Just for the record, Spiderman has always been my favorite from the very first of Marvel Comics. And of course there have been more Spiderman movies than that of any other character or group of characters. He is relatable– bright but awkward as a teenager. And this film really is a reboot, going back to the ‘teenage neighborhood Spiderman’ who just begins to have a relationship with Mary Jane. I like Tom Holland (a Brit) as Spiderman. I even like Marisa Tomei as a way too young Aunt May. Zendaya was o.k. as M.J. but really too different from the comic book character for traditionalists to be entirely happy. As for Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio, well he was alright, but he had far more gadgets than the original one in the comics. Of course the storylines evolve with the technology, which is to be expected, but for my money there was too little humor, too little romance, and too much blowing up of things in this film. In short the plot was not great even though the characters were alright. Now as for the scenery, well Venice was alright, Prague was better, Berlin was boring, and London, well it was London. No one should confuse this film with other rather interesting or humorous European vacation films. This one masquerades as a senior trip abroad film which goes horribly wrong. At two hours and ten minutes it stretches things out unnecessarily long. But still one redeeming feature of the film is the plot line that has Peter Parker realizing he needs to carry on the role of super hero, instead of longing to live a ‘normal life’. So the coming of age theme is welcome, and it is nice to see Mr. Parker grow up a bit as a young man under 21. This is very much like the earliest Marvel Spiderman comics.
This film has some rather intense scenes with scary larger than life figures, so I don’t recommend it for smaller kids. And honestly, to me, this was something of a disappointment. They could have been more creative, and not have resorted to the ‘when you run out of ideas add more explosions and fighting’. But then that is the story of our country as well…. and as a parable about power hungry people like Mysterio and the misuse of great power, there is something here worth pondering.
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