The third time isn’t just the charm with Marvel’s big-screen take on Spider-Man, it’s the “Aha!” moment moviegoers didn’t know they needed. As teased in last summer’s Captain America: Civil War, the team behind Spidey’s latest incarnation wields great power in simply presenting us with a smart, goofily charming, and forthright teen (played here by Tom Holland) whose high school troubles are on par with the threat posed by wannabe supervillains. Miraculously, the six credited screenwriters don’t shirk their responsibility to the audience, foregoing another tired origin-story movie in favor of straight-to-the-point adventure and complex character dynamics that dazzle the brain as much as the web-slinging, monuments-crumbling effects assault the eyes. This reboot swings high above its predecessors as a relative model of restraint, and a signal to comic book movie fans that some franchises just need to percolate (yes, even for fifteen years) before they’re ready to suit up.
Listen to Kicking the Seat Podcast #237 to hear Ian and Keeping it Reel's David Fowlie sling their views on Spider-Man: Homecoming!