Welcome Home Spidey! and a Tribute to Joan Lee

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!
Long time no see everyone! I apologize about my absence from the blog, between a bit of writers block and life being a thing, keeping up with this has been a little bit difficult. Now one of my last posts I talked about a film that brought a breath of life to it's cinematic universe in Wonder Woman. It has only been a few weeks, and while Wonder Woman has certainly dominated the word of mouth. Spider-Man: Homecoming has made it here, and boy is it on another level. It's everything a fan of our friendly neighborhood wall crawler could want in a film. Before I go into detail on it, here is a  brief synopsis of the movie: 2 months after the events of Captain America: Civil War Peter Parker continues his "Stark Internship" via dressing up in his iconic costume and taking on bad guys, and certainly earning the title of "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man." However, Peter wants more than that, and so is constantly pushing to be promoted up to the big leagues. This eventually leads him to find an incognito weapons manufacturer that makes weapons out of salvage from things like the Battle of Manhattan (the stand against the Chitauri invaders that the Avengers made some 8 years before) led by the mysterious Vulture. While he initially tries to ask for backup, Peter takes this as his opportunity to prove himself as a ready and responsible hero.

To start off here I want to praise some character performances. First of all, hats off to Tom Holland who brings our favorite Web-head to the screen better than pretty much anyone before. What Toby Maguire did right as Peter and Andrew Garfield did right as Spider-Man, those two performances kinda meet head to head in Tom Holland's rendition of the character. Peter is awkward and quirky, and while that does occasionally make it's way into his Spider-Man, there is a confidence and even enjoyment to him being in that suit. Michael Keaton, you are truly outstanding in taking a character like The Vulture, and not only making him menacing, but giving him a measure of depth the likes of which we haven't seen in a villain since Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus in the second film of Raimi's franchise. Jacob Batalon is the best friend we all wish we had and his chemistry with Holland is outstanding. In all honesty I could list pretty much the entirety of this cast, with very few exceptions, in their outstanding portrayals in the film. As usual Marvel proves once again that they are exceptional at having an eye for undiscovered or under utilized talent as the movie creates an incredible atmosphere that brings the MCU to life in a way it hasn't in quite a while, which brings me to the thing I want to talk about next: Tone and Message of the movie.
The Tone of this film is perfect. I realize that what I am about to say has been said before, but I feel like it is quite honestly the best description of the film in general.  This movie takes the style of a John Hughes film (Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles) and plops it right into the Cinematic Universe of Marvel. What is so great about this movie is that it is just as much a super hero film as it is a coming of age drama. Having Peter Parker actually DEAL with High School was something that was never really focused much in prior films. We always had snip its of that aspect, but it has never played an integral role to the film the way it does here. In fact, Peter's High school experience is the crux of the film's plot as it uses the experience with the Vulture to remind him of both his age and the weight of responsibility that comes with being an adult. This probably sounds very familiar as a quote a certain uncle once said to him: "with great power comes great responsibility," and this message is cleverly the entire point of the film. For the entire film Spider-Man is so focused on gaining more responsibility, trying to become an Avenger, that he is missing out on life as a High Schooler. Ultimately this film is the story of Spider-Man realizing that going through life too fast isn't a good thing, and that it's okay to be a kid. Uncle Ben's words carry their weight throughout the entire film without being uttered even once.

Now the last thing I want to gush about for the film is the score, because they nailed it. This movie was a lot of things, but most importantly it's the first MARVEL Spider-Man film. So what better way to show that by paying homage to his legacy through sound. The main theme of the film keeps the melody of the old 60s cartoon while incorporating the heavy strings and brass that Danny Elfman had in the Sam Raimi films while also incorporating some digital elements that James Horner brought to the Amazing Spider-Man franchise. I bring this up because I feel that it is probably going to be the most overlooked thing about this movie. Don't get me wrong, I totally get why. There is so much good in there that it's just easy to forget the sounds in the background especially when you are so busy appreciating the things that are much more in your face.

As far as weak points are concerned, I don't think that Spider-Man: Homecoming has any blaring ones. However, what I will say is that it does lack a moment like the harrowed "No Man's Land" sequence in Wonder Woman, however, I am not exactly sure that is a bad thing in and of itself. Spider-Man is supposed to be a small time hero, someone who "looks out for the little guys" as it's put in the movie. This also isn't his origin story, so a large defining moment like the "No Man's Land" sequence is not even really all that necessary. His acts of helping people and stopping small crime throughout the movie really illustrate what Spider-Man is really all about, and that's fine!
Before I go, this post has a little bit of a somber end. Yesterday, while we had the premiere of an excellent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stan Lee lost someone that was the center of his own. Joan Lee, Stan Lee's loving wife for 70 years, passed away. This name doesn't mean a lot to the average person, but it should. One of my first blog posts that I wrote was in celebration of Stan Lee. In it I detail that there was a time during which Marvel was not publishing books about heroes, but instead did pulp horror and romance books, and this work almost made Stan Lee leave comics. However, eventually he made a risky decision to publish a hero book called the Fantastic Four, which would of course bring a revival of Super Heroes and spring up the Silver Age of comics. There was a voice behind that decision though, and that voice was Joan. In the TV special by ABC: "Marvel: From Pulp to Pop," Stan Lee had this to say of it:

"I told my wife Joan that I wanted to quit, but she told me that before I made that decision, that I should write a book the way I would have wanted to write it, and so I did."

Initially I had intended to write this as a separate piece altogether, however, I felt my tribute to her should be attached to this review, because without her support of her husband, without those words, this movie, and this character who has been a source of inspiration for so many, would not exist. Rest In Peace Joan Lee, thanks for supporting your husband and being the source of inspiration that birthed a universe that has changed the lives of so many.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we will see you again soon!