After reading several different negative reviews, there seemed to be a lot of people complaining about some of the same "issues", but they all seem to miss the point of this movie, and the reasoning why writers do certain things differently. I have been a Spider-Man fan for over 10 years, and I enjoyed the Raimi and Webb films very much.
People have complained quite a bit about how Peter Parker was portrayed throughout the film as selfish and his acts as Spider-Man were only done so he could become an Avenger, and for a portion of the film, this is correct, but it is not a terrible thing. Peter is 15-years old in this movie, he is a kid, and he of course is not very mature yet though he is very intelligent (he made the web shooters, answered questions correctly in class without having to pay attention, etc.) In a world where the Avengers are all over the news, of course a kid with super abilities dreams of being in the Avengers, and that is his motivation throughout most of the film. Peter has had his abilities for less than a year so he is still learning the ropes, thus why he is so destructive during the van chase scene. While many people complain that "this is not how Spider-Man should be", they seem to miss the part where the switch in Peter's head is flipped. The scene when the Vulture covered Peter in the rubble and he had to struggle to get out, he realized how strong he truly is, and that being a hero is not about being a "cool" Avenger, and that is not easy. This is when Peter truly became Spider-Man, this is when Peter cared more about stopping the Vulture because he is a dangerous threat, and not because it would make Tony happy. For the first time, Peter stopped thinking about himself, and that is when he became a true hero. This is reiterated when Tony offers Peter a spot with the Avengers and he turns Tony down. He wants to save lives, and be a real hero before he can be an Avenger.
The high-tech suit is one of the most complained about aspects of this movie. Personally, I think this suit is a perfect way to integrate Spider-Man into the MCU. It makes perfect sense that if Tony Stark is going to take a 15-year old kid under his wing, that he would give him some of the similar technology that he currently uses. The moving eyes feature is one of my favorites, mostly because within the comic books, the illustrators used Spider-Man's eyes to express emotion while within the suit, whereas in the Raimi trilogy, and in The Amazing Spider-Man series, Spider-Man's eyes could not move on the suit, so to show emotion, his mask would have to be ripped off his face. The moving eyes technology is a logical way to allow Spider-Man to show emotion while in the suit. Also, the AI (Karen) was also complained about a lot. Again, referring to the comic books, Peter talked to himself a lot, or at least thought a lot while in the suit. The AI creates a logical reason for Peter to talk to himself while running around as Spider-Man without looking like a psychopath.
Besides this, many people were complaining about the character changes. Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) is complained about because he is a "small Indian kid", first, he is Guatemalan, not Indian. Flash was portrayed in a very similar way in the Raimi and Webb series', it was time for Flash to be changed. In 2017, bullies are not just physical bullies anymore, they are verbal/mental bullies that prey on insecurities, and this makes a lot of sense for Flash to be this type of bully within the context of the film. A "dumb jock" type bully does not fit into the mold of someone who attends "Midtown School of Science and Technology". Flash hurts Peter's reputation, and makes him feel like an outcast, but the scene at the bus when Peter asks to rejoin the academic decathlon team and Flash walks towards him, Peter backs away from Flash as if he feels intimidated by him. Though Flash is not a huge guy, either is Peter, so up until Peter received his abilities, Flash was probably able to push Peter around.
Another obvious character who was changed in this movie was Aunt May, but I think this is for the better. Aunt May, portrayed by Marisa Tomei is not as young as people make her out to be, she is 52-years old and though she is not 80+ like in the Raimi trilogy, this makes more sense that a 52-year old woman would have a 15-year old nephew. Plus, this gives Peter and his aunt more of a mother and son dynamic, and considering Peter's parents died when he was young and Aunt May and Uncle Ben raised Peter, having her seem as a younger motherly figure as opposed to a grandmother figure makes more sense for the story.
The Michelle "MJ" Easter-egg was taken too literally. Michelle could be a potential love interest for Peter, but she is not Mary Jane, the writers as well as Zendaya have confirmed this. The MJ name drop was done as an Easter-egg, not as a serious character introduction.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It was not perfect, but this was a great film to explain how Peter went from being an excited kid in a costume trying to impress Tony, to becoming a true hero. The humor was fantastic, the cast seemed to have true chemistry together, it was aesthetically pleasing, the soundtrack was catchy, the Vulture was one of the best MCU villains to date, and I am very excited to see what else Marvel does with the character.
