Marc Webb, yes, you read that right, a guy with the last name WEBB is directing a Spider-Man movie. What are the odds? The 500 Days of Summer director is at the helm of the Sony studio reboot with Andrew Garfield as the leading man. This movie retreads old ground in a new way, with everything always leading back to Oscorp.
This reboot takes Parker back to high school in a more modern way. Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) is alive again, briefly, before being killed again. Aunt May (Sally Field) is very enjoyable in this movie and was a great replacement. The Amazing Spider-Man movies took notes from the ultimate comics, as this Peter is a bit cooler but more of an outcast rather than just a nerd that gets beat up, although he is very smart.
Here’s what I liked:
Andrew Garfield. To this day, I think he’s the best actor to play the role of Spider-Man and one of the best actors in Hollywood period. He really seems like Spider-Man ripped out of the ultimate comics and he truly loves the character. He wasn’t getting paid Tobey Maguire money to play the role either but he didn’t care. Garfield said this was his dream role and didn’t care about the money. Just wanted to live his dream and inspire others. His attention to detail in the suit to move like a spider and mimic the comics was enjoyable. Also, this Spider-Man likes to talk that…well you know. He’s roasting villain’s, just like the comics.
The CGI: this is the best CGI for a superhero movie ever I think. The amazing Spider-Man series got many things wrong but the fight scenes and CGI was always on point.
The webshooters. It was very cool to see these brought to life and allow for bad situations, like them breaking. Seeing the web fluid be made was cool as well. Just like in the comics!
The super realistic web swinging. Marc Webb said he wanted to ground this movie in reality, so he wanted to study the physics of what it would actually look like of Spider-Man was real and the results delivered very violent free falls with CGI so good, you can see the smallest ripples in the suit from the wind.
Smart mouth, Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield in the suit is a menace to society and it’s hilarious, just like Spider-Man in the comics.
Gwen Stacy. Emma stone was cast as Gwen and she was the perfect companion for Peter in this movie. Their chemistry is easily the best on screen relationship we’ve seen for Spider-Man and for just any superhero movie in general. They get this right. She’s also very intelligent and makes for a strong character. Mary Jane in the original trilogy was ok but she was always just there to be saved. This Gwen Stacy wants to help Peter and is like his side kick. She’s not just there to fall to her death every movie, yet.
What I didn’t like:
The movie is choppy due to studio interference, sound familiar? Sony didn’t learn.
The lizard had many scenes cut that I feel took away from his story arc, including scenes with his family. He feels like he’s just in the story to be a villain rather than someone with a real purpose and story behind what is happening to them. I do like the actor though and I did like how he did feel like a mentor to Peter. He’s like a watered down version of Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2. Likeable but not enough screen time in the movie. I like the actor. Just a missed opportunity here.
Gwen knowing Peter is Spider-Man. This was a missed opportunity. Peter living with the guilt of Gwen possibly being mad at Spider-Man like in the comics was a missed on screen opportunity for future story dynamics for the sequel.
Overall, it’s a solid reboot. I think Webb had the right idea here but you could tell Sony had their hand on him while making it. The cast is perfect, the story just lacked a bit.
3/5 stars.
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