tl;dr: Mind = Blown. Go see it.
Long version: This is not just the best Spiderman film, but the best superhero film I have ever seen, Dark Knight included. I am speechless at its storytelling. And its flawless execution. This movie has spoilt all future superhero films for me. The bar is set so high that every other film needs to be thrice as good to equal this one, if you know what I mean.
I also admit that it might also have been a factor of my scrupulousness in avoiding all reviews, trailers, spoilers, and even conversation before I entered the theatre. Or it truly is a film so well-constructed and a story so well-narrated that it was inevitable that I’d fall in love. I don’t care which is true. What I do know is I had zero expectations when I took my seat to watch it unfold.
I guess I believe that ‘if you expect disappointment, then you can never really be disappointed’. And boy, was I surprised! Don’t take my word for it though. Go, see it. Tonight.
By the way, the small scene on the terrace which is simply a conversation between the protagonist and the other, well, protagonists, is the core of the entire film. I would like to imagine it was written first and then the rest of it was built around it. I have never shed a tear in a superhero film. Yep, not even when Iron Man died or when the Avengers charge in slo-mo towards the aliens in Black Panther. But during this scene, I found myself reaching for my handkerchief and pretending to clear my throat.
What a film! What a film!
On a somewhat related note, it is so easy to make out people who are at their first Marvel film. They leave as soon as the credits roll. At the end, there were just two of us watching as the Easter eggs were revealed for future films. And when the lights came on, I realised that the other chap was a young college-going kid wearing a Spiderman t-shirt so well-fitting and snug that I almost expected him to reach into his pocket, pull out a mask, zap the ceiling with webbing and swing out of the place. A fitting end to a brilliant film.
Later epiphany: Just hit me that with this story out now, it allows the storytellers to do whatever they want with Spiderman. Like, literally whatever. You want a black Spiderman? Sure. A Spiderwoman? Why not? Aunt May dying and Uncle Ben surviving? Sounds good. A gay Spiderman with a male MJ? Great. What. Ever. They. Want. My mind hasn’t stopped being blown since.
