Thread:Benspider/@comment-27711799-20170420193931/@comment-27711799-20170711192054

One, it's set in high school. I really like how the movie calls back to 80s-era high school comedy movies while still keeping it's charm as a super-hero movie. It absolutely nails Peter's high school years in a modern way. Peter's gotta study for his science quiz while also making time to look for the Vulture and his men. It genuinely feels like a Spider-Man story right out of the Lee/Ditko run on The Amazing Spider-Man, complete with all the drama that ensues with Peter's inability to keep on his commitments.

Two, I like the characters. Peter, Ned, and Adrian Toomes are strongly written characters who really made me like the film all that more. Peter Parker. Nerdy kid living in 21st Century-era Queens, New York. He tries to do the right thing, even when he gets overconfindent and cocky, and always tries to save lives when possible.

Ned Leeds, in spite being the weakest of my favorite characters, is the strongest supporting cast, I found. He's the kind of guy who just wants to be involved in his friend's life because of how exciting it is. He's also a great friend to Peter, most prominently at the end when he plays the "guy in the chair" role for Peter.

Adrian Toomes is one of the best villains in the MCU, hands down, right up there with Loki and Zemo. He's interesting in the fact that he deludes himself into believing that what he's doing is right. It's similar to Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, only... more natural. Ock was being manipulated by his tentacles to do evil. In Homecoming, Toomes is naturally blinded by the idea that Tony Stark cheated him out of business and lives like a king. Toomes lives with his family in a beautiful house with, I imagine, lots of money.

So, yeah. Spider-Man 2 is still a great film, don't get me wrong, but Homecoming is just... stronger. It's closer to the classic core of the character and, contrary to what you said, doesn't boggle down with the MCU "formula" in setting up a franchise. It teased it's sequel and it's sequel alone.