It’s really strange how distinct movie-watching memories can be. Throughout the entirety of The Amazing Spider-Man, I had the most overwhelming feelings of déjà vu, anxiously awaiting the moment when Andrew Garfield would kiss Emma Stone upside down. Because, with that Spiderman (2002) scene excluded, a great deal of this reimagining of the story followed the same plot points, while focusing on Peter’s upbringing with a sharper lens.
Over the last decade, the superhero movie has evolved into something that can be taken seriously, an ode to comic book lore with real issues of morality, identity, and heroism at stake. This is due in large part to Sam Raimi’s first two Spiderman films (the third is excluded for obvious reasons), the X-Men franchise, and of course Christopher Nolan’s vision of Batman. That being said, our expectations for superhero films have been raised to pretty lofty heights. And that notion in and of itself can cloud and preclude viewers from reveling in simply well-crafted, delicately acted comic book adaptations like The Amazing Spiderman.
Marc Webb’s hyper stylized yet obviously familiar Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is a gawky teen, although this time around more hipster, who gets bitten by a genetically-mutated spider crafted by his father in the Oscorp labs. When the very same genetic modification leads Dr. Curtis Connors (played pretty maleficently by Rhys Ifans) to transform into a massive lizard with a dashing British accent, Spidey must save the day.
The legend of Spiderman is so rich that it would have been very difficult for this movie to fail. Peter Parker is on a constant journey of discovery to not only understand his newly acquired abilities but to grapple with the muddled history of his past. It creates an interesting dynamic as Parker learns to accept the responsibilities that accompany being Spiderman, guided along the way by his de facto father Ben Parker.
Martin Sheen does a wonderful job of injecting Uncle Ben with a perfect mixture of severity and sweetness, brightening every scene in which he appears. His interactions with Peter are the most human moments in the film, comprising images of what I would like to believe were Sheen’s own words of advice to his kids – funny how Charlie ended up then. As Peter seeks vengeance for his uncle’s killer, he gets embroiled more deeply with the Stacy clan, dating dough-eyed daughter Gwen (lispy, charming Emma Stone) and playing verbal warfare with police captain father (normal, snarky Denis Leary).
The relationship between Parker and Stacy works for the most part; they are dating in real life after all. But occasionally, it serves as a distraction as opposed to an addition to the storyline. They are perfectly swell hip kids but their onscreen chemistry is not great enough to hold up a movie on its own. And that’s where Dr. Connors comes in.
Connors and Parker’s dad originally had a benevolent goal of fixing genetic mutations in humans, most notably Connors’ missing arm. But when Connors is rushed to find a solution to Norman Osborn’s undisclosed terminal illness, he decides to test out the green DNA-altering Oscorp liquid on himself. After his genes go through mutation boot camp, he flees to the sewer, like all alligators and friends should, to devise the rest of his evil plot. And that’s where things get murky. I didn’t quite understand why Connors is so adamant about enacting a form of revenge on the city of New York, by blasting them with lizard juice. If he worked for years to make the perfect Polyjuice potion, and realized it wasn’t right, what made him turn on random citizens like this? Is it just based on the roid rage power trip he gets when he’s the lizard? And why does Peter Parker become so sassy when he puts on his nifty, red and blue spandex? The Peter I know would never backtalk the man he believed was responsible for his uncle’s death. But this is beside the point. All is resolved when Spiderman and the lizard-thing have an awesome fight atop Oscorp, with blue, incandescent biological warfare rain pouring down.
Webb throws in webs (promised myself I wouldn’t make that pun, but so help me God I succumbed) in places where questions go answered. And it all suffices as a nice, exciting reboot of the franchise (yes there is the obligatory post-credits scene where a glimpse of a proposed sequel is revealed). It’s tough to take something that was already so great, like the decade-old Spiderman, rearrange it, and shine it up with a pretty varnish, but Webb is a master at doing so.
SumOlogy: Slick, loud, fun new take with familiar origins.
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