Short Summary is an original series in which I write brief reviews of movies, TV shows, video games, books, and more. Spoiler alert, just in case!

I loved Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spiderman from the second he was introduced in Captain America: Civil War last year. We got to see great scenes of Tom as both sides of this iconic character, and he played each one with a nervous and happy energy that I found refreshing and endearing.

Tom continues his fantastic portrayal in Spiderman: Homecoming while also undergoing a really good character arc and coming-of-age story. The movie settles into Peter’s high school environment for about half of its runtime. It takes a chance and shows his experiences in detail, from crushing on a senior girl to being bullied and even sitting through his classes, going to detention, and getting called to the principal’s office. His friendship with Ned is easily a highlight of the film. These scenes of Peter being a student and just a regular high school loser are hilarious and so relatable. I think that this movie focuses on this aspect much more than any previous Spiderman film, and this aspect even gives the movie a funny high school comedy feel.

Make no mistake, though: this is a MCU movie, and the creative team delivers on the action and universe-building that audiences have come to expect. The scenes with Peter as Spiderman are totally entertaining and exciting. They take a turn for the dramatic, too, especially with the Vulture and Iron Man. I feel as though the Vulture is the first MCU villain with a unique, non-familial tie to our protagonist, which is new and interesting. It provided a pretty decent twist toward the end of the movie. But while Michael Keaton is certainly intimidating as the Vulture, he proves to be yet another underdeveloped MCU villain.

As for Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. fortunately doesn’t distract from or overshadow Tom Holland’s performance. Instead, the presence of Tony Stark actually adds some emotional levity and raises the stakes. Because Peter received his Spiderman suit from Tony, he’s pressured by Tony at every turn and watched by Happy Hogan. Peter and Tony develop a conflicted father-son relationship, and it proves to be a good way to drive the plot forward.

Ultimately, I believe that what Spiderman: Homecoming does best and what separates it from the other Spiderman movies is Peter’s personal conflicts and his maturation. The other movies, of course, explore Peter’s choice of whether to embrace being Spiderman or try to balance his two lives. However, in Homecoming, there’s a certain way in which Peter commits to being Spiderman that I can’t divulge here, and it’s just incredibly well-done. I wish I could talk about it, but I promised that this would be spoiler-free as possible. So you’ll have to see the movie for yourself and find out what I’m talking about.

Marvel continues to do no wrong, and Spiderman: Homecoming is no exception!