Review: 'The Amazing Spider Man'

Sony Pictures

As a High School student, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is an outsider by choice. This is where Garfield’s Peter differs from Tobey Maguire’s Peter from the original. Maguire’s Peter appears to be yearning to be a part of the ‘in-crowd’ and falls under the ‘nerd’ stereotype that is seen in film and television as he is practically blind if he does not where his glasses, has his hair combed over, has his fair share of awkward moments around the opposite sex and is fully dedicated to his studies. Garfield’s Peter is far from this ‘nerd’ persona as he possesses a ‘me against the world’ attitude accompanied be a sarcastic dialogue. This different persona, along with Garfield’s performance, works well and is possibly the most entertaining aspect of the film. In fact, I don’t think that I would complained if the film only focused on Peter Parker and not Spider-Man.                                                                                                                                            

In The Amazing Spider Man, Peter Parker lives with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field) after being abandoned by his parents as a child. The reason for them leaving becomes more and more a part of the story as the film moves along. His love interest is Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and it does not take long for her to become equally attracted to him. This blooming, playful relationship between Peter and Gwen is a joy to watch as a strong chemistry is seen between Garfield and Stone. It also appears that director Marc Webb has a strong handle on how to present a new relationship in a fun and entertaining way as he also accomplishes this previously in his 2009 comedy, (500) Days of Summer.                                                                               

From his efforts to find out more about his parents, Peter discovers that his father had worked with Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), a scientist working at Oscorp. For regeneration purposes, Dr. Connors is combining human DNA with the DNA of a lizard. After Peter finds out about Dr. Connors connection to his father, he sneaks into Oscorp to find out more. It is here that, he is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, giving him superhuman abilities such as advanced reflexes and senses. Not long after this, Dr. Connors experiments on himself to regenerate his arm. After having success, Dr. Connors begins to experience negative side effects, turning into an aggressive Lizard-like creature, intent on terrorizing the city.           

This sets up the Spider-Man/Lizard showdown. The problem with this is that Peter Parker as Spider-Man and Dr. Connors as the Lizard offer very little. The screen time that features Dr. Connors as the Lizard is filled with grunting and snarling. Obviously, this adds no depth to the character but also doesn't create any more of a villain or something to fear like it is intended to do.  Along the same lines, the choreographing of scenes featuring the Lizard in action does very little to help the villainous appeal. He is shown jumping at the screen a lot or suddenly appearing on screen making him visually hard to follow. Even when he is not doing this, he seems to always be in the dark.

What I like about Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin from Spider-Man is that he was easily seen as evil when he didn't have the mask on as he was not a good person. When it comes to a villain, these poor human qualities are much more compelling than animal characteristics. The motives behind this Lizard do not really add up either, making it difficult to buy into the character as a villain. Yes, even the bad guys need a good reason for what they are doing and it appears the Lizard doesn’t have one.  

I’m really not sure if it is the Spider-Man character or the sudden reboot that I have a problem with. Even though the dialogue that was given to Peter Parker was much better than that of Spider-Man, I can’t say that I was completely turned off and disappointed with the character. As I watched the film, and looking back at it now, I just felt that I have seen all this before. Well, not only have I seen it all before, it was just five years ago that I saw it. The problem with rebooting a franchise based on a comic book is that there are many aspects that cannot be done much differently. Characters can be tweaked and events can be rearranged but it still will come down to one thing: the hero has to be heroic. So in The Amazing Spider-Man when New York City is in trouble, we all know what comes next. The film fails to make this interesting and not repetitive.                                                                                                         

It doesn't help that this reboot is playing to the same audience as the original did making repetitiveness hard to avoid. The biggest problem in regards to this is the action sequences. Garfield’s Spider-Man swinging through the streets of New York City is very similar to Maguire’s Spider-Man. With all this said though, a weak villain and the same-old Spider-Man are problems that can be fixed. In fact, with the announcement of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arriving to theaters in May of 2014, hopefully this franchise can get on track.

Grade: C