9 Ways The Amazing Spider-Man Almost Turned Out Awesome

8. POV Web-Swinging

The biggest question looming over the reboot all through its production was one of justification. Sam Raimi's films had only just been discounted on DVD and already there was a whole new take on the way. Of course, it was all born out of retaining the rights to the character, but Sony were keen to push how it was all very creatively mandated.

The first teaser trailer really emphasised that, resting heavily on the mystery around the Parker's disappearance and showing the film's new look to the web-swinging; whereas Raimi's films had shot Spider-Man whipping through the city as if it was being filmed on an in-world camera, The Amazing Spider-Man was going to put you in Peter Parker's shoes, with a point-of-view angle its ace.

The initial reaction to the style was - and this is being generous - mixed. The inevitable video game comparisons were made almost instantly and, because studios are all about pleasing the Twitter minority, by the time the film came out most of it had been removed. The camera still followed closely to Spidey as he swung through the city, but only a handful of shots were totally from his perspective.

The thing is, like many other knee-jerk fan reactions (just wait and see how good Ben Affleck is as Batman), it wasn't as bad as everyone made out. After the wide-panned swinging of Raimi's movies, this was the perfect way to create a distinct visual style and would have put more investment in the numerous city-crossing scenes. Changing it just made Amazing even more like something everyone had seen before.