The Amazing Spider-Man
Released: July 1st (UK)
The Good: It becomes immediately apparent that Andrew Garfield is going to take his interpretation of Peter Parker and of course the eponymous web-slinger in a completely different direction to Tobey Maguires version. This new turn proves to be a real hit, eclipsing Maguire in many respects such as the believability of Peter as a nerdy character with parental trauma and a teenager just as driven by romance and desires as he is by responsibility. Anyone who caught The Social Network could have seen from a mile off the potential Garfield has to develop as an actor, and The Amazing Spider-Man marks a very strong first step for his career within the superhero film genre. Garfield isnt alone in terms of great performances, either: Emma Stone proves to almost be a show-stealer herself as Gwen Stacy; Rhys Ifans does a marvellous (See? The puns did end) job as the tragic Curt Connors; Martin Sheen is a perfect Uncle Ben and Denis Leary manages to ace his somewhat poorly-scripted version of Gwens father Captain Stacy. Not all of these stars will return for the sequel, of that there is no doubt, but if this is the kind of roster that the first film in a rebooted franchise can muster up, then that only leads me to become more excited still for The Amazing Spider-Man 2! Crucially, Amazing revives a sense of fun and light-heartedness to the Spider-Man franchise lost after the dark and mediocre 2007 Sam Raimi entry killed the first saga. There are great, genuinely hilarious gag scenes, Stan Lee brings his best cameo performance yet and theres rarely a moment where the pace slackens to make things feel boring.
The Bad: The much-promoted Untold Story doesnt really take much precedence here, and when it does in flashback scenes to Peters separation from his parents, the impact isnt as substantial as it was when Batman Begins did much the same thing back in 2005. Theres a little bit of Nolan déjà vu here in fact, something which was taken into quite harsh consideration by some critics, yet which to me just stands as a slight detriment to the overall quality of the piece. Although the budget for reboots can be considerably lower than sequels, if there was one thing that Spirit Of Vengeance showed other than how not to do a superhero film, it was how to use a modest financial strategy. Here, while Spideys first-person swinging sequences are great, the Lizard looks completely unrealistic, losing the effect that previous villains like the Green Goblin and Doc Ock had on audiences in their big screen debuts. Ifans is forced to take his portrayal to a near-pantomime level of internal monologue too, which certainly doesnt help matters for the muddled antagonist.
The Verdict: While its a shame that this strong reboot doesnt handle its antagonist as efficiently as its predecessors, The Amazing Spider-Man is nevertheless a fun and exciting superhero film that almost wipes the memory of Tobey Maguire going emo clean from our minds. Heres to a great new franchise!
4 Stars