The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) is generally referred to as a “reboot” of the Spider-Man franchise. Personally, I’m inclined to call it a remake, though, since there is almost nothing about it that is new. The actors are different. The director is different. Many of the characters are even different. And yet, if you’ve seen Spider-Man, which I may start referring to as The Superior Spider-Man, you’ve seen this before. The only new twist is the backstory involving Peter’s parents.
Obviously, the origin story — the spider bite, Peter’s discovery of his powers, Uncle Ben’s death — is the same. That’s expected and it’s fine (except that the similarity makes the “why did they bother?” question even more inevitable). The scenes in which Peter explores and develops his powers are so similar, and yet so inferior, to the first movie it’s almost painful. The addition of a skateboard can’t disguise how much of a cheap ripoff it is. Later, Spidey rescues someone in a vehicle hanging off a bridge … just like he did in Spider-Man. You would think they could at least change up the action setpieces so the audience isn’t thinking about the first movie the whole time, but apparently not.
I hate the fact that this movie exists. I hate this movie. It may actually be a good movie. I can’t tell because I’m too busy being annoyed by it.
From what I could see through the haze of irritation clouding up my mind, though, I don’t think it’s a good movie. The Lizard is visually a very lame villain; one time, I started thinking about this film and couldn’t for the life of me remember who was the villain. That’s a bad sign. Special effects have not improved enough in the last five years for things to look any better here than they did in Spider-Man 3. (But five years seems so long ago, I know.)
I’m not crazy about some of the casting. I can accept Denis Leary as Captain Stacy, I guess. He doesn’t match my vision of the character but he’s quite good in the role as it’s written. Still, I can’t help feeling he’d be better as a villain … maybe it’s his vague resemblance to Willem Dafoe. I do not like Sally Field as Aunt May at all, which makes two Sally Field performance I hated last year, the other being Lincoln. The worst, though, is Andrew Garfield. His twitchy performance is very offputing.
Even Emma Stone, whom I normally like, annoys me in this movie. Peter and Gwen are just too cutesy-awkward. Also, why on earth is he telling her his secret identity on their first date? This makes no sense, especially given her father’s job.
But my main problem with this movie is really just the fact that it exists. Part of this stems from my love of the original Spidey movies (well, the first two). Why go back when there’s no way you’re going to top what’s already been done? Oh right: cash. Most likely, if Sony had not produced another movie they would eventually have lost the rights to Spider-Man. Not only that, re-starting with a new cast keeps their costs down. In the end, The Amazing Spider-Man is nothing more than a cash grab. I understand that Hollywood exists to make money and there’s an element of the cash grab about almost every movie ever made. It’s usually a little less obvious, is all.
And okay, fine, the biggest reason I hate this movie is my love of the Raimi films. There might actually be people in the world who saw The Amazing Spider-Man but never saw Spider-Man. Young, impressionable people! It’s just so wrong.
It’s unfortunate that this project, which has overall been very enjoyable, has to end on such a negative note, but oh well. I made it! This is the last of the Marvel movies — to date. My goal was to finish this (re)watch before the release of Iron Man 3, so, mission: accomplished. I will be back to sum it all up in a wrap-up post in a few days.
