THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

So we’re not going to get any more Sam Raimi/Toby Maguire Spider-Man movies. They had a good run, and despite a lackluster 3rd outing, are pretty well liked. It’s ridiculous that the series is being rebooted this soon but that’s where we are and we should accept it.

The biggest reason we should accept it is that The Amazing Spider-Man is actually pretty decent. The basic strokes of the story are the same: awkward teen Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield, The Social Network) gets bitten by a genetically enhanced spider and develops super powers which he uses to fight crime after the death of his uncle (Martin Sheen).

The similarities to the old franchise are inescapable as they’re both adapting the same mythology, but we got a few substitutions from the old films. Instead of Mary Jane Watson, Peter’s love interest is Gwen Stacy, a science intern played by Emma Stone (Superbad). Instead of news reporter J. Jonah Jameson we get Gwen’s cop father (Dennis Leary) in the Spider-Man hating role. As for the villain, we have geneticist Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) who’s research into cross-species genetics will inadvertently give Parker his powers (Oscorp labs has the worst security ever) and turn Conners into The Lizard.

The film goes into a lot more detail than the Raimi films. I liked that Spider-Man screen-prints his costume and that he builds his web shooters. He has electronic locks on his doors and is generally a tinkerer. But despite his expertise, he’s still a reckless teenager with his superpowers. This Spider-Man is more of a wise ass than I remember from the old films. I like that Spider-Man is playing games on his phone during a stake out.

Director Mark Webb (500 Days of Summer) was an odd choice to helm a big action film, but it works well enough. The action scenes are few, but all are pretty decent. There's a rescue of a child on a bridge that stands out. I really like that Spider-Man gets shot during one sequence and has to limp through the rest of the film. He also handles the dramatic aspects beautifully. Parker's parents abandoned him as a child and his need for closure drives a great deal of the film’s plot. Emma Stone is great as Gwen Stacy. I really like that Gwen is clearly smarter than Peter (who's already brilliant). She still needs to be rescued a bit, but Webb never overdoes the damsel stuff and to be fair, there is a 15 foot evil lizard out there killing people. As a vilian, Lizard feels too much like the stock Mad Scientist. He wants to change the world into Lizard people and has an evil lair in the sewers, how he avoids maintenance workers is beyond me.

Is this reboot really necessary? Not really, but it’s here and it’s fun. I'll miss the out-and-out cartoon quality of the original's but I like this version of Spider-Man, and I look forward two or three more installments in this world before we get some sort of more radical reboot. Can we get Spider-Man in space next time? Played by Donald Glover?

Grade: B

Note: there is a scene during the credits. So stick around if you want to see that, but it's not very good.