Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

It is quite wondrous to consider the floodgates that 2004’s Spider-Man opened. Beyond giving new life to a defunct genre, it meticulously approached the source material with an ethical and emotional depth. Spider-Man made far-fetched boys tales of costumed heroes and cartoonish villains adult entertainment with distinct moral compass and artistic detail. Since then, the world saw game changers like X-2: X-Men United, The Dark Knight, Sin City, and The Avengers, as well as numerous other good and not-so-good tries. Spider-Man gave birth to an era where the superhero genre was one in its own, not a subgenre of the action universe.

The fanboy crowd reacted passionately when Columbia announced it would reboot the Spider-Man franchise a mere 5 years after the atrocious Spider-Man 3. Columbia claimed that “5 years is a century in the film world”, making the reboot appropriate; I sided with the fans on this one with harsh disagreement. The bitter taste of Spider-Man 3 lasts in my mouth, and the origin story of Peter Parker’s masked adventures of New York still feels recent. Rebooting a franchise when the original demographic is still in said bracket was a poor move on Columbia’s decision, causing scrutiny over each creative decision of The Amazing Spider-Man.

While the story is largely unaltered, the set-up of The Amazing Spider-Man prepares viewers for a potentially immersive new approach to the web-slinging hero. The strongest part of the reboot is Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, a superior decision to Tobey McGuire. Gone is the brooding, pasty hero from the previous trilogy- this Peter is truer to form. Garfield mirrors Parker’s most identifiable and endearing traits; from his quippy sarcasm to his twitchy insecurity, this Parker is the loveable high schooler he should have been in the first film. The ever-charming Emma Stone also surpasses the previous Mary Jane as Gwen Stacy, a smart co-heroine to Spider-Man. No longer is Spidey’s love interest a frustrating damsel-in-distress with attitude; Stacy is spunky and independent.

This series is, according to the creators, an attempt to ground Spider-Man in a gritty realism a la The Dark Knight.  If this is the legitimate goal of The Amazing Spider-Man, it is failing spectacularly. It is, however, successful in mimicking the high-octane Marvel entries of late, combining witticisms, likeable heroics, and pretty action sequences. It’s frustrating being told how to interpret a film when said way simply is ineffective; yes, this Spider-Man is marginally more believable than its predecessor, but there is nothing realistic about a giant lizard using New York as its stomping grounds. The Amazing Spider-Man does not echo the emotional complexity that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight series; unlike Nolan’s features, The Amazing Spider-Man does not rise above its categorization of “superhero movie”.

Many of the individual moments of The Amazing Spider-Man are cleaner than the original. For example, the transition into Spider-Man feels quite natural here; Peter’s discomfort with discovering his powers also provided big belly laughs for the audience. The action set pieces are phenomenal, seamlessly integrating first person perspective with traditional view as Spider-Man swings through cityscapes. Amazing Spider-Man  is, in this way, cooler and fluffier than the original; an easy to digest popcorn movie.

Still, it is the extensive collection of hero flicks since 2004’s Spider-Man, not necessarily the original itself, that hurts our new Spidey so much. We’ve gone through the motions one too many times with the birth of a new hero- yes, they are fun to watch, but the groundwork all treads familiar territory. The Amazing Spider-Man sure is a good time, but the sequel is what will truly define how amazing the potential of the reboot is.

Grade: B