Spider-Man: Homecoming, A Review

I love Spider-Man. He is easily my favorite superhero.

Why? Because I care about both the hero and the mild-mannered secret identity. With Batman and Superman, I don't really care about the person as much. I love that Peter Parker is a real person with normal, real-life problems. He doesn't have a billion dollars or a government job - he's a photographer who has to somehow make rent while still saving lives. He's accessible, and balances real life with being a good, responsible hero.

I like that. I think that's the kind of hero that readers and viewers can relate to. I also enjoy a hero who can mouth off to the villain as he fights them.

And I loved the new Spider-Man movie. Seriously. Loved. So, here's my review.

I will avoid spoilers. I promise. But, really, if at this point you don't know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man or what his skill set is, I feel bad for you. Rocks aren't easy to live under during the summer.

So, what did I like about the movie? It had a great tone. It meshes "high school" with "superhero" very well, and Peter comes across as a realistic teenage superhero. The character interactions were also enjoyable and felt realistic. That was probably my favorite part of the movie: the way Peter and his friends interact.

The humor was perfect for the movie. It isn't funny in the same way Guardians of the Galaxy is. Again, it's high school. It's quick wits and sarcasm, which is exactly what Spider-Man is like: mouthing off to villains and whipping out quips.

But my absolute favorite part is how they handle a newbie hero who is doing his best but still making mistakes. With so many teen hero stories, the hero gets in trouble for being irresponsible. I was worried, a little, that they'd do that with Spidey. Which wouldn't make sense, really, because it's Spider-Man. The whole "with great power" thing? Yeah. You see what I mean.

But they didn't do that! Every time Peter has a chance to do something totally irresponsible with his powers, he doesn't do it. I hope this doesn't count as a spoiler. You see temptation, but responsibility always comes first. Every bit of trouble Spider-Man gets into is because he is new to saving people. He doesn't know, exactly, how to minimize damage and how to deal with villains yet. It's not irresponsibility. He's just learning the ropes. And I loved that. It was a nice take on the "teen gets in trouble" trope.

I did have one criticism: where the heck was the spider sense in all of this? Does this new incarnation of Spider-Man even have this power?

Maybe it was there but I didn't see it. I should watch this movie again. Maybe a few times. Heck, I should buy it when it comes out.

Overall review: a rather friendly and amazing movie (see what I did there?). Stay to the end of the credits for one of the best credits scenes Marvel has given us to date.

So, I'm going to be visiting the Orem Public Library at 2 pm on August 1. If you'd like to come, the details are here.

And here are the debuts for this week:

Middle Grade:
Heidi Lang & Kati Bartkowski - A Dash of Dragon (7/11)

Young Adult:
Blair Thornburgh - Who's That Girl (7/11)
Julie Shephard - Rosie Girl (7/11)