The Amazing Spider-Man
Directed by: Marc Webb
Written by: James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, Steve Kloves
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Sally Field

For a lot of moviegoers, “reboot” is a dirty word, one that means we are being forced to sit through a re-envisioning of something we’ve already seen before (and most likely something that didn’t quite work out the first time around). However, when it comes to comic book movies, the idea of a reboot makes a little more sense. Comic book characters get handed over to new creative teams all the time in print, so why not on the big screen as well?

Still, that doesn’t make director Marc Webb’s job any less difficult. Even though Spider-Man 3 wasn’t particularly well received, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies are still considered by many to be among the best superhero movies ever made. There weren’t a lot of fans explicitly asking for the franchise to be rebooted in the first place. With a lower budget and no major stars, can The Amazing Spider-Man possibly hope to measure up? Well, prepare to be amazed.

The story does indeed start over from scratch, bringing us back to Peter Parker’s days in high school. Living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, he discovers a briefcase that once belonged to his dad, a scientist at Oscorp, who mysteriously abandoned him when he was a kid. Peter heads to Oscorp in search of answers and stumbles on a genetic research facility where he is bitten by a spider, giving him superhuman abilities. Meanwhile, fellow Oscorp employee Dr. Curt Connors’ own research into the regenerative properties of reptiles has disastrous consequences that only Peter can fix.

Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) is not yet a household name, but definitely will be after this movie. He presents a much different version of Peter Parker, one that is still a bit of an outcast, but much more angsty and sarcastic. He is also taller and lankier than Tobey Maguire was, almost giving the appearance of a spider when he moves. I expect that even fans who come away from this movie feeling underwhelmed will agree that he is a significant improvement.

For those who did not like the soap opera romance involving Peter Parker and Mary-Jane Watson in Raimi’s Spider-Man movies, you will be happy to learn that MJ is nowhere to be found here. Emma Stone (Zombieland) plays Gwen Stacy, who is spunky and snarky and essentially Peter’s intellectual equal. Coming from the director of (500) Days of Summer, you might expect her to come across as just another “pixie dream girl”, but Emma Stone is too good for that. She makes the love story a lot more palatable and adds some humour to the proceedings, plus the fact that her father (Denis Leary) is the police captain adds an interesting complication.

This version of Spider-Man is not “darker” per se but it does feel a bit more grounded. This lends more emotional impact to some of the scenes, and prevents it from falling into melodrama territory, as Raimi’s Spider-Man sometimes did. The action also feels more believable and real, even though it does make use of a lot more CG than I expected. Still, you can tell that Marc Webb made an effort to employ practical stunts where possible, and many of his action scenes are kinetic not so much through the use of special effects but rather creative cinematography. The use of 3D also enhances some of the web swinging scenes, giving the viewer a dizzying sense of height and speed. There are also a few exhilarating shots from a first-person perspective, although they are used pretty sparingly since they can also be disorienting.

The Amazing Spider-Man makes a lot of subtle, seemingly cosmetic changes to the character that, when combined, really help set it apart. For one, the new costume looks fantastic, being both more traditional and more realistic. The addition of mechanical web shooters may seem harder to buy, but they do add some interesting wrinkles in terms of plot. More importantly, they also add what could be my favourite thing about this entire movie, which is the look of the webbing and the sound effects they use. Somehow they just feel so much more visceral and satisfying.

Even with all of the changes, however, the movie still suffers from a few of the same problems that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man did. Perhaps the biggest one is the fact that the villain is yet another scientist who goes crazy. Initially I thought that Rhys Ifans was going to make for a much more relatable villain, and I enjoyed his performance as Curt Connors, but somehow he still ended up feeling a little too familiar. I wasn’t a huge fan of the design of The Lizard either; the CG just felt muddled and unimpressive.

The marketing also kind of misled us by saying that the movie would delve into the disappearance of Peter Parker’s father. It serves as a way to kickstart the plot but then quickly disappears, probably to be explored in a future sequel. It’s worth mentioning that Sally Field and Martin Sheen both put in decent performances as Aunt May and Uncle Ben, although it is very difficult to replace Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson in our minds.

In general, I still expect the main complaint about this film to be the fact that there are too many moments of deja vu. However, if you can get past the initial origin stuff, I think there is a lot to like here, including some solid action sequences and a stronger emotional throughline. As a reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man is a success and does more than merely justify its existence. While I wouldn’t say it erases the memory of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, it definitely has me invested in this new universe and I, for one, can’t wait for the sequel. — Sean

SCORE: