The Amazing Spider-Man
(B+ or 3/4 stars)
You may be thinking: ANOTHER Spider-Man film, Really!? That said, this is a pretty terrific superhero flick; full of heart & dedication to the source material. 'The Amazing Spider-Man' (directed by Marc Webb, of (500) Days of Summer) shows us just how Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) came to live with Aunt May & Uncle Ben (Sally Field, Martin Sheen). His parents leave him with them as a boy without any explanation to the kid. Peter grows up to be a brilliant science whiz, albeit one who's bullied at school. His Uncle Ben is a salt-of-the-earth man who imparts wisdom to his nephew, & Aunt May is a loving woman with a tough exterior, but hidden fragility beneath. Despite their love & support, Peter has grown up with a chip on his shoulder, & many unanswered questions about his parents.
To complicate matters further, Peter's also has an eye on beautiful classmate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), who also happens to be an intern at OsCorp, a local genetics lab where Peter's father once worked. His one-armed research partner, the amiable Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), is still there, attempting to discover the cure for 'human weakness' by cross-species genetic tinkering. Peter goes to meet with Dr. Connors, but ends up stumbling upon a secret lab where genetically-engineered spiders are being kept and, after he pokes around where he shouldn't, one gets loose and ... well, we know what happens next.
The first 45 min. of the film deals with Peter giddily (& sometimes selfishly) responding to his newfound abilities. Much truer to the comic lore (than Raimi's films), Peter treats the situations he finds himself in with smartass self-deprecation (including memorable scenes on a subway, in school & in his bathroom). I also liked the 'use' of Spidey's webs. In Raimi's films, Peter used them almost exclusively for movement, whereas here it's an integral part of his fighting style. Also notable is that they are not an organic part of his powers. Instead, Peter steals the technology he needs to 'web' from a corporation & adapts it for his own use.
The 2nd half of the movie mostly deals with Dr. Connors's research backfiring. After having been told by an OsCorp toady (Irfan Khan) that his research would be shut down because of insufficient results, the scientist self-experiments & transforms into The Lizard, a monstrous reptile that wreaks havoc on Manhattan. Spidey is up to the task of trying to defeat this murderous foe. But viewed as a masked vigilante, Peter/Spidey is thwarted by a headstrong police capt. (Dennis Leary) who thinks he can stop The Lizard with his own police force. Worse yet, said police capt. also happens to be Gwen Stacy's father. Oh, what a tangled web ...
Andrew Garfield's combo of fresh-faced innocence, wry wit, & nervous agitation makes him very appealing; more so than Tobey Maguire (whose mercurial charms didn't fit Peter, for me). I'm ecstatic that his lady love isn't Mary Jane (a blah Kirsten Dunst from the Raimi films), but Gwen Stacy, who's just as smart as Peter & is played by Emma Stone, one of my favorite young actresses out there today. She's as adorable as ever. And the chemistry btwn. her & Garfield (they date in real life) is palpable. Furthermore, I like that Gwen realized the reason he broke up with her, & we were spared the "she thinks I never loved her, but I do, and now she hates me" horsesh*t that clogged up the Raimi films. That became so tiresome.
'TAS' looks & sounds great: big set pieces, amazing CGI aerial work (while Spidey is flying); fight choreography that's actually easy to follow. Now, this film is not perfect (with contrivances/coincidences abounding). People will complain that this movie tells a too-similar story. But the interpretation here is different. It's interesting to see how edgy Peter was around earnest & loving Aunt & Uncle; constant reminders that his parents are gone. Also, the reason for Peter directing his powers toward vigilantism is also better executed here. The fact that the movie directly links a loved one's death to his action (or inaction) rather than by chance is much more powerful. And when Peter decides to fully become Spider-Man, it is done with much more of a serious air than Raimi's origin story had.
To complicate matters further, Peter's also has an eye on beautiful classmate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), who also happens to be an intern at OsCorp, a local genetics lab where Peter's father once worked. His one-armed research partner, the amiable Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), is still there, attempting to discover the cure for 'human weakness' by cross-species genetic tinkering. Peter goes to meet with Dr. Connors, but ends up stumbling upon a secret lab where genetically-engineered spiders are being kept and, after he pokes around where he shouldn't, one gets loose and ... well, we know what happens next.
The first 45 min. of the film deals with Peter giddily (& sometimes selfishly) responding to his newfound abilities. Much truer to the comic lore (than Raimi's films), Peter treats the situations he finds himself in with smartass self-deprecation (including memorable scenes on a subway, in school & in his bathroom). I also liked the 'use' of Spidey's webs. In Raimi's films, Peter used them almost exclusively for movement, whereas here it's an integral part of his fighting style. Also notable is that they are not an organic part of his powers. Instead, Peter steals the technology he needs to 'web' from a corporation & adapts it for his own use.
The 2nd half of the movie mostly deals with Dr. Connors's research backfiring. After having been told by an OsCorp toady (Irfan Khan) that his research would be shut down because of insufficient results, the scientist self-experiments & transforms into The Lizard, a monstrous reptile that wreaks havoc on Manhattan. Spidey is up to the task of trying to defeat this murderous foe. But viewed as a masked vigilante, Peter/Spidey is thwarted by a headstrong police capt. (Dennis Leary) who thinks he can stop The Lizard with his own police force. Worse yet, said police capt. also happens to be Gwen Stacy's father. Oh, what a tangled web ...
Andrew Garfield's combo of fresh-faced innocence, wry wit, & nervous agitation makes him very appealing; more so than Tobey Maguire (whose mercurial charms didn't fit Peter, for me). I'm ecstatic that his lady love isn't Mary Jane (a blah Kirsten Dunst from the Raimi films), but Gwen Stacy, who's just as smart as Peter & is played by Emma Stone, one of my favorite young actresses out there today. She's as adorable as ever. And the chemistry btwn. her & Garfield (they date in real life) is palpable. Furthermore, I like that Gwen realized the reason he broke up with her, & we were spared the "she thinks I never loved her, but I do, and now she hates me" horsesh*t that clogged up the Raimi films. That became so tiresome.
'TAS' looks & sounds great: big set pieces, amazing CGI aerial work (while Spidey is flying); fight choreography that's actually easy to follow. Now, this film is not perfect (with contrivances/coincidences abounding). People will complain that this movie tells a too-similar story. But the interpretation here is different. It's interesting to see how edgy Peter was around earnest & loving Aunt & Uncle; constant reminders that his parents are gone. Also, the reason for Peter directing his powers toward vigilantism is also better executed here. The fact that the movie directly links a loved one's death to his action (or inaction) rather than by chance is much more powerful. And when Peter decides to fully become Spider-Man, it is done with much more of a serious air than Raimi's origin story had.