Our old friendly, neighborhood “Spider-Man” is back — at last.
Another “Spider-Man”? Did we really need another one?
Hell, yes.
Because this time around, Marvel’s in control. And they’ ve stripped away the clutter and confusion to get it right, and get back to the basics.
One, a nerdy teenager from Queens. Two, a superhero who’s still learning on the job.
‘Spider-Man’ trailer features youthful, energetic Peter Parker
And three, a sense of fun.
That had been missing from Spidey’s last three or four films. It’s been absent from even Marvel’s best movies, lately, which have had so many superhero squabbles they looked like reality shows.
But “Spiderman: Homecoming” is its own return — to one hero, one villain, and one simple plot.
OK, another superhero — Iron Man — drops in for some tough-love mentoring. There are also a couple of quick, campy Captain America cameos.
Sony releases ‘clean’ versions of movies
But this “Spider-Man” skips over the usual dreary, dead Uncle Ben origin stuff to pick up where “Captain America: Civil War” left off, with Peter Parker already empowered. And already confused.
Which is why Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man drops by to give him some tips — and an upgraded suit. And Peter soon finds his own purpose — tracking down that arms merchant and all-around villain, the Vulture.
Tom Holland is our new Spider-Man and he’s a terrific choice — a little pale, a little splotchy, and — even though he’s a 21-year-old Englishman — a totally, believably New York teen.
The Vulture? A grinning Michael Keaton. (Wait, I thought he was Birdman. Or was that Batman?)
No matter. Keaton’s great, and gives his blue-collar bad guy a very real resentment. Hey, he demands, how come Tony Stark gets to sell weapons and he’s a hero? And I sell guns and I’m a criminal?
But touching on that working-class anger is about as real-life as this movie gets. Instead it’s content to stick to the stuff of the old 12-cent comic books — neat gadgets, cool chases, last-minute rescues.
And that’s a relief.
Director Jon Watts makes some excellent choices early on. Most Spidey movies cast an elderly actress as Aunt May; Watts gives us Marisa Tomei. Lots of Marvel pictures start with seriously dark flashbacks; Watts shows us Peter’s cellphone videos from the last Avengers flick.
Watts is less certain with the big fight that ends the picture, cutting it together so busily we can’ t always tell what’s going on. He also pushes some of the comedy too hard, giving Peter more goofy classmates than he needs.
But those are small problems in what’s still a light, fun, friendly movie.
No, this web-slinging crime fighter isn’ t quite of world-saving, world-weary Avenger caliber yet. But that’s OK. In fact it’s better, because he’s something we’ ve really been missing for a long time.
Our old friendly, neighborhood “Spider-Man.”
