How many Spider-Man film reboots do we really need? That's not a hypothetical question. The comic series often hinges on "boy-becomes-man" plot devices, so you don't want someone portraying Peter Parker who reaches 90210 levels of aging out. But the Menudo method of revolving-door casting can get exhausting with feature-length films.

To escape its reboot baggage, Spider-Man Homecoming had quite a skyscraper of expectations to climb. Thankfully, its every element, including one of the best "teen" actor ensembles I've ever seen, spins enough taut, sky-high webbing to leap it handily.

Peter Parker can’t lose























Audiences got a sneak peek at new Spidey lead Tom Holland in last year's Captain America: Civil War, and SMH picks up where that promising bit left off. Parker is riding high on his first big-league fight, but Tony Stark has to skip out on role-model duty to deal with other crises (the Sokovia Accord, a disgruntled Steve Rogers, a crushed Avengers homebase, etc). Parker gets punted with a vague promise that Stark will be in touch whenever he needs more web-slinging assistance. This is fine at first. Our new hero is just happy to be on the team, excitedly asking, "I can keep the suit?!"

But his contagious enthusiasm (as shown in a hilarious-yet-tasteful "I record myself doing everything" sequence) quickly fades. We fast forward 60 days after the events of Civil War, at which point Parker's constant text messages to Stark's assistant, begging for another shot at action, continue to go unanswered. In the meantime, Parker busies himself by sneaking out after school for low-rent semi-superhero exploits. Before long, the hidden-identity life starts to wear him out, between missing classes, disappointing friends, and worrying his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei).

On the other side of New York, Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) sees his construction practice fall apart, partially thanks to Stark Enterprises. Toomes' final job unearthed some Ultron-level alien tech, which he decides to keep and repurpose. Thus begins his black-market weapons practice and a headlong collision with bored-and-antsy Parker.





The first thing that stood out for me is how Spider-Man and Toomes (who flies around as the villain Vulture) get tangled up in a slow-burning, didn't-see-that-coming sequence of events. SMH keeps its distance from clockwork, clichéd action-film archetypes wherever possible, and Parker's age and inexperience organically vary the plot beats. Holland is also remarkable at selling just how bad he is at being a superhero. Spidey's learning process and progression never magically transform into "ta-da, I'm the best ever!" stuff. Even in the film's final sequence, he wins out by heart and effort, not out-of-nowhere mastery. What's more, he's left with more than one serious mark on his permanent superhero record. Parker's lessons are hard-earned.

Holland nails all of this with a ton of vulnerable-yet-excited appeal. Bashful stuttering here, laugh-out-loud comedic timing there: I was watching the next coming of Michael J. Fox. He certainly benefits from the film's monster cast. Scene-stealing teen sidekick Jacob Batalon nails every hilarious line he's given, and his comedic blunders move the plot along without feeling like obnoxious, Hobbit-caliber mess-ups. The rest of the student cast benefits from a script that avoids, among other things, making distressed damsels out of its stellar female teen actors (Laura Harrier, Zendaya).

The film's just-barely-there grown-ups (Tomei, Martin Starr, Hannibal Buress, Donald Glover, and the "Siri" voice inside of Spidey's suit) earn plenty of laughs with their less-is-more scripts, as well. (Buress, in particular, has a blast playing off of some hilarious "public service announcement" videos.) I found myself laughing pretty much the entire film through, and I'm curious how much of the hilarity can be blamed on script co-writer John Francis Daley, whom you may know as the youngest of the breakout Freaks & Geeks cast. That may also be why SMH has such a jones for geekdom, with a major plot point revolving around a national Academic Decathlon competition (and one funny hack sequence relying on a TI-86 graphing calculator).

Spider-Man is possibly the most "Marvel" franchise that the comics empire has access to, in terms of brash, quirky attitude attached to bombastic action sequences, and SMH really pounds this fact home. Humor neatly finds its way into nearly every bonkers action sequence, whether thanks to spoken quips or delicious slapstick. The biggest surprise in terms of this reboot's humorous action comes from the Tony Stark-ening of Parker's suit, which he and his sidekick eventually hack into to unlock new, confusing powers. Kind of like the time Bart Simpson drove a car over a North Pole elf, only multiplied by a thousand.

SMH could have shed maybe 5 to 10 minutes without anyone blinking an eye, but otherwise, its two-hour runtime feels entirely earned. It has been a while since I've seen a comic book film declare that its hero "will return" and internally squee in response. SMH is equal parts faithful and fresh, funny and focused. With this film, Marvel Studios was able to shift its action-movie gears to make its first true "teen comedy" film, shamelessly lifting from the best of the John Hughes era, and the filmmakers here pull it off to nifty effect. The result is the first action film in years that I would recommend everyone I know go see.