What’s not to love about Spider-Man, as we follow Tom Holland in his fourth standalone adventure, devoting his time to protecting New York City while web-slinging spectacularly, as both the protagonist and the hero Peter Parker.
He is adjusting to a life where everyone, including his closest friends, have forgotten who he is. Some people like the relationship between Holland and Zendaya (his wife in real life) which creates a real yearning and complexity we have not previously seen in the dynamic between the two. There’s lots to applaud in its emotional focus and character-driven storytelling but the heart of the story lies in its propulsive movement a la web-slinging that is magical. It certainly has verve, intelligence and above all, heart.
I’ve heard some critics declare that Zendaya (MJ) saves the film from silliness and generic deja vu overfamiliarity with the usual overly convoluted plot contortions. As much as the movie revels in the thrill of Spidey swinging between skyscrapers with erratic command of his shooters, the more intimate scenes with MJ and Ned are what supply the emotional charge. Its certainly heavy on CGI action sequences. Not complaining, just explaining. This is a mature Tom Holland character.
My Spidey-senses are tingling, cause the 2021 Spider-Man: No Way Home was pretty lacklustre but for bringing the three Spideys together – Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland were quite the three Musketeers spreading cheeky fun. Now four years later in the story, the world’s memory of Peter was wiped by Doctor Strange, so he remains a solitary hero working closely with his friendly neighbourhood NYPD detective Jean De Wolff played by Liza Colon-Zayas. Famous but lonely, he misses Ned (Jacob Batalon) MJ, the friends he made in the Avengers and his old life, but he carries on as the martyr, helping bring bad guys like Scorpion ( Michael Mando) to justice. While attempting to mingle and make new friends he discovers MJ has a boyfriend, which sends him spiralling mentally, a decline that effects his powers. I guess we all hit puberty at different times. On top of this there’s a new threat in town, a threat that this shady government department (the Department of Damage Control) led by Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman). There’s hunting and being hunted, often bumping shoulders with the Punisher. I didnt take to their odd couple pairing, but it was nice bumping into Bruce Banner whose retired from Hulking and teaching physics to college kids who only take his class because he is the Hulk.
The movie works because its a good story that moves along at a great clip and throws in plenty of action and humour to balance out the more sombre themes. Plenty of antics, plenty of things going boom and above all, plenty of web-slinging.
