(From the July 16-31 issue of The Fortnightly)
By Oliver M. Pulumbarit
Ten years after the debut of the Sam Raimi-directed “Spider-Man” starring Tobey Maguire, a reimagined film universe emerges with the release of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” The darker film stars “The Social Network’s” Andrew Garfield as the new Peter Parker, the iconic teen outcast who gains spider-powers and becomes New York ’s masked and oft-misunderstood superhero.
This solid reboot, directed by “(500) Days of Summer’s” Marc Webb, is still inspired by the comic book source material (including Marvel Comics’ newer Ultimate version). Peter Parker is initially a bullied, a somewhat rebellious but promising teenager, still baffled by his parents’ abrupt departure when he was really young.
Raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), he eventually uncovers clues to his parents’ mysterious exit. He gets in touch with his father’s old colleague Dr. Curtis Connors (Rhys Ifans), a brilliant scientist mentoring Peter’s crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).
A fateful visit to the restricted part of Connors’ laboratory leads to accidental contact with a mutated spider, which gives Peter extraordinary strength, agility, and the ability to stick to walls. As with previous interpretations of Spider-Man’s origin, he enjoys his superpowers, but learns to use them responsibly after Uncle Ben’s tragic demise.
“Amazing Spider-Man” restarts the franchise competently; it benefits immensely from its cast, giving a fresh look at characters that have been reinterpreted over the years. Garfield perfectly fits the dichotomized role; he’s especially moving during heartbreaking moments with Field, Stone, and Denis Leary (who plays Gwen’s father Captain Stacy).
It’s not as finely made or as fun as 2004’s “Spider-Man 2”—which was a vast improvement over Raimi’s first, semi-clunky Spider-Man film—but The Amazing Spider-Man is still a worthy and promising new spin on the mythology. Let’s hope that it avoids the mistakes of the convoluted mess that was “Spider-Man 3.”
As for this version’s first villain, Dr. Connors, a.k.a. the reptilian menace dubbed the Lizard, works surprisingly well. The scaly antagonist figures in a couple of fast-paced sequences that look superb in 3D. The well-intentioned character makes a smart and savage opponent for the wall-crawler.
Fans of the comic books might appreciate Gwen Stacy as Peter Parker’s love interest here. Readers may also feel a sense of dread for the character, because she was a doomed figure in the comic version. Whether that tragedy will be adapted into a future chapter or not is still unknown at this point, but it’s certainly good that Gwen gets to shine as an independent, intrepid character in this new story.
And while it has a more serious tone, “The Amazing Spider-Man” isn’t humorless, although we’ve yet to see the titular hero develop into a constantly wisecracking crimefighter. But the quintessential underdog superhero is definitely back, spectacularly web-swinging into big screen fisticuffs anew.
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