I went into Spider-Man: Homecoming with a renewed enthusiasm now that Marvel Studios did all the heavy lifting. Sony just doesn’t seem to have the right grasp on the character after rebooting the franchise with the somewhat unnatural and overly commercialized Andrew Garfield iterations. But third time’s the charm, as they say, because this is the best Spider-Man film since 2004’s Spider-Man 2.

One thing that’s instantly noticeable is Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) genuine high school student vibe. He’s allowed to be an actual kid this time, bogged down by problems that a 15 year old would have — school, girls, homecoming — in addition to being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, that is. It’s something that’s been blatantly missing in the past attempts. Not to mention the actors in their late 20’s playing a 15 year old boy. Homecoming really hits the point home in a crucial set piece near the end, and it’s one of the most heartbreaking, albeit inspiring, scenes in the movie. Indeed, Peter Parker is just a teenager who always hangs out with his best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon); probably a little too much, because he discovers early on that Peter is actually Spider-Man, and subsequently drops his completed Lego Death Star.

The supporting cast is much more culturally diverse this time around, an updated version to keep up with our ever evolving society. Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) still terrorizes Peter through verbal abuse whenever he can, but has refrained from physically shoving him into the school lockers. With no sign of Gwen and Mary Jane, Liz Allan (Laura Harrier) plays Peter’s love interest. She’s a senior, and comes off as very mature about her responsibilities, like organizing the school’s homecoming for one. No wonder Peter tries to get her attention so much. Michelle (Zendaya), a mysterious new character, is barely there, but steals the scene every time with her snazzy one-liners and carefree attitude. They are certainly a likeable bunch, and gets their fair share of screentime. Homecoming is as much a high school teen movie as it is a superhero one, which is what Spider-Man is about at his core in his early days.

Homecoming does away with the Uncle Ben origin and the “with great power comes great responsibility” talk and so on, because at this point, who doesn’t know about Spider-Man’s origins? Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is still present, but has been re-imagined as a younger (and more believable) aunt in an adoptive motherly role instead of a helpless old woman. Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) makes a guest appearance — mainly to connect this film to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe — to play the reluctant father figure to Peter. Stark has grown exponentially as a character since first appearing in Iron Man, and even he acknowledges it (“I sound like my father,” he says at one point).

For the first time in a long time, Marvel Studios has created a compelling villain in Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) a.k.a. Vulture. True to his namesake, Toomes and his crew create advanced weaponry from salvaged alien technology and sell them through the black market. No world-domination ambitions for him, nor destroying a whole city for absurd reasons, Toomes is just a man who wants to provide for his family. The small scope makes him more human, and relatable in a way, and that’s a refreshing change from Marvel’s usual big bads. Keaton brings out an impressive performance, especially in his tense exchange with Peter past halfway through the film.

For all its good parts, Homecoming still follows the tried and tested, albeit tired, Marvel formula. That said, its charming cast carries the film, and the wonderful set pieces (the ferry scene comes to mind) are a treat to see. It’s satisfying to finally see Spidey actually live up to being a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.