Spider-Man: Homecoming 4K Blu-ray

Summary: A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine–distracted by thoughts of roving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man–but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING is directed by Jon Watts from a screen story by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and a screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and Jon Watts & Christopher Ford and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers. The film is produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal and executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Patricia Whitcher, Jeremy Latcham, Stan Lee, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach.

Movie Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming, for me, hit all the right notes for Spider-Man. Peter Parker is portrayed as a smart but semi-awkward teenager who falls into having his special powers but remains a 15-year-old kid. He wants to do good and help, but also is impatient and wants everything instantly, just like any other kid does. In doing so, he comes out as a character that is much better than the prior on-screen Spider-Men, who seemed to be too good and virtuous despite their age.

The story also doesn’t spend a movie going over an origin story, or the death of Uncle Ben, and instead goes right into the film and assumes most people either know the story already or will not care. Saving us from another half-hour of backstory, almost certainly with a slow motion robbery and potential revenge killing by Spider-Man, is good for everyone. Having Aunt May be younger than before, and able to have more of a connection with Spider-Man because of that also looks to be a benefit in the long run as more films are sure to come.

The story itself is good while following your standard three-act structure. The villain played by Michael Keaton has a good reason to be angry, but also internal motivation that is easy to sympathize with. Overall Spider-Man: Homecoming is the best recent Spider-Man film in memory, and adds another piece of the Marvel Universe that they can visit.

Technical Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming was shot on 2.8K resolution ARRI cameras but has a 2K digital intermediate. It also features a Dolby Vision layer, but despite being from Sony they still haven’t released the Dolby Vision update for Sony TVs yet. The image overall is very good but it is a bit soft at times. That is probably from the 2K DI, but even other 2K DI films have more detail and texture to faces and skin than Spider-Man: Homecoming does. The colors are fantastic, with wonderful HDR and shadow details are easy to make out. We will come back and add an update on the Dolby Vision version once Sony updates the A1E OLED (it’s unfair to compare the HDR10 version on an OLED to the Dolby Vision on an LCD right now).

The soundtrack is better than the video, with nothing at all to complain about. The Atmos channels are utilized perfectly, as Spider-Man swings around the room and Vulture flies around in the sky. There is lots of dynamic range, and the subwoofer gets a good workout as well. Dialogue is easy to understand, and it’s a reference track as far as audio goes.

Special Features:

• Feature film presented with Dolby Vision high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos sound
• The Spidey Study Guide
• Photo Gallery

Review System: Sony A1E OLED, Sony UBP-X800 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, Oppo UDP-203 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, KEF Ci5160RL-THX Fronts, Ci3160RL-THX Center, 2x Ci200RR-THX Surrounds, 4x CI200RR-THX Atmos Speakers, Anthem MRX 1120 Receiver, Power Sound Audio XS30se Subwoofer.