“The Amazing Spider-Man”
Director: Marc Webb
With: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, & Sally Field.
Original Release Date: July 3, 2012
PG-13
Spider-Man has always been a central character driving my childhood nostalgia. From the very beginning, I have always been drawn to him. I don’t whether I thought his abilities were really cool or I related to the fact that he was a nerdy guy. In most movies that I had seen at that time, there wasn’t a lot of representation. When I was a kid, the Sam Raimi films were very formative for me. I remember watching Spider-Man 2 for the first time. My 5 year old mind was blown. The action was flawless and the special effects were the most impressive I had ever seen. These movies helped ignite my passion for film and Spider-Man became my hero. So, when I learned that after Spider-Man 3, they were rebooting the franchise, I was very hesitant as to what might happen. I had become so attached to that singular iteration of the character that I didn’t want to let it go. But the world doesn’t revolve around the way I feel and the film moved forward.
The first time that I ever watched “The Amazing Spider-Man”, it didn’t really stand out to me. The direction was inspired. It reminded me of recent coming-of-age films and I thought the style translated well with Spider-Man’s origin. I thought the story was decent, albeit a bit repetitive. I really enjoyed The Lizard and I thought the way they came about giving Peter Parker his powers was smart. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s chemistry was electric, though I didn’t believe that Andrew was right for the part of Spider-Man. He seems to ooze this swagger that seemed to cool for me. I found myself struggling to believe that he was a social outcast. But overall, I liked it, but it didn’t hold a candle to any of the previous films.
Upon revisiting this movie, one of the first things I noticed was the production design. The designer painstakingly made sure that this new movie felt different from the original trilogy and I really enjoyed that. It allowed the film to distance itself. Within the first 15 minutes, I knew this film nailed the moral compass of Peter Parker. He put himself in the line of fire to save a kid who couldn’t defend himself, even though he was just as under-qualified. Throughout the whole film, the biggest thing that stood out to me were the relationships between the characters. His relationship with Uncle Ben and Aunt May was spot on and it really helped drive the storyline later on. Peter’s relationship with Gwen Stacy was still as strong as I remember it to be. I credit this to Marc Webb’s direction. Having a background in romantic dramas, he has a way to develop characters and make them interesting and engaging. I also found myself really enjoying the score. It was subtle and heroic and I felt that it fit the aesthetic of the movie. I also applaud the movie for bringing out Spider-Man’s snarky attitude. The Raimi films didn’t have as much of that and it felt at home in this movie.
I noticed also that the CGI for this movie hasn’t aged gracefully. Looking at Dr. Connors missing arm was extremely jarring and you could definitely see that something wasn’t exactly right. The Lizard looked decent most of the time, but occasionally it looked like a cutscene from a video game. The movie really fell from great to good in the final act. The storyline became very predictable. I knew from the minute I learned The Lizard’s full plan, I knew it would end on the rooftop and that Spider-Man was going to have help from Captain Stacy and Gwen. I still struggled believing that Andrew Garfield was not the coolest guy in the school, but it didn’t bother me as much as it did originally. There are also a couple of scenes that seem out of place in this movie, such as the very “Footloose”-esque skateboarding scene to Coldplay’s “Till Kingdom Come.”
Overall, I enjoyed “The Amazing Spider-Man” for what it was worth. It had some really good moments that came together to make a decent movie. I think that with a few story changes, it could have become my favorite Spider-Man movie. It stayed true to the character while making itself feel original at the same time.
Rating: 7/10
Movie Club Monday 