Thursday, July 5, 2012

Review: "The Amazing Spider-Man"

Note: Before completing my review for The Amazing Spider-Man I had an in-depth conversation with my nerdiest, comic book-reading friend. Our opinions on this film and the Sam Raimi franchise differed greatly. As such, I believe that your feelings toward the previous series of Spiderman films will play a big part in how you feel toward this outing. Be advised.

You can count me in amongst the (relatively small) ranks of hardened movie goers who appreciate a good reboot, especially as it pertains to the superhero genre. When done correctly, I believe the current trend of shooting a trilogy with a given actor and/or director allows for a story to be told without being stretched too far and opens up the possibility for a diverse set of narratives within the same general universe. To me, this is preferable to say, the overextension of the first Superman films or the constant revolving door technique used by the Bond franchise. The Amazing Spider-Man (from here on out, just Spiderman because I’ve already tired of that hyphen), though, has two things going against it in that it is trying to reboot a very, very good franchise only five years after the last film debuted and it is one of the first franchises to undergo the face lift that many other series’ will go through in the coming years. And while at times this film is excellent, it struggles mightily under the weight of these pressing issues, creating an uneven experience that could have (and perhaps should have) been much better.

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) hasn’t had an easy shake in life. His parents disappeared when he was very young, leaving him in the hands of his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), who do their very best but who quite simply are not his parents. He is awkward in virtually every social setting, especially those involving his crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). But a discovery in his father’s old briefcase leads him to the lab of Doctor Curtis Connors (Rhys Ifans) where he is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider. Soon Peter finds that he has taken on the characteristics of a spider, including incredible strength and lightning-fast reflexes and when tragedy strikes his family yet again, Peter begins to hone his abilities and takes on the persona of Spiderman. But while Peter attempts to avenge his loss, Dr. Connors sees his genetic experiments go horribly wrong, creating a monster that may be too much even for Spiderman.

I would like to be able to write a review for The Amazing Spiderman without comparing it to the previous series but unfortunately, director Mark Webb hasn’t given me that option. There are so many similarities between this film and the first of Sam Raimi’s series, especially in the early going, as to make it difficult to discern between the two. Given how recently the target audience for this film was immersed in Raimi’s vision, I think it would have behooved Webb and his team of writers to work toward separating this film from the Tobey Maguire Spiderman in an effort to give notice of a new take on the material. This is far from a shot-for-shot remake of the 2002 film but so many details, right down to the set design of Peter’s school, bear a striking resemblance to that film. As Spiderman progresses, it pulls itself further and further away from its ancestors but the first act borrows heavily from Raimi’s Spiderman.

On the plus side, I found Garfield to be a pleasant, mostly believable, and effectively earnest Parker/Spiderman. The coolest thing about Spiderman is that he’s a teenager, a kid who suddenly becomes a force to be reckoned with in the middle of New York City. There’s a powerful appeal to Spiderman and Garfield does an excellent job of embodying not only the superhero side of his split persona but also the awkward and somewhat haunted teenage side. On this front at least, I think this version of Spiderman bests the Maguire version. At the same time, however, the development of Parker/Spiderman is uneven and a bit haphazard. Parker jumps too quickly from an awestruck kid who doesn’t know his own strength to a cocky, indestructible force and at times he seems to revert whenever it is convenient within the narrative for him to do so. Stacy is much the same way. In the beginning, she is a confident, accomplished young woman but as Parker’s importance builds, she becomes a one-note character who borders on the stereotypical damsel in distress. In much the same way that I questioned the casting of Natalie Portman in Thor, I found myself wondering why Stone was brought aboard in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Emma Stone; she might be favorite actress in the business right now. But at the same time, a hundred actresses could have done what little she was asked to do for this role. I kept waiting for her to break out and honestly, I felt like she herself was waiting for an opportunity to do something worthwhile. Instead, she’s just kind left there to look pretty and occasionally drive one of the subplots. With a runtime of over two hours, you would think some time could be found for character development but without it, the relationship between Parker and Stacy seems inconsequential if not superfluous. This was a real missed opportunity in my estimation because Stone is one of the more charismatic women in Hollywood and here she’s almost hamstrung by a lackluster character.

