The Amazing Spider-Man

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Like a dull tack: utterly pointless

2012: Columbia Pictures

2012, Action and Adventure, Rated PG-13

Distributed by Columbia Pictures

          The Amazing Spider-Man is a good film. It's exciting, well-acted, well-directed, and stands tall among some other lackluster comic book adaptations. Unfortunately though, it's the same good movie we saw back in 2002 when Toby Maguire was swinging around in blue and red tights. You couldn't have changed the plot somewhat? It becomes so tiresome to watch the same story unfold before you. This film should be to Spider-Man what The Incredible Hulk was to Hulk. But it ends up being the same thing with different actors and a different villain.

          The one thing that is undeniably different from the original is the fresh cast. Andrew Garfield plays Spidey with a bit more confidence. He is taller, skinnier, and hardly resembles the small but muscular Maguire in Spider-Man. That gives even the digital Spidey a different look from the first movie. Garfield fit the darker mood of the new installment as well. Emma Stone enters the comic book movie world with her role as Gwen Stacy, portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3. Stone does a great job in her role, tossing Howard's brief late introduction aside as a mere appetizer to the true Gwen. I honestly preferred the Uncle Ben from the original, played by Cliff Robertson, although Martin Sheen did a nice job in the update. I'm a fan of Dennis Leary but he really doesn't belong in a comic book movie. There were times when they would try to let his comedy roots show but the jokes were met with silence usually. The villain, The Lizard, was played by Rhys Ifans. Ifans is a great, diverse actor. I expected nothing but a solid performance and he delivered. All in all the cast is excellent. They do their best to bring new life to a tired franchise.

          The problems arise in this movie when you realize you are watching the same story as in the original. Marvel released Hulk in 2003 to poor critical and commercial response. They wanted to make more money off of it so they remade it and released it as a "reboot". It had a whole new cast and story and had a much better response than the original. The Incredible Hulk, released in 2008, feels very much like a different movie, rather than a remake. The film opens with Bruce Banner already consumed by his superhuman condition. We don't have to watch him get zapped by gamma rays because we already know how that happened from the original. The Amazing Spider-Man acts like Spider-Man never existed. Unfortunately that was all people could talk about upon its release. We all saw Spider-Man. So why did they feel they needed to show us Uncle Ben's murder or the spider bite? Uncle Ben's murder in the update is incredibly goofy. This guy with a gun trips in front of him and Ben thinks "I'm an old man so I should probably make a diving leap for that gun" so he does and he gets shot. It was very odd and made me giggle it was so ridiculous.

          There was nothing incredibly interesting or original that didn't already show up in Spider-Man. The villain was new, but every comic book sequel has a new villain; it could have been Maguire and Dunst fighting off Ifans. The Lizard, one of my favorite villains from the comic books, was also lacking. I'm sick of these all-digital beings in action movies. Even up close The Lizard was totally digital. We need that playful balance between what's practical and what's digital to keep action scenes interesting in films like this. No one wants to see a digital spider and a digital lizard fight in a digital city. It's like a watching a cartoon. Another issue I had with the film was its inability to adapt to the current trends in Marvel movies. Where are the cross-over characters? It was simply Spidey and The Lizard leaping off the comics panels and into The Amazing Spider-Man. The Avengers has set the bar for new Marvel movies, and that's a bar The Amazing Spider-Man fails to reach. 

          This is a great film on its own. The special effects are fantastic, the villain is cool, and the cast is awesome. The movie exudes a certain ethusiasm for its subject that is undeniably contagious. It does run a bit too long and like I said, it's way too familiar. I'm going say don't go see this in the theater. I saw it in 3D, on a massive screen, and still, I can't say it was worth it. I'm still getting over the brilliance of The Avengers, and in mere days, The Dark Knight will rise.

          Side note: The best update from the original Spider-Man is the new Spidey's wise cracks. Spider-Man in the comics makes fun of his villains while he battles them. He always has some wise-ass comment to make before he throws a punch. This was perfectly integrated into the new Amazing Spider-Man.