In recent years, though, Spidey's most well-known appearances outside of comic books have been in Sam Raimi's trilogy of movies starring Tobey Maguire. But after the lukewarm fan response to Spider-Man 3 and creative differences between Raimi and Sony Pictures, the fourth entry in the series was cancelled before it got past the writing stage. Rather than continue developing Spider-Man 4 without Raimi, Sony chose to reboot the franchise and wipe the slate clean with a new take on Spidey's origins. And while the resulting reboot ― drawing its name from Marvel's flagship Amazing Spider-Man comic ― seemingly got lost in the comic-inspired summer blockbuster shuffle thanks to the mega-huge releases of The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, this new Spider-Man movie is still worth seeing.
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has spent much of his young life wondering about secrets. The biggest one of them all is why his parents chose to leave him to live with his aunt May (Sally Field) and uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) when he was only four years old with nary a word as to why. And after their death in a mysterious plane crash, he long believed the answer would forever escape him.
But when Peter discovers his father's briefcase, he finds a stack of hidden documents that lead him to Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), a biologist working on cross-species genetics at the pharmaceutical company Oscorp. Peter sneaks into Dr. Connors's laboratory during an internship tour and discovers a room where genetically-modified spiders are spinning webs constructed of extremely durable cables. One of these spiders sneaks into Peter's clothes and bites him, bestowing upon him heightened agility and reflexes, enhanced strength, and a sixth sense that alerts him to danger.
As he learns the ins and outs of his new abilities, Peter approaches Dr. Connors with his father's paperwork. Dr. Connors, impressed by how well Peter comprehends the complexities of all the scientific jargon written in these papers, explains that he and Peter's father were working on a serum that would allow amputees to regenerate their missing limbs similar to lizards. And with Peter helping with some of the math, Dr. Connors has come closer than ever to perfecting his serum.
Unfortunately, Peter's dealings with Dr. Connors cause him to forget a few things around the house and lead to an argument with Uncle Ben. Peter storms out of the house, but when he tries to follow him and diffuse the situation, Ben is shot and killed by a guy holding up a convenience store. A heartbroken Peter hits the streets looking for the killer himself, using his abilities to capture muggers and carjackers as he searches for his uncle's murderer.
Donning a red-and-blue costume and mask inspired by Mexican wrestlers, Peter's vigilante antics make him a folk hero known only as "Spider-Man." But since vigilantism is technically illegal, it's also made Peter a target of the New York Police Department. The fact that the NYPD's captain, George Stacy (Denis Leary), is leading the manhunt for Spider-Man makes it especially rough on Peter, primarily due to his blossoming courtship with Captain Stacy's daughter Gwen (Emma Stone).
Things are going to get a lot worse for Peter, however. Dr. Connors, pressured by his superiors at Oscorp to rush human testing on his regenerative serum or face losing his job, injects himself with the formula. It is an initial success, as he regrows his previously missing arm. It almost immediately goes south, though, as it mutates him into a lizard-like beast. His sanity takes a drastic downturn as well, leading Dr. Connors to conclude that he should expose all of New York City to the serum. Realizing that the lizard creature he's been fighting is Dr. Connors and racked with guilt that his input led to this problem, Peter takes it upon himself to save the day even as the NYPD tries to bring him in.
The Amazing Spider-Man marks the third and final Marvel movie to be released this year, following behind Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and the money-making juggernaut that was The Avengers. It isn't the best of the three, but I honestly cannot call it the worst either. The Amazing Spider-Man is genuinely fun, full of moments that are a real treat to behold. The first two chapters of Raimi's Spidey trilogy might be held in higher regard, but this movie can easily stand alone as something good.
Helming the relaunch of the franchise is director Mark Webb, whose name could only be more appropriate if it were "Peter Parker" or "Stan Lee." Webb's direction is fantastic, excellently maintaining a sense of adventure through the whole movie. There's also a certain level of curiosity, in that you know Uncle Ben is doomed and that Spider-Man will save the day at the end, but Webb sucks you in and makes you want to see what happens next. It helps that Webb is armed with a talented cast and amazing special effects, both of which really boost the movie.
I also have to admit that I really liked how Webb utilized the movie's 3D effects. While there are moments where the movie would have worked just well in 2D, Webb still utilizes the 3D in a way that makes the extra charge on the ticket worth it. It's especially evident during the first-person sequences where Spider-Man leaps from rooftop to rooftop. The 3D makes these bits look even cooler than they would have in 2D, to the point that it probably would have blown my mind if I'd seen it in IMAX.
Unfortunately, as good as the direction and the 3D are, I thought the script was just kinda mediocre. Written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, and Steve Kloves, the script suffers from muddled storytelling and a pretty big plot hole. The whole "Spider-Man's father kept some dark secrets" angle becomes a complete non-factor almost immediately and isn't mentioned again until the extra scene partway through the end credits. Did the writers just forget about it? Were those scenes cut out of the movie during the editing process? If you're not going to do anything with it, why even bring it up at all? It's like they came up with it and forgot about it twenty pages into the script, and by the time they remembered it, they figured they'd just save the answers for the sequel.
But at least Vanderbilt, Sargent, and Kloves managed to do right by the characters. They not only keep them true to their comic book counterparts while doing something new with them, but Vanderbilt, Sargent, and Kloves make them all enjoyable in their own ways. And considering how great a job the cast does, it's just icing on the cake.
And let's talk about the cast for a second while we're at it. Playing the lead role is Andrew Garfield, who at 28 years old doesn't really look like a believable teenager. But age discrepancies aside, Garfield is very, very good as the titular superhero. He absolutely nails the part, playing Peter with the necessary pathos and giving Spidey a joking, smart-aleck attitude, both of which are needed to accurately play both facets of the character. Garfield was a great choice for the movie, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in future sequels.
I can say the same for Emma Stone who I found to be quite charming and sweet as Gwen Stacy. Stone plays Gwen with a warmth that makes it easy to understand why Peter would fall for her in the first place. She and Garfield have a believable chemistry together, and their scenes have a likable cuteness thanks to how well they play their roles.
Rhys Ifans also puts forth a great performance as the movie's resident villain. Ifans approaches the part differently than how others have played comic book supervillains, giving Dr. Connors a real "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" vibe. He knows that he's a monster, but is too mentally unstable to stop himself. I actually felt that Ifans's performance was quite captivating; While he might not have the same menace as Heath Ledger's Joker or the scenery-chewing over-the-top silliness of Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Ifans still plays a damn fine villain.
And I really don't have anything bad to say about the rest of the supporting cast either. Denis Leary is a lot of fun in his role, while Martin Sheen and Sally Field knock it out of the park. The roles of Uncle Ben and Aunt May are crucial to the Spider-Man mythos, and Sheen and Field absolutely nail it by making their characters feel real.
I know practically everyone who sees The Amazing Spider-Man has and will compare it to Raimi's trilogy. But I honestly don't think that's really fair to the crew that made this movie. It should be judged on its own merits, and by doing so, one might be pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out. Calling the movie perfect would be a lie, but it's still a fine, exciting piece of entertainment that I enjoyed a lot. Now if they can just sort out all of the legal issues and get Spider-Man in The Avengers 2, we'll be set.
Final Rating: ***½
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