People have complained quite a bit about how Peter Parker was portrayed throughout the film as selfish and his acts as Spider-Man were only done so he could become an Avenger, and for a portion of the film, this is correct, but it is not a terrible thing. Peter is 15-years old in this movie, he is a kid, and he of course is not very mature yet though he is very intelligent (he made the web shooters, answered questions correctly in class without having to pay attention, etc.) In a world where the Avengers are all over the news, of course a kid with super abilities dreams of being in the Avengers, and that is his motivation throughout most of the film. Peter has had his abilities for less than a year so he is still learning the ropes, thus why he is so destructive during the van chase scene. While many people complain that "this is not how Spider-Man should be", they seem to miss the part where the switch in Peter's head is flipped. The scene when the Vulture covered Peter in the rubble and he had to struggle to get out, he realized how strong he truly is, and that being a hero is not about being a "cool" Avenger, and that is not easy. This is when Peter truly became Spider-Man, this is when Peter cared more about stopping the Vulture because he is a dangerous threat, and not because it would make Tony happy. For the first time, Peter stopped thinking about himself, and that is when he became a true hero. This is reiterated when Tony offers Peter a spot with the Avengers and he turns Tony down. He wants to save lives, and be a real hero before he can be an Avenger.
The high-tech suit is one of the most complained about aspects of this movie. Personally, I think this suit is a perfect way to integrate Spider-Man into the MCU. It makes perfect sense that if Tony Stark is going to take a 15-year old kid under his wing, that he would give him some of the similar technology that he currently uses. The moving eyes feature is one of my favorites, mostly because within the comic books, the illustrators used Spider-Man's eyes to express emotion while within the suit, whereas in the Raimi trilogy, and in The Amazing Spider-Man series, Spider-Man's eyes could not move on the suit, so to show emotion, his mask would have to be ripped off his face. The moving eyes technology is a logical way to allow Spider-Man to show emotion while in the suit. Also, the AI (Karen) was also complained about a lot. Again, referring to the comic books, Peter talked to himself a lot, or at least thought a lot while in the suit. The AI creates a logical reason for Peter to talk to himself while running around as Spider-Man without looking like a psychopath.
Besides this, many people were complaining about the character changes. Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) is complained about because he is a "small Indian kid", first, he is Guatemalan, not Indian. Flash was portrayed in a very similar way in the Raimi and Webb series', it was time for Flash to be changed. In 2017, bullies are not just physical bullies anymore, they are verbal/mental bullies that prey on insecurities, and this makes a lot of sense for Flash to be this type of bully within the context of the film. A "dumb jock" type bully does not fit into the mold of someone who attends "Midtown School of Science and Technology". Flash hurts Peter's reputation, and makes him feel like an outcast, but the scene at the bus when Peter asks to rejoin the academic decathlon team and Flash walks towards him, Peter backs away from Flash as if he feels intimidated by him. Though Flash is not a huge guy, either is Peter, so up until Peter received his abilities, Flash was probably able to push Peter around.
Another obvious character who was changed in this movie was Aunt May, but I think this is for the better. Aunt May, portrayed by Marisa Tomei is not as young as people make her out to be, she is 52-years old and though she is not 80+ like in the Raimi trilogy, this makes more sense that a 52-year old woman would have a 15-year old nephew. Plus, this gives Peter and his aunt more of a mother and son dynamic, and considering Peter's parents died when he was young and Aunt May and Uncle Ben raised Peter, having her seem as a younger motherly figure as opposed to a grandmother figure makes more sense for the story.
The Michelle "MJ" Easter-egg was taken too literally. Michelle could be a potential love interest for Peter, but she is not Mary Jane, the writers as well as Zendaya have confirmed this. The MJ name drop was done as an Easter-egg, not as a serious character introduction.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It was not perfect, but this was a great film to explain how Peter went from being an excited kid in a costume trying to impress Tony, to becoming a true hero. The humor was fantastic, the cast seemed to have true chemistry together, it was aesthetically pleasing, the soundtrack was catchy, the Vulture was one of the best MCU villains to date, and I am very excited to see what else Marvel does with the character.