Ten summers ago Sam Rami brought us his interpretation of Marvels Spider-Man universe with Toby Maguire as the geeky and quintessential web slinger. It was perfect bubble gum superhero fare. It ticked several boxes and with the two sequels that followed the franchise took over two and a half billion dollars. So the question that needs to be asked is this. Do we really want, need & require a reboot so soon?
To answer that question you need to know why it was even considered in the first place. The third and last Spider-Man film released in 2007 was a very clumsy affair. Filled with too many villains and a script that never really captured the audience’s attention in the way the first two films had. It was pretty much panned by critics across the board as being lacklustre, overcrowded and devoid of emotional investment. However it does go to show that we, the paying movie goers are a fickle bunch, as the third film had the highest box office take of all three.
That still doesn’t really explain why the powers that be decided to go back to square one with this A-List comic book character. There were a plethora of unresolved plot points left up in the air from the previous film that they could have chosen to run with. Also if they’d had the foresight to see how big the Avengers film was going to be and been quick off the mark they could have asked very nicely if “good old spidey” could have come and played with them instead.
I think the main reason for the reboot lies in the fact that Sam Rami walked away from the director’s chair and was very closely followed by Mr Maguire about forty eight hours later. Columbia Pictures may have gotten cold feet with the idea of someone else playing Peter Parker and given the problems that Warner Brothers had with three different actors playing Batman over four films during the nineties I can’t say that I’m surprised with the decision.
So then, back to this new incarnation. The film starts with Peter Parker being given by his mother and father to his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, played by Martin Sheen & Sally Field respectively, to be looked after. We the audience are never given the reason why Peter’s parents do this but from what we are shown, it seems to be very much a case of pack quickly and get the hell out of dodge.
Jumping forward about twelve years or so, we are introduced to Peter in his late teens at High School. Unlike the previous three Rami films Peter is never really portrayed as a teenager with issues. He doesn’t seem to have any worries, he always has perfect hair (not jealous, honest) and he doesn’t appear to be bullied in any way shape or form. In fact it’s his decision to stand up to the school “Jock” that causes the only High school dispute we see. Peter does get entangled in another fight on the subway later on but this is a very clumsy affair and it’s almost pitched at the viewers as farce. Just think Mr Bean meets the fight scene from Bridget Jones and you wouldn’t be too far wide of the mark.
As the film moves on and Peter gets ever closer to the inevitable “bite” I found myself thinking that New York has become a lot smaller than I remember. For example, there is a theory that states that everyone is connected to everyone else by “six degrees of separation”. In this film you’d be forgiven for considering that it was two or three at the most. Peter’s love interest is Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, who just happens to be the daughter of the Chief of Police, portrayed by Dennis Leary. She also happens to be the assistant to the main bad guy Dr Curt Connors, who is hammed up to perfection by Rhys Ifans. Now I do understand that characters in a film have to know and communicate with each other but this just seems to be a bit too easy and is borderline lazy when it comes to the story. As I writing this I’ve just had a flashback to Disney’s “it’s a small world after all” ride and that dear reader is something a film should never ever be able to do.
So, the day comes when Peter goes to see Gwen at work, for reasons that never really become clear and wouldn’t you know it he happens to stumble across the only room full of genetically altered spiders within a thousand mile radius and before you can say “plot point” he gets bitten by one of them. Now it’s never really made clear what these spiders are doing in this room. From the few visual clues that are available I would have to surmise that they were either all weaving a very nice intricate rug or possibly looking for the Higgs Boson particle. Hopefully more light will be shed on this in the sequel.
Once Peter has started his journey down the “arachnid road” he soon realises that with his new found skills and abilities he can make a difference in the city and get results that the cops can’t whilst they work within the law. However as vigilantes have gotten a bad rap over the last decade Peter decides that a costume will be required to maintain his anonymity and so sets about designing one. The inspiration for the final outfit comes from him falling through a roof and landing in a wrestling ring, where he sees a poster of a masked man. (You can almost see the light bulb above his head when he first sets his eyes on it). However my main problem with this is Peter manages to put together an immaculate, perfectly fitting, crime fighting uniform that is not only seamless but also looks like it costs north of ten thousand dollars.
Which leads me on to sunny point Number two. For some reason, logic notwithstanding, Peter seems to have this annoying habit of taking his mask off at the drop of a hat. Now I don’t claim to be an expert of superhero dos and don’ts but I guessing somewhere one page one of the rule book is a sentence or three that covers the importance of secrecy and concealment. Mr Parker seems to be more than happy to de-mask every time he meets someone breathing in and out. I wouldn’t mind betting that he has an instagram account dedicated to just such occasions. Apart From Lois Lane, who must go down as the worst investigative journalist in history as she can’t seem to spot the difference between someone wearing glasses and not wearing glasses, it must surely be of critical importance that you must maintain your secret identity. You’d never catch Batman popping off his cowl in public. No siree bob!
Which brings me back to the main villain of the piece, Dr Curt Connors. A one armed scientist who used to work with Peter's father and may or may not have something to do with Peter's parents disappearance. There is nothing wrong with the way Rhys Ifans plays the part but there may well be problems with the way it’s written. After taking a serum that Peter has played a part in developing, our one armed man (no, not the one from the fugitive) turns into a lizard. The problem with this is that our reptilian bad guy doesn’t actually look that scary or menacing. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was a deleted scene where he sings “It’s not easy being green”. As the Lizard he wouldn’t look out of place in a Mario game and it’s never easy to buy into the fact that New York is in danger because of him. Another problem that seems to be glossed over is how a one armed man on the run from the police and Spider-Man seems to be able to set up and underground base in the sewer system of Manhattan whist A, doing it on his own and B, not being spotted. Again I can only hope that this little nugget of information is given to us in the sequel, set for release in the summer of 2014.
I’ll finish by saying this. This is more a story about Peter Parker than it is of Spider-Man, regardless of how “Amazing” he is. It’s more about connections and relationships than it is about special effects and bang for your buck. This film does contain some of the best 3D seen on screen since Avatar but you never really get the feeling that it’s being used to drive the narrative forward properly. It does however have the best Stan Lee cameo that I’ve ever had the privilege to see in a Marvel film and there have been a lot.
It may appear that I’m being too hard on Mark Webb and his film and that I’m expecting too much from it. It is after all a superhero movie not Citizen Kane. Maybe it should be OK to walk into a cinema knowing that you can leave your brain at the door for two hours and just sit back and be entertained. The problem with this is that I do want more from my blockbuster movies these days. The bar has been raised with The Dark Knight and The Avengers, both of which took over a billions dollars themselves. I see no reason why studios shouldn’t be willing to invest as much time into the story and script as they are with the CGI and merchandising spin offs.
Twitter Review
The Amazing Spider-Man doesn't fall flat on its face but only because he has a web as a safety net.
#spiders,lizards&masks,ohmy
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpKPiHYJc54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16AwVWvjQhY
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