The Amazing Spider-Man – Review
“The untold story begins”.
The Amazing Spider-Man, the Marc Webb-directed reboot of everybody’s favorite web crawler, promised to leave Sam Raimi’s Spidey films behind and tell a gritty and original origins story ala Batman Begins. But unfortunately, that’s what holds the film back most. It promises to give us something new, but instead goes down some very familiar paths.
Whereas the first Sam Raimi film gave a concise half-hour rundown of Parker’s beginnings, The Amazing Spider-Man takes all 2 hours and 16 minutes to introduce us to Peter, and then some. In the character space, this works well. Garfield’s Spider-Man is a much more awkward and adolescent hero than Tobey Maguire’s titular character. And for the purposes of this reboot, its an appropriate change. Garfield delivers a sincere, down-to-earth performance that really helps sell the isolation and self-consciousness of his character. There’s a sigh of relief in being able to confidently say that Webb found the right Spider-Man for his approach, and I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing more of Garfield in future installments.
Thankfully, there is no weak link in the rest cast. Emma Stone is pitch-perfect as Gwen Stacy, a charming, simple girl with the same amount of teenage awkwardness towards Peter as he has towards her. The two have a genuinely adorable chemistry with one another that acts as a solid anchor for the story.
Rhys Ifans plays Dr. Curt Connors, a scientist with conviction and a past with Peter’s father that is continually alluded to throughout the film. Ifans plays a genuinely unsettling villain as the Lizard, and Connors himself is a mirror antagonist to the Peter Parker of The Amazing Spider-Man. Denis Leary turns in one of the more surprising performances as Captain Stacy, a concerned father and police chief. And somehow, Martin Sheen manages to make Uncle Ben feel fresh again, even if he does follow the same plot-points as Raimi’s Uncle Ben.
But if there’s one lesson The Amazing Spider-Man has for filmgoers it’s that the script is king, and this is what unfortunately brings down the film’s excellent ensemble cast. It’s not that the script is full of poor dialogue or cheesy jokes. On the contrary, what’s actually written down is by and large a fresh take on many of the characters Spidey fans know and love. No, where the script actually fails is in delivering the “untold story” so many of us were promised.
While certain areas of the plot follow tried and true paths, others continually allude to new details regarding Peter’s father and his work at Oscorp where he worked with Dr. Connors on cross species genetics. The fact that this is only alluded to and no more is frustrating and makes the film feel unnecessary, as if it’s missing the meat of its story.
In all other aspects, The Amazing Spider-Man possesses all of the grandeur of a high-production summer blockbuster. Action sequences are well-choreographed and a ton of fun to watch. Garfield is given a new personality to work with when in the suit, cracking jokes and making fools of his enemies. The Lizard is also a formidable combatant and the effects surrounding the largely CGI villain are impressive. There’s also a sweeping superhero score that, while not doing anything particularly new or exciting, gets the job done (damn you, James Horner, the man of many Titanic cues).
But after leaving the theater and letting the rush of enjoyment subside, I was surprised to find that the very thing The Amazing Spider-Man promised is left for its already announced sequel. The reasoning behind keeping the new origin story details so close to the chest is sound, but then the film ultimately never delivers on its promises, instead making more promises with its references to the inevitable continuation of the story.
I didn’t expect everything to be revealed in its first installment, as movie studios do love their sequels, but I had hoped The Amazing Spider-Man would reveal something, anything, to keep me interested in its sequel. Although the film is incredibly fun and entertaining, it’s difficult to feel any excitement or intrigue towards the story’s future. I am still looking forward to where they take the Spider-Man franchise, and while I did thoroughly enjoy the gritty approach and strong performances by its cast, The Amazing Spider-Man ultimately doesn’t do anything amazing with its story
Overall: 8.0
What do you think? Have you seen The Amazing Spider-Man yet? Leave a comment below!
– KZ
Kenneth Zink | Composer 