Tom Holland's energized superhero whisks 'Spider-Man' to epic heights
It doesn't seem right for Michael Keaton to pop up in a Marvel movie.
After all, he's the actor who recreated the quirky, darker Batman for the post-Adam West generation in Tim Burton's 1989 film based on DC's vintage vigilante.
Nonetheless, here he is, “Batman” in Marvel Town, playing an even darker winged entity called the Vulture in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,”
Oddly enough, it works.
In “Homecoming,” an older actor who redefined a more realistic, layered DC superhero pairs off against a much younger actor who now redefines a more realistic, layered Marvel superhero.
Tom Holland plays a 15-year-old Peter Parker with such joyous naiveté and youthful exuberance that his predecessors - the nerdy Tobey Maguire and the neatly coifed Andrew Garfield - now seem more like grad students than high schoolers.
“Captain America: Civil War” introduced Holland's Spider-Man in a too-brief scene where Tony Stark (aka Iron Man, aka Robert Downey Jr.) talks about recruiting him for Team Avengers.
Parker calls Stark's probationary period an “internship,” at least that's what he tells Aunt May (the still-steaming Marisa Tomei, a bold casting choice considering the comic book character was depicted as a prune). At school, Parker pals around with his best bud Ned (a wonderfully reactive Jacob Batalon), but yearns for the affections of smart senior, Liz Allan (Laura Harrier).
The villain and plot of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” are hardly compelling or complicated.
Keaton brings a sinister low boil to blue-collar city worker Adrian Toomes, who imagines himself striking a blow against a controlling upper class by selling stolen weapons from a crashed alien spacecraft. (Please don't ask ... this screenplay isn't big on details and explanations.)
Toomes becomes his own enforcer, the Vulture, by donning a set of mechanical gargoyle wings equipped with old-school propellers. It's cheesy more than pleasing.
Two extraordinary scenes highlight “Homecoming”: a visual stunner in which Spider-Man moves fast to save classmates trapped at the top of a crumbling Washington Monument; and a nail-biter inside a car where Toomes begins to suspect there's more to the kid in his back seat (Parker) than he lets on.
“Homecoming,” energetically directed by Jon Watts, updates the Marvel teen superhero with cool, high-tech gadgets in a suit created by Tony Stark's team.
Parker's arachnid alter-ego now possesses his own state-of-the-art GPS, Siri knockoff (complete with dating advice and verbal high-fives), concealable wings and a 3-D spider emblem that detaches to become a sentry drone.
“Homecoming” hits all the right commercial notes, but like most tentpole superhero franchise movies - even “Wonder Woman” - it bludgeons us with action-scene overkill and an overly lengthy running time.
Most disappointing is how Parker, perhaps the third-smartest tool in the Marvel superhero shed behind “Fantastic Four's” Reed Richards and Tony Stark, must rely mostly on physical strength and resilience to win the day, not intelligence and critical thinking skills.
Besides, Parker's biggest challenge here isn't to stop Toomes or save people. It's to convince a senior girl to go out with a science geek not old enough to get a driver's license.
Good luck with that, Pete.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming”
★ ★ ★
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr.
Directed by: Jon Watts
Other: A Sony Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for language, violence. 133 minutes