Ladies and gentlemen, the amazing Spider-Man! – Mark II. Due
to many complications and problems typical of Hollywood, after three movies and
ten years, Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, and Kristen Dunst and her bright hair are
being tossed to the wind. They had a good run, but now it time for the new; two
of the hottest young actors (in both appearance and skill) Andrew Garfield, and
Emma Stone, and the director with the perfect name, Marc Webb, are all set for
an at least equally long, probably better reboot of everyone’s favorite
web-crawling franchise.
For my sanity, I’m going to try my best not to directly compare
this movie to the 2002 version, but I’m afraid it might be hard, though not
quite as hard as it is to not judge people who say “The reboot is actually a better
film, but since I enjoyed the ’02 version just fine, I’m going to say I didn’t
like it at all!” Ahem.
Andrew Garfield is Peter Parker, a smart, slightly geeky, and
more than slightly troubled, but still hip high school student. He lives with
his Aunt and Uncle ever since his parents unexpectedly left him with them, and disappeared.
His dad was a scientist, who was working on something very secret. One day,
when cleaning out the basement, Peter finds his dad’s old briefcase, and
inside, some equations he doesn’t understand, and a picture of his dad and a
co-worker; Dr. Curt Connors, played by Rhys Ifans. Peter goes to talk to Dr. Connors,
but ends up doing more sneaking around than talking. He ends up in a strange
room full of spiders, where one bites him. No way.
Getting used to his new super powers proves to be hard for
Peter, and while funny, it was a little unbelievable… even for a comic hero. After
that awkward first day though, things start to pick up for Peter. He first uses
his power as we could all assume; to make his own life easier, but it doesn’t
exactly work, and after a tragedy we all knew was coming, he puts himself
toward a more noble cause, more noble, but still his own cause. You get the
super part overnight, but the hero part takes some work. The spider didn’t make
Peter good, but it does jump-start his journey toward heroism, a journey that
takes a long time, and involves the audience in a way only a modern super hero
pic could.
Peter has a crush on a pretty, popular girl at school named
Gwen Stacy played pleasingly by the lovely Emma Stone. Gwen apparently likes
him too, because when Peter finally – and awkwardly – talks to her and asks her
out, things get moving along pretty fast. They have a cute, hilariously awkward
relationship, (and you should know, I don’t often think awkward movie moments
are actually funny, I usually just laugh to keep from crying… not in this case)
and before you know it, he admits to being the “masked vigilante” her police captain
dad has been trying to catch and arrest, immediately eliminating at least half
of the unnecessary melodrama classic to the genre. Another thing I enjoyed was
that Gwen never requires rescuing through the entire film, another refreshing
change from the usual super hero fare, which will also remove that drag-y
repetitive feeling when it inevitably happens in the next film.
This web-slinger is flying in 3D, and if you’re pulling out the
extra money for that ticket, I will not say ye nay. The 3D is quality, and
shows off the action sequences very well. But this action would look good
without it as well, in fact, it would look good anywhere – it is some of the
most stylish and exciting action I’ve ever seen. It has a certain crisp, clean
feeling that really brings out that fun thrill that should be in a comic hero
film, while never throwing away the gravity that makes Spidey’s situations
worth investing in.
I would tell you, as a general rule, to never, ever, ever,
ever put slow motion in a movie unless it was absolutely necessary to show what
happened, or if you were making a ridiculous, stylized movie. I have now
changed my mind. Marc Webb did a great job knowing exactly where to put the
slow-mo to perfectly enhance the visual appeal, and the intensity, and I now believe
he should be the only person ever allowed to use that dreaded gimmick.
Webb also did wonders in the character department. I have
never felt so invested in Spidey’s story before, whether when he was sad and
bitter from being abandoned by his parents, or his sense of duty when it came
to saving the city, his slow journey to being a true hero, to his sweet nervousness
around Gwen, it was all great. (Things totally missing or done painfully wrong
in the ’02 Spidey! (Sorry, I compared them… but I couldn’t help myself, and
hey, I lasted a pretty long time!))
So now we come to the conclusion, and what is there to say? Which
Spidey is better in my opinion? Is it finally time for the comparison? Well, I
say no, because both movies are perfectly good stories of the Spider’s origin
on their own merit, and this review is on The Amazing Spider-Man, so that’s
where I’ll stay. This movie is a
high-flying good time with pizzazz that gives The Avengers a run for its money in
visual flair, but delves in deep, and is emotionally resonant, just how we like
our heroes these days. We all basically knew what the plot for this film was
going to be; there’s only so many ways to do an origin story, so there's nothing really surprising, but it promises there
will be more - much more - and I for one, can hardly wait.
- 4/5 stars
