5 Reasons Why The Amazing Spider-Man Is Better Than Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man
4. This Isnt A Love Letter To New York City
In fairness to Raimis Spider-Man, we have to take into account the context that his movie was filmed just before the 9/11 attacks, and released shortly after; so a level of romanticism is to be expected. Spider-Man is Marvels most recognized East Coast superhero, and at this particular time he became a token of the bravery and courage shown by many New Yorkers. Because of this, the city featured very heavily within the film and had particular scenes that took place in the obligatory landmark locations (although these where decided prior to 9/11). Marc Webb directs The Amazing Spider-Man in a way that pays little attention to the sandbox of the city. All major scenes take place in locations central to the characters; a fight in Parkers high school, a showdown at Oscorp Tower, a punch up in The Lizards sewer lair all of this serves only to create a richer environment specific to the Spider-Man universe. A particular note is that many national monuments fail to feature in film at all. Unless I am misremembering things, the likes of Times Square, The Statue of Liberty and Central Park are all absent from the landscape of Webbs New York; even The Empire State Building is M.I.A. To this effect, everything Spider-man interacts with feels generic and ambiguous; the city is his playground, any building is worth climbing, there is no feature architecture, just platforms for action.