Spiderman does excel in pushing the tempo in the right situations and works hard (perhaps too hard) to strike an emotional tone. This isn’t as much fun as the typical superhero movie and while it isn’t as dark as The Dark Knight franchise, it definitely has more in common with that series than it does with The Avengers or the rest of the Marvel universe. The visuals are impressive (though a few shots are clearly geared exclusively to the 3D crowd, which I hate) and I personally dig the suit, though I prefer my Spidey with organic web shooters in his wrists rather than a super brain that allows him to build a device to shoot his webbing (which goes against the comics, I know). Webb displays a flair for the dramatic and as the film builds toward a final collision between Spiderman and his first real nemesis, I felt it really found its stride. As with any origin story, it’s almost impossible to truly judge this film until we see what sort of house Garfield and (presumably) Webb can build out of the foundation laid here. As such, there’s nothing within this film that I can call great but there is enough good here to expect much bigger things from the inevitable sequels. 

6 comments:

  1. You're opening statements ring true: we will def have a differing of opinion based on the views of the first Spider-Man movies.

    1."As Spiderman progresses, it pulls itself further and further away from its ancestors but the first act borrows heavily from Raimi’s Spiderman."

    -I would argue that Both Raimi and Webb borrow heavily from the source content instead. and that Webb's "untold story" is the same story as Raimi's because it is Spider-Man/Parker's story, only Webb included better/accurate/truer details than Raimi did.

    2."I think this version of Spiderman bests the Maguire version."

    -I agree with you here. Garfield was a great Parker/Spider-Man, while Tobey was a great Parker.

    3.Gwen Stacy: "she becomes a one-note character who borders on the stereotypical damsel in distress."

    -can't agree here. She did what she could to HELP Spider-Man...in the highschool, at Oscorp, etc...I felt that she was the most appropriate. Chemistry with Garfield represented Gwen and Peter's relationship so well.

    4."though I prefer my Spidey with organic web shooters in his wrists rather than a super brain that allows him to build a device to shoot his webbing (which goes against the comics, I know."

    -Really?? WHY? ugh. haha.

    Fun to read your thoughts. A little surprised, but that made reading this even more enjoyable. Thanks for sharing. sorry for my long comment.

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  2. I wondered if I might get a retort from you, ha!

    1. Excellent point there. I guess my argument would be: this is why it was dangerous to reboot a franchise when the original first film only came out a decade ago.

    2. Spot on there with Maguire making a good Parker, not a great Spiderman.

    3. I wasn't especially thrilled with my own wording on that point but couldn't think of a better way to say it. My main issue was perhaps the casting of Stone, whom I love but possibly because of my love, I kept expecting more. Like, turn Emma Stone loose a little bit here, you know? And maybe that's unfair to the film and to Stacy herself.

    4. Haha, having not grown up a comic book reader, my brain had Spidey's shooters as organic and I had a hard time adjusting to that. My friend who I discussed the movie with before writing my review also gave me SERIOUS grief over this, haha.

    I will say this above all: I am now more excited about the sequel to Amazing Spiderman than I ever was about this one. I think they set the table beautifully for a great film the next time around.

    Thanks for the in-depth comment! Good discussion!

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  3. This was so fun to discuss. I was half tempted to open up a discussion post on my page about The Amazing Spider-Man, but find it far more fun to be commenting on different things on everyone's review.

    Yours was so enjoyable to read through, I just HAD to comment!

    On the organic webbing, I remember, at one point in time, discussing with a friend that if Spidey's webbing truly came from his body...it would be coming from his butt just like it does for the spiders. LOL. Can you imagine?

    Truth: the webshooters played an integral part in Spider-Man's bouts. He would change the formula of webbing for different tasks/villains, etc. Much much later the webbing became organic, but in the beginning it was all the shooters.

    Thanks for the fun. I, too, can't wait for the sequel.

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  4. Man, I need to get you in a room with my comic buddy and let you two go to town on the ins and outs of Spiderman, haha.

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  5. Just saw it, and I think Emma Stone's part was more than just looking pretty. I'd say she was integral to the story. No, she didn't get to shine like she has in other flicks, but it's the Amazing Spiderman, not the Amazing Gwen.

    What was with those over-the-knee socks, though? Are hot socks making a comeback? I hope not.

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  6. I think my wording/expression in that section of the review wasn't top notch. I just wanted more from her and her character. I always felt like she was on the verge of actually BEING more than just DOING more and she never got a chance to do it.

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