A 'High Point' in Summer Movies: Spider-Man

Critics had high hopes for Tom Holland's Spider-Man after an appearance in last year's Captain America: Civil War. But can he handle a movie all his own? Apparently, yes. Critics have given Spider-Man: Homecoming a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, noting sometimes basic is just better. More:

• While "the movie ultimately gets a little big for its breeches, in a mayhem-and-effects-soaked climax that suffers from many of the excesses of other Marvel movies," most of Spider-Man: Homecoming maintains "a jokey, self-aware tone that is nicely evocative of the original comics," Michael O'Sullivan writes at the Washington Post. It's an "authentic, refreshingly nerdy and high-spirited reboot"—"it's Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets The Dark Knight."
• It's certainly more of a high school comedy than your typical superhero movie, but that's A-OK with Peter Travers at Rolling Stone. "There's a spontaneous charge to the film, a euphoric innocence, that makes it a much-needed antidote to stale franchise formula," he writes. Plus "Tom Holland is the best movie Spider-Man ever," making "you finally feel that your friendly neighborhood web-slinger deserves to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

• "Tobey Maguire was pretty good, Andrew Garfield was so-so," and Holland easily bests both, writes Soren Andersen at the Seattle Times. His "boundless ebullience … makes the picture a high point in the summer-movie season so far," Andersen says. The performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei also get his admiration, along with the funny script and impressive special effects.
• David Edelstein wasn't impressed with Downey Jr. or Jon Favreau, but he also loved the movie. It's "a trip back to a simpler era in superheroics" and "the breeziest, most convivial Marvel movie in ages," he writes at Vulture. "Michael Keaton is everything you could hope for," and Holland "maintains his springy, gee-whiz American energy without becoming tiresome," he adds. "All I missed were indications of Peter's 'Spidey sense.'"

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