I just got out of the movie. These are my immediate impressions. I'll probably develop my thoughts over the coming days as I chew over the scenes in my mind.
I'm reviewing this movie as a person who would identify as a pretty huge Spider-Man fan. I have over a 700 comics of this character alone and he's easily my favourite fictional character.
Overall I thought it was a great start. It's true to Peter Parker like no other movie before it. In fact it feels so much like a Spider-Man comic (particularly like a Dan Slott issue). Do I think it's as good as Spider-Man 2 as a film? No. But that's not a problem. They are two different takes on Spidey which are both (for the most part) very respectful of the background and origin of the character.
Some things to note:
The Norman Osbourne-ing of Vulture:
What do I mean by this? Well when Norman Osbourne was first revealed to be the Green Goblin, who happened to be Peter's best friend's dad, it was a huge twist, especially for the audience. Raimi decided he didn't really want to go that route with the first Spider-Man film (which is odd), and so the audience knows about Norman's descent before the characters do. In contrast, the Vulture reveal scene was pulled off perfectly. The audience actually gasped - it was probably the first time I've heard a collective surprise reaction from an entire crowd in the cinema. It was pulled off really well, and Keaton's delivery over the next 20 minutes was flawless. Seriously, one of the best super hero villains to date.
Not much of an emotional core:
So this is something that Raimi's films got right. Although Spider-Man comics have always had a light touch to them, at the core they are very melodramatic comics. Right from Amazing Fantasy, Peter was worrying about finances, his aunt, his dating life. And it was always presented dramatically. Stan Lee himself would compare the emotional core of Spider-Man comics to Russian Literature (let's not get into his actual scripting involvement). The point is that, the dramatic components in Spider-Man's life are not presented in a light hearted manner. They're deep conflicts that completely envelope him, even when he was in high school.
Homecoming doesn't really seem to understand that. Everything is really light hearted. Well, until it's not and he has to pick up this thing:
So when it happens, the emotion and struggle doesn't feel entirely earned. The movie doesn't really allow Peter to have quiet moments like Raimi's Peter does. It's so caught up in moving him from comedic scene to set piece to an MCU building scene that I'm not presented with a moment to relate to Peter.
He's kind of awkward, sure. And yes, Liz originally was crushing on him in the comics too, so I can't say that's wrong. But the only real struggle in the entire movie is him not having his costume. Where are the conversations of his Aunt struggling to make money? Or his conscience eating him whole? Where's the guilt?
Uncle Ben..
I would have at the very least liked them to acknowledge him in some way or another. Instead we get a throw away line about May having gone through a whole lot. I'm not very comfortable with Tony Stark taking up the replacement role, if they aren't at least going to mention Ben.
Action Scenes
Not sure if this was intentional, but the action scenes don't at all look as good as they do in all previous Spider-Man films. It was probably to maintain the tone of the movie, so there are no sweeping shots of him web slinging, which is a staple of the character as far as his film history is concerned. I didn't really actually mind the mostly low-key presentation of his acrobatics. I'm sure they'll play this up in subsequent films.
Rejecting Stark
I was really happy with the final decision. Looks like the MCU understands the character a lot more than the brains behind Spidey's involvement in Civil War (Quesada, Millar, Straczynski).