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Thursday, July 13, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTS

SONY PICTURES 

Tom Holland stars as Spider-Man

“Spider-Man: 
Homecoming” 

marks 
the 
second 
reboot 
of 

everyone’s favorite webslinger, this 
one within the Marvel Cinematic 
Universe in the aftermath of the 
dumpster-fire-inside-a-trainwreck 
that was 2014’s “The Amazing 
Spider-Man 2.” The efforts of 
Hollywood to get another strong 
Spider-franchise off the ground 
speaks not only to the obvious 
money-making 
capabilities 
of 

the character, but to his ability to 
resonate with audiences after 50 
years since his first appearance. 
There’s a simple reason for that: 
Peter Parker is not a billionaire, 
a prince or an alien. He’s an 
ordinary guy whose greatest trials 
are often finding the balance 
between heroism and day-to-day 
struggles like jobs, friendships and 
romance. He’s one of us. And for 
the first time since Sam Raimi’s 
“Spiderman 2” way back in 2004, it 
seems we finally have a movie that 
understands that.

So much of what “Homecoming” 

does well comes down to two 
things: the script and Tom Holland 
(“The Lost City of Z”). Featuring 
no fewer than six credited writers, 
the former blends classic high 
school comedy and all the high-
flying superheroics you’d probably 
expect. The resultant tone would 
have been pleasant enough to 
sustain the movie, but the script’s 
greatest strength comes from its 
function as a stealth origin story 
for its title character.

To clarify, by the time the story 

begins, Peter has already been 
doing whatever a spider can for 
about eight months. Despite this, 
“Homecoming” 
feels 
like 
the 

beginning of Spider-Man proper, as 
Peter begins to reflect on his future 
and what a life as an Avenger would 
mean. We don’t see the radioactive 
spider or Uncle Ben. Instead, we 
watch Peter come to grips with his 

dual identity and learn to listen to 
his most heroic instincts, a theme 
that audiences young and old will 
be able to relate to.

Holland, on the other hand, 

turns in a terrific performance as 
what may be the best Spider-Man 
yet. Spidey’s relatability is his 
lifeblood, but nearly as important 
is his youthful exuberance and 
humor. 
Holland 
nails 
both. 

Whatever the moment calls for, 
whether it’s a well-timed quip or 
tearful confession to Aunt May 
(Marisa Tomei, “The Big Short”), 
there’s never a moment that doesn’t 
feel real. As silly as it sounds, 
if a high schooler were given 
superpowers, this is probably what 
it would look like.

The rest of the cast is accordingly 

sound. Tomei doesn’t get as much 
screen time as her counterparts, but 
she still gets the funniest moment of 
the entire film. Robert Downey Jr. 

(“The Judge”) falls easily into the 
mentor role, and the relationship 
that develops between Tony Stark 
and Peter is yet another high point. 
Still, the highlight of the supporting 
players is without a doubt Michael 
Keaton 
(“Birdman”) 
as 
Adrian 

Toomes, who ranks as one of the 
most gripping villains the MCU 
has offered up. Unlike other MCU 
villains, time is actually spent 
developing Toomes’s motivation. 
He feels like a fleshed-out character, 
one whose fury is understandable 
but who is nevertheless terrifying, 
especially in the scenes he shares 
with Spider-Man.

If “Homecoming” does have one 

glaring weakness, it’s that the action 
is pretty weak. The argument could 
be made that this is due to Peter 
still learning his powers, but even 
putting that aside the direction from 
Jon Watts (“Cop Car”) lacks the life 
on display in other scenes. There’s 
nothing too inventive or exciting 
about any of it, and it lacks any sort 
of visual flair. Ironically, the action 
scenes wind up being the most 
boring bits of the movie.

But the weak action aside, 

“Homecoming” 
brings 
Spider-

Man back into the Marvel fold in 
perhaps the best way fans could 
have hoped for. It goes small where 
other interpretations have gone 
big, setting him up as a street-level 
hero whose problems and failures 
feel more realistic because they’re 
our problems. When he triumphs, 
it gives us hope that we can do the 
same. That’s what makes Spider-
Man one of the greatest superheroes 
of all time, and understanding that 
is 
“Homecoming”’s 
greatest 

success.

Latest ‘Spider-Man’ thrills

 JEREMIAH VANDERHELM

 Daily Arts Writer

HAIM pays off

It’s been awhile since we’ve 

last heard from HAIM, the 
LA-based 
indie-pop 
band 

comprised 
of 
three 
San 

Fernando sisters. Their debut 
garnered critical success and, 
with a co-sign by the industry 
queen herself (Taylor Swift™), 
HAIM accumulated tremendous 
momentum. But after a short 
tour for their full-length debut, 
the band grew quiet. Over the 
course of 2016, HAIM featured 
on a Calvin Harris track and 
occasionally hosted their own 
Beats 1 show, but no new music. 
For a new band to gain so much 
buzz and go silent for the next 
three years, it was easy to forget 
about them. With Something to 
Tell You, HAIM reminds fans 
that they have a lot to say — and 
you should be listening.

Distilled, 
Something 
to 

Tell You hits on every point 
discussed from the beginning to 
the end of a rocky relationship. 
On 
the 
upbeat 

“Ready For You,” 
the sisters recall 
a 
casual 
lover, 

wishing they could 
go back and try to 
make things more 
serious. “Little of 
Your Love” pleads 
a partner to meet 
the girls halfway and offer 
them a glimpse of reciprocated 
feelings. With “Walking Away,” 
the pop-iest standout, HAIM 
mourns the end of a relationship 
while facing the harsh reality 
of needing to remove yourself 
from a situation that just isn’t 

working.

With Something to Tell You, 

HAIM finds the happy medium 
between progressing sonically 
as 
a 
band 
while 
remaining 

warmly familiar. Partly due to 
co-writing by Ariel Rechtshaid, 
who specializes in songs that 
straddle the border of pop and 
soul (Adele’s “When We Were 
Young” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s 
“All That”), HAIM delivers an 
album that strongly resembles 
the indie-pop roots of their debut, 
but takes notable steps towards 
experimentation. “Found It In 
Silence” features profound synth 
strings with a simple bass drum 
accompaniment — a familiar 
sound in HAIM’s discography. 
ws.

At 11 tracks, the album is the 

perfect length to keep listeners 
engaged 
without 
exhausting 

attention spans. It’s amazing 
to hear how much lead singer 
Danielle Haim’s voice has grown 
since their debut. However, unlike 
their last album, which featured 
greater vocal variety from Este 
and Alana (see “The Wire”), 

Something to Tell 
You feels more like 
Danielle and the 
Haim Sisters than 
HAIM, 
causing 

some of the tracks 
to lose depth due 
to a lack of familiar 
collaboration.

In 
retrospect, 

it’s understandable that HAIM 
took three years to gather their 
thoughts. Something to Tell You 
is extremely rich both sonically 
and lyrically and, just as Danielle 
sings on “Found It In Silence,” 
sometimes a long silence is a 
good thing. 

DANNY MADION

Daily Arts Writer

Something to 

Tell You

HAIM

Polydor Records

POLYDOR RECORDS 

HAIM sister shredding 

“Spider-Man: 

Homecoming”

Ann Arbor 20 + 
IMAX, Goodrich 

Quality 16

Sony Pictures

FILM REVIEW
MUSIC REVIEW

