Although the studio’s marketing campaign would lead you to believe that Sony doesn’t have much faith in the new ‘Spider-Man’ (hence the overcompensating advertising), the competition is definitely feeling the heat and steering clear of the threat.
It’s not uncommon for summer weekends to only deliver one major release, but it’s a little strange when the weekend only features one notable movie in limited release. Accompanying Spidey’s 4,348-screen debut is a little A24 romantic drama that’s been buzzed-about since it debuted at Sundance.
First, from the director of… nothing, really…. comes ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming‘, the critically-praised second big-screen reboot for the amazing teenage web-slinger. Marvel movies are currently adored by critics and fans alike, but ‘Homecoming’ actually breaks the Marvel formula and delivers one of the best MCU entries yet. More than just fan-service, this iteration is the ‘Spider-Man’ movie that you didn’t know you needed.
Tom Holland reprises the character introduced in ‘Captain America: Civil War‘. Instead of telling Spider-Man’s origin story for a third time, ‘Homecoming’ leaves that behind for a new, completely contained original story of its own that doesn’t bother explaining how he achieved his powers. Donning the enhanced suit that Tony Stark gave him in ‘Civil War’, Peter Parker struggles to make a difference as a neighborhood Spider-Man until he stumbles across an underground arms dealer (Michael Keaton) who, because of the Battle of New York (in ‘The Avengers’) has a personal bone to pick with Stark and the U.S. government. Peter may have bitten off more than he can chew as he works his way into the sights of this merciless and murderous new threat. The ante is upped and the stakes are raised in what feels like an MCU entry Disney wouldn’t have dared to make.
After that, the weekend’s only limited release comes to us from the indie director who somehow landed Disney’s ‘Pete’s Dragon’ remake last year. Reteaming with his ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ cast, ‘A Ghost Story‘ stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. After years of marriage, the husband dies, but remains in the home underneath a white sheet to haunt his widowed wife.
