Spider-Man: Homecoming Review - 9 Ups & 3 Downs

8. The High-School Vibe

When Marvel got the rights back to make their Spider-Man movie within the MCU, Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal were very clear about their agenda to make a high-school movie predominantly and to keep Peter Parker at school. That would fly in the face of the accelerated school lives of both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb's versions of the character, and the hint that we'd get some John Hughes references in there too made it all sound very exciting.

It's very pleasing to report that the film pulls off its high-school vibe perfectly, establishing not just a normal school environment but a sort of diluted Hogwarts magic, thanks to the fact that everyone is a tech genius, and most of the kids are eccentric in some way.

The Hughes references aren't as blatant as the one Ferris Bueller gag in there, but that's a good thing - Watts' approach is far more subtle and more indie, and it never feels like this is just a stepping stone to Peter growing up and getting his Daily Bugle job.