Spidey: Did we do good?
Me: Still pretty far from perfect.
After liking Homecoming and walking that back thanks to a viewing of Spider-Man 2, is this the sequel to turn it all around?
No… I kind of hated it. And this time I didn’t need a refresher viewing of Spider-Man 2 to enlighten me.
Though it’s never said, they tried to make “With great power, comes great responsibility.” a theme. Unfortunately it wasn’t presented in a way that connected with me. I never felt the weight of anything. They tried to do a classic Spider-Man dilemma but they missed the mark in execution and priorities. I don’t feel like Peter learned anything and even if he did, it required strangers to influence/babysit him or it’s because he was an idiot.
I’ve been waiting for live-action Mysterio. Nice to see a “dope” suit and his “powers” intact but the overall character was forgettable. Then you “kill” him.
They finally caved and made Spidey Sense a thing. Why it took so long in the first place I have no idea unless they had the foresight years ago to save it for this Mysterio fight.
Aunt May is still a lousy fanservice character that serves no purpose. You can write her out of these films and it wouldn’t matter. She only provides bad comedy and somewhere for Peter to live. May knowing Spider-Man’s identity didn’t add anything interesting or worthwhile nor did it progress the story, Peter’s character, or her character. What a waste.
Still no mention of Uncle Ben. Closest thing is the “BFP” suitcase which means he might’ve existed but if he did, he has no impact on Peter’s life. The longer they take to address Ben (IF they address him), the more awkward it’ll be if they suddenly drop such life-changing history on the audience. I might have to come to terms with Tony Stark being a more important figure to this Peter than Uncle Ben which is just sad.
All the humor fell flat thanks to the undeveloped and unbearable comic relief students and teachers that just waste screentime. I made a nitpicky complaint about the school scenes taking up time in Homecoming but this is worse. So much worse. Ned being able to hack Stark tech is silly but at least he contributed in Homecoming. He doesn’t do anything in this one other than require saving. MJ is better because she has lines but Peter liking her came out of nowhere. What was with sad Flash when his mom didn’t pick him up? Why was this in the movie? You didn’t do anything with it!!! The character going after MJ? Do you really care?
The pacing was messy. I kept checking what time it was. The first thirty minutes or maybe even an hour in, I’m not sure the movie started. It doesn’t really start until Hydro Man appears. Until then it’s school shenanigans that bored me to tears. They didn’t know what they wanted this film to be. Lighthearted school fluff or poor attempt at a Spider-Man movie?
Dangling JK Simmons in front of me isn’t going to win me over when the rest of the film was so forgettable. At this point not even Tobey Uncle Ben can fix this series unless they do a complete tonal overhaul.
The idea that Spidey’s identity is public? Look how they handled May finding out… It’ll probably get handwaved especially with all these powerful babysitters allies like Dr. Strange and Skrulls.
Ultimate Reflections:
This didn’t fix the issues I had with Homecoming and was somehow worse. Homecoming had problems but it was better structured, more entertaining, and had a stronger villain. Something is disconnecting me from this Disney Channel Spider-Man. It’s too shallow and average to be memorable. People are loving it right now but it won’t age well. There’s just no meat to it.
What did you guys think? Did you like the movie? Is this take on Spider-Man not for me or am I a secret Raimi fanboy who cuddles with Spider-Man 1-3 DVDs while I sleep every night?
Let me know in the comments.
There D Hood Reviews 