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No. 34034
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With Hollywood becoming increasingly dependent on remaking and rebooting their well-respected films for a newer and younger audience, Sony’s decision to restart the Spider-Man film franchise after waiting five years for the stink of Spider-Man 3 to dissolve couldn’t have come at a worst time. We all know Sony needs to produce a new Spider-Man film if they wish to keep the movie rights for Spider-Man, but that won’t stop fans of the Sam Raimi films from crying foul when they see Andrew Garfield don the red and blue tights instead of Tobey Maguire. Truth be told, my love for the Raimi films has waned considerably over the years, so when I heard Sony was rebooting Spider-Man with a new cast and director, I was more optimistic than others. After watching the Amazing Spider-Man by Marc Webb (ha ha, spiders!), I can safely say this movie is superior to its predecessor in numerous ways, but there are problems in this film that keeps it from living to its “Amazing” title.
While ASM begins by having Peter Parker trying to figure out why his parents left him so very long ago, it basically hits the same story beats from first film and every superhero origin film released so far: Peter gets bitten by bug; bug gives him powers; Peter discovers with great powers comes great something-something and things like that. However, the way ASM handles these familiar story beats is where it exceeds itself over the original. The film slowly, but logically, explains how Peter acquires his spider powers, becomes accustom to them, and decides to become the misunderstood hero we all know and love in a beautiful way. Andrew Garfield nails the role of the wall crawler by delivering the ram emotions and funny quips that Tobey Maguire could never give in his films.
My favorite improvement Webb makes over the Raimi films is the way the actors interact with one another as these beloved characters. Performances from the earlier films, where characters would just say what they were feeling, are now replaced by believable and subtle performances by the new movie’s great cast. The lovely chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Watson (Gwen Stacey) also puts Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst’s bland romance as Peter and MJ to shame. Webb is definitely in his element when dealing with these small, yet significant, character moments in his film, but when it comes to the big and ambitious scenes that superhero films often deal with, he fumbles the ball a bit.
I guess after teasing the potential appearance of the Lizard in the Raimi trilogy and never following up on that, Sony felt obliged to include the reptilian villain in their new film, but in doing so, gives the movie its biggest black eye. Curt Connors actually start off alright as a scientist working for Oscorp who may know something about Peter’s parents than he leads on, but quickly becomes a re-skinned Green Goblin as he injects himself with the lizard serum to repair his arm. What really kills the Lizard in this film is his CGI appearance which, as many as noted, looks more like the Goomba from the Super Mario movie, than the terrifying creature from the comics. While the campy tone of Raimi’s Spider-Man movies ultimately did the series in, it made it plausible for Spidey’s most outrageous looking villains to exist. To see a computer animated lizard roam the streets of New York, after all the time and effort spent on making Spider-Man’s world seem believable, just took me out of the movie. The Lizard’s master’s plan also feels thrown together at the last minute and never has the “world is about to end” feeling it is trying to convey.
There is another important scene in this film that doesn’t hit the emotional bullseye and it's the death of Uncle Ben. Now, the way the movie recreates the event leading to Ben’s death is actually clever, but when we get to the moment itself, it just doesn’t work. I don’t know if this is because Peter’s affection for his parents overshadows Uncle Ben’s, or if the incident happens too soon, but for whatever reason, the loss of Uncle Ben doesn’t feel as devastating as it should be. Thankfully, the following scenes dealing with the ramification of Uncle Ben’s death strike the right emotional chord, with the voice message at the end being the best.
When it comes to art style and background music, ASM is contempt with the mediocre. I’ve already complained about the look of the Lizard earlier on, but Spider-Man’s world lacks the visual oomph to make the city of New York look exciting, which is surprising considering it's friggin New York. Even the technologically advance Oscorp facility looks forgettable. I will say Spider-Man’s new costume looks quite acceptable in the dark light, than it did in the production pictures for the film. Musically, the new Spider-Man composer never comes close to matching Danny Elfman’s powerful and memorable score from the Raimi films.
What ultimately hurts ASM is that it is obviously a set-up for bigger and better things, which is even noted by the film’s harshest critics. The “missing parents” angle gives ASM a fresh angle for the franchise to begin anew, but its resolution is nonchalantly withheld for the later sequels to explore, so we’re left with a few annoying teases and whispers that don’t amount too much in the end. If Sony fully embraced Peter’s search for his parents in this film, this movie could have offer more than what its predecessor already gave. What we are given with ASM, however, is a serviceable, but enjoyable reintroduction of Spider-Man for a whole new audience
Side note: Stan Lee’s cameo was fantastic. Best one I’ve seen since the original Iron Man.
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