Spider-man returns to theatres in this exciting reboot
Long-awaited
by myself and thousands of other Spider-man fans, The Amazing Spider-Man finally web-swung into
cinemas this week after months of anticipation. With an excited fan base ready for a film Spidey closer to his comic counterpart and some serious talent both on camera
and off, the sky was the limit for this reboot. Did it live up to expectations?
In short, yes. The film recovers the
origin story of Spider-Man as was told in Sam Raimi’s original film only ten
years ago, but keeps Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) in high school, following
him as he is bitten, comes to terms with both the great power and the great
responsibility (these words aren’t actually spoken by the way, and are sorely
missed) he is left with, falls in love with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), tries to
discover what actually happened to his long-dead parents and dabbles in
cross-species genetics with the soon-to-be-Lizard Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans).
If that sounds like a lot for one film to cover, that’s because it is. I kept
that in one sentence to show just how frantic and fractured this film could
have been, but somehow director Marc Webb has managed to hold everything
together.
The glue of The Amazing Spider-Man turns
out to be the relationship between Peter and Gwen, both played to perfection by
Garfield and Stone. Each scene with them sparks with chemistry and watching
them fall in love is easily one of the most engaging of the many subplots.
Emma Stone is impossible to ignore in
every scene she is in, and Andrew Garfield pours everything into his portrayal
of the Web-head. We see him at his highest, and at his lowest, and Garfield
never pulls his punches. His Spidey is highly intelligent, filled with guilt,
but always quick-witted and constantly throwing out one-liners. He is,
essentially, just like the comics. While Toby Maguire did a good job at the
time, he never felt quite right for the role in my opinion. Garfield nails it.
Supporting the two main players are four
tremendous actors. Martin Sheen’s Uncle Ben is kind, but stern and Sheen plays
the part fantastically, while Sally Field puts everything into her role as Aunt
May where she mostly just has to look worried for Peter. Denis Leary plays the
protective father of Gwen, Captain George Stacy, and his arc is one of the most
fully formed in the film. Finally, Rhys Ifans takes the role of the chief baddie,
managing to come across as both sympathetic and despicable, capable of making
your skin crawl without you ever really being sure why.
The special effects are mostly top-notch.
Spidey darts through the air with the right amount of velocity and enjoyment,
and Webb’s decision to actually keep Garfield in the costume as much as
possible to make it actually seem like it’s an untrained kid behind the mask
works well as the stunts all look very believable. The effects falter slightly
with the Lizard, however, as he never quite fits into the scene. His humanoid face
looks out of place with the full Lizard body and the parts when he spoke were
rather laughable. I understand the reasons Webb took this approach, but
definitely think his face should have made a full transition to lizard form.
If I had any other complaints with the
film, it’s that a few plot points introduced in the first hour are dropped in
favour of using them in the sequel. One point, in particular, feels hastily
dropped once the Lizard appears and I think it is a rather vital part of the
origin story.
Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man succeeds in
its goals. The cast are all fantastic and their performances and the script
hold the film up amongst other recent superhero outings. Hollywood, take note. Since you seem insistent on rebooting everything, this is how to do it.
- Paul Brown
