"No one listens to you unless you've got a cape or lasers shooting from your fingers." -- Mysterio.
While on a class trip to Europe, Peter Parker (Tom Holland), better-known as Spider-Man, encounters a do-gooder who calls himself Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), and helps him and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) stop attacks by elemental creatures. However, Mysterio -- always a bad guy in the comic books -- turns out to be behind the attacks and now Spider-Man has to stop his deadly plans while managing to stay alive and protecting his classmates. As with the last Spider-Man film, this is very much a Disney-type movie, and doesn't bear that much resemblance to the comic books, just as the multi-cultural supporting cast -- Maryjane is now Eurasian and so on -- are barely related to the originals, even in personality, which is a much bigger problem than their diversity. Long-time Spider-Man fans may find this all disconcerting although I imagine people who are new to the character won't give a damn. There are some good FX and a few exciting scenes as well as a certain degree of tedium. Holland is okay as Peter; Gyllenhaal is uneven as Mysterio; Jackson's overly gruff Nick Fury is merely tiresome. Jon Favreau shows up as "Happy" Hogan from the Iron Man films; you can miss him. Although he does look like a teenager, Holland is actually in his twenties.
Verdict: Cutesy super-hero flick with some good moments. **1/2.
