: Homecoming is hard to beat. The set pieces – at the Washington Monument, on the Staten Island Ferry and a finale next to Coney Island – are thrilling.
Then there’s the humour, much of which comes from the franchise taking Peter back to school. From his relationship with his geek friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), who swiftly discovers his friend’s secret identity and has a hard time keeping it quiet, to his bashful romancing of fellow pupil Liz (Laura Harrier), there’s a charming innocence to this incarnation.
