The Amazing Spiderman - Cinema Review

So whilst Andrew Garfield and Rhys Ifans duked it out in the sewers and above the rooftops, there was a much longer battle waging from the moment the decision was made to reboot the Spiderman film franchise until this new (presumed) trilogy reaches its end. That battle is between the writers and the infamous Barrelman! who traps his foes in a grave-like pit they dug themselves, where their only hope of survival is to scrape through the bottom. Now for fear of this metaphor becoming as unbearable as Spiderman 3 i will say in clearer terms that The Amazing Spiderman is a good, enjoyable film. I have serious concerns however for future films in this series due to a famine of decent characters.

Thanks to Spiderman 3's clusterfuck of Venom, Sandman and Green Goblin, most of the best Spiderman villains have been used up, and whilst it's not impossible for this reboot to simply do them again, i feel without an amazing re imagining to rival The Joker in The Dark Knight, the films will still struggle to grab an audience or show us something new. The other option is digging deeper into the archives but that presents it's own problems in making characters like Mysterio (a green and purple, caped illusionist with a fishbowl on his head) The Vulture (an elderly man in a skin-tight green bird suit) or Tatterdemalion ("an insane, homeless person") intimidating and believable. Future problems aside, The Amazing Spiderman thankfully chose one of the few remaining decent villains; The Lizard...more on him later.

A new cast, crew and creative direction means a different and slightly more realistic style takes precedence as opposed to the strong comic influences of the previous trilogy, and personally i feel it works much better.

A comic book style is a difficult thing to successfully implement in a film without descending into swamps of cheesy dialogue and total loss of connection through unrealistic scenarios. Now why am i talking about realism in a superhero film? Because even though it's not the part everyone remembers, realism is crucial in any superhero story. Batman would not be as admirable if we couldn't relate to a life without our parents, whether you're an orphan or just had a terrifying few childhood minutes lost in the supermarket. We need this real world to be established so it feels satisfying when the hero breaks out of it into fantasy or science fiction.

The Amazing Spiderman keeps a handle on this set-up pretty well and gives enough time to the beginnings of Peter's life with his desires, fears, strengths and weaknesses whilst retaining enough engaging action for a superhero blockbuster. The pacing is one of the real highlights of the film and is enhanced by solid acting from most of the cast. The relationship between Gwen and Peter was awkward without being awkward to watch. Peter Parker is and has always been a geeky, socially inept clown and Andrew Garfield captures this character very well for someone cursed with his good looks. The difference here however is that Garfield is amusing to watch whereas Maguire was much more cringeworthy, i'm not sure whether that is solely down to the acting or whether these scenes are written with the humour primarily in mind, either way there's a lot less cheese and pointless expositional dialogue. Whilst these scenes are funny and overall the humourous side of Spiderman is portrayed brilliantly in this film, on reflection whether Garfield is capturing the true essence of Peter Parker is arguable. 

He must be an outcast, he's the only student in the school with a skateboard...

The plot itself, is different enough without completely disregarding the original origins. The scenes and relationships between Uncle Ben, Aunt May and Peter are heartwarming, moving, amusing and real. I may even go as far as to say that the death in this film affected me more than the 2002 version, it's certainly handled much more naturally and is consequently more brutal and tragic. I felt the brains behind Spiderman were also effectively explored. It wasn't just a case of, "can he punch this guy hard enough" it was more "what can he do to outsmart this guy" which is exactly what Spiderman should be. Outwitting enemies with speed and intelligence, which speaking of enemies was a slightly disappointing début for the character of Curt Connors. 

Rhys Ifans plays the tortured scientist excellently with his passion, friendliness, underlying temper and regrets all displayed subtly and believably. The Lizard unfortunately is something of an eyesore and not in the way he should be. I had heard going into the film that they weren't recreating the long snouted appearance seen in the comics and cartoons, which needn't have been an issue if Ifan's voice acting was up to the task. There are a few moments when the toady, watermelon face comes across as creepy in a Hannibal Lecter kind of way but for the rest and majority of the time it just looks weird and kind of stupid. This is emphasised to the point of comedy with strained but unthreatening dialogue from Ifans, which is a shame because the animal savagery of The Lizard is generally intact within the cgi of the action scenes.

"Poor Peter Parker Picked A Pickled Pepper!"

The action in the film overall, was never a concern of mine, as you'd expect there's destruction, acrobatics and fighting a plenty and whilst some of the scenes from this film played alongside the old trilogy might look very familiar, it didn't stop my enjoyment of it. The cinematography was agile, but precise, which faithfully replicates the movements of Spiderman himself and suits the film perfectly. I'm sure under closer scrutiny the film has it's fair share of flaws and perhaps it balances itself with too many cliches (I am very tired of films starting with childhood recollections), but for the time i was in the cinema i was engaged, laughing and tense (not simultaneously) so whilst this new Spiderman might not be amazing, it is certainly entertaining and that makes it worth a look at least once.