By Muhammad Faiz
Disclaimer: Spoilers Alert! Read at your own risks and cautions.
In a span of 15 years from 2002 until 2017, we already have three different instalments, six movies and three Spider-Man movies. Most importantly, we have three different versions of Spider-Man, a superhero with spider-like abilities. From the movies, we have three different portrayals by Tobey Maguire in three movies (Spider-Man), Andrew Garfield in two movies (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming).
It is a new whole trilogy because of the empire behind Spider-Man, Marvel wanted to re-introduce the superhero into the same setting and universe with the Avengers. The movies that came before are not set in the same setting so it would be out of the blue for either Tobey’s version or Andrew’s version to appear in the Avengers.
In my honest opinion, it was a great decision as Tom’s version of Spider-Man brought something different to the table as we can see from Captain America: Civil War because his portrayal is one of the best things and has totally stolen the movie.
The new movie picks up after Civil War and how Peter Parker navigates between being a Spider-Man and living life as a normal teenager. Over several months, he keeps waiting for Tony Stark and the whole Avengers’ stamp of approval and invitation for joining the team yet never get one. Indirectly, it leads Peter Parker to crave for attention, to fight criminals and become better but for the completely wrong reasons. The movie follows Peter Parker’s journey to forge his own path and make a decision on his own.
From the entire movie, I found myself wishing for a scene of Ben Parker, Peter Parker’s uncle. For those who are familiar with Spider-Man’s background, Ben Parker has died because of shot fire after being robbed. The unfortunate incident is one of the things that makes Spider-Man the hero he is and the infamous quote, “With great power comes great responsibility”.
However, it is perfectly understandable if they decided to keep it for the next movie since the other two trilogies incorporated that element in the very first instalment. Therefore, it makes me a fellow Spider-Man’s fan feel excited to watch the sequel of the new trilogy.
Besides that, I do feel happy watching the whole movie as it is so light. It is the same lightness with the original comic persona of Spider-Man. As we all know, Spider-Man is the neighbourhood superhero with witty nature and comedic timing. He is the one fighting robbery, road theft, homicide and drug dealing gone wrong. He is not the kind of superhero who is gone for a mission and fighting a big bad. Luckily, this movie shows that despite the amazingness of his portrayals and actions in Civil War with his mission alongside the Avengers.
As for the action scenes, it was choreographed cinematically beautiful with a perfect combination of his power and comedy. There were actions, comedies, and flexibilities. The credit is due to the actor because of his gymnastic experience that does wonder to his portrayal. Not only that, the action scenes are also packed with comedy and it is hilarious.
The occasional appearances of Tony Stark, Happy and brief cameo of Pepper Potts brought something different to the table and a sense of security for the fans to know that even if Spider-Man does not end up as a member of the Avengers, he will stay as an ally to the team. Last but not least, the villains in the movie is a perfect choice as it brought a perfect amount of angst into the movie. The plot twists included in the movie can make all of the head turns and easily chosen as a jaw-dropping moment.
Overall, the whole movie got 94 percent from Rotten Tomatoes and 9.3 out of 10 from IMDb as of now. It was an amazing experience watching a new version of Spider-Man even though we already have three different versions. Luckily, for all of Spider-Man’s fans, all of the three portrayals of Spider-Man has been exceptionally amazing, and so, looking forward for the next one. ***