Review of Spider-Man (1977) by Michael K — 22 Sep 2014

Amazing Spiderman is the unneeded reboot of the Spiderman movie franchise. The very fact that this movie was even made annoys me. Firstly, I think it was way too soon to reboot the franchise. Amazing Spiderman came out in 2012, which is only five years after Spiderman 3 came out. Originally Sam Raimi was working on Spiderman 4, but due to the bad reception of Spiderman 3 Sony decided to abandon that project in favor of this movie. Honestly, I would rather have gotten Spiderman 4 than a reboot. The fact that Sony decided to reboot everything because of one misstep annoys me. The X-Men franchise has had multiple stinkers but they have yet to reboot everything. The majority of the Transformers films are bad but they still continue to be made. Despite the negative reception Spiderman 3 had the highest gross of all three Raimi movies. As you can guess I did not like this film at all. I just felt it was a very boring retread that was done better the first time with the Raimi films. Say what you want about the other Spiderman films but I will take them any day (including Spiderman 3) over this film.

There are a couple things I like about the film that they improved on from the original films. Andrew Garfield, in my opinion, does a better job as Peter Parker, performance wise, than Tobey McGuire. I like Tobey as Peter Parker/Spiderman. I blame the writing for most of the issues I have with him. However, there are times when his delivery felt very forced and/or corny. Andrew Garfield has few of those moments, except one scene which felt very forced. Plus he looks much more like Peter in the comics nowadays as opposed to Tobey McGuire who, like the Raimi films in general, is trying to capture the old school Spiderman from when he was first released in the 1960s. Also, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy does a great job and plays a much better main female character than Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. Kirsten is a fine actress but she did not capture the essence of the Mary Jane from the comics at all. Not-to-mention she was just a token love interest/damsel in distress in all three Raimi films. At least Gwen Stacy was able to defend herself and was not the damsel in distress here. Plus Emma Stone does a better acting job. Some of the action scenes are also fun to watch, but they are few and far between. The action in the original movies is miles better.

The biggest problem is the story. This movie is basically a retread of the original from the origin to even the villain. There are some changes but they are not even noteworthy. First of all, why did you have to retell Spiderman's origin? Spiderman's origin has already been done before (and done better I might add) in the very first film as well as various animated series that have come out over the years. The majority of people, whether it'd be comic book fans or the general public, already know the origin. There was no reason to go over it again, and there was definitely no reason for it to take up about half of the film. The origin in Raimi's film only took a half hour or a bit more while this took over fifty minutes. There some alterations but they are pointless and, in my opinion, lame. When I watched this film I was bored out of my mind in the first half.

Unfortunately the second half did not do much for me either. The villain is lame and boring. He is basically a poor retread of Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) from the first film. The Lizard (Dr. Connors) is basically Green Goblin but without the energy is his performance. They were both scientists experimenting with unstable concoction that ends up giving them enhanced abilities and they end up becoming super villains. They are also both green (though The Lizard is a mutation while Norman just wore a suit). This film even ripped off the split personality thing that Norman had and had Connors exhibit it as well. Can you not come up with anything new? Unlike Green Goblin, the Lizard is just a bore. Green Goblin at least had energy and you loved to hate him. The only thing the Lizard had over Green Goblin is that his motivations are clearer. Ultimately, his main goal is just a stereotypical comic book villain plot and nothing more, which would not be so bad if the villain was more interesting and more fun. I have problems with the Green Goblin in the first film but he is a much more entertaining film and Willem Dafoe brings his A-game unlike the guy who plays the Lizard who was sleepwalking through his role.

This film is also guilty of false advertising. The trailers advertised that Peter's parents would be in the movie and would play a big part in Spiderman's origin. This actually got me excited when I heard about it. Peter's parents had never been explore or even mentioned on screen before. Even in the comics they are rarely touched upon. I thought that this would be a great addition to Spiderman's mythos and would help this film stand out from the others. Instead this plot point was only teased to us in multiple parts of the film (mainly the beginning) and is left to be explained in the sequel. No! That's unacceptable. You cannot advertise such a large plot element in the trailers but do nothing with it. That's called false advertising.

Even though I like Andrew Garfield as Peter I do not like this Peter Parker. People complain about Peter in the Raimi films being too whiny but this Peter is just as whiny. He also comes off as a jerk to everyone a number of times throughout this movie especially to Aunt May and Gwen. He is too downbeat is the problem. Tobey McGuire was more upbeat than him. Peter Parker/Spiderman is supposed to be a more upbeat character that uses his wit with villains to cope with his situation, which he barely does here. All of the advertising that was released was promoting a wittier Spiderman and everyone constantly raves about how Spiderman is actually witty in this, but he's not. He tells like four jokes in the entire film. Tobey McGuire used his wit just as much in the first film. Tobey's Spiderman did not use his wit nearly as much as he should have but it is not like he never used it. I can think of three or four times in each of the three movies where he tries to be witty and funny, which is about as many times as Andrew Garfield did. This is another case of false advertising. Also, I do not like the new costume Spiderman has. If there was one thing that the Raimi films got right 100% it was the costume. The new costume does not look as cool and it is too dark, much like the film itself.

I have the same problem with Peter as I do with the movie in general in that he is too dark. Another major issue with the film is that it is too dark. Amazing Spiderman feels very much like Batman Begins from the majority of the film focusing on origin to the overall look of the film to the very tone of the film which is too dark. The film might as well be called Spiderman Begins rather than Amazing Spiderman. Spiderman is not Batman. They are two completely different characters. Just because The Dark Knight Trilogy is popular does not mean you can use the same tone for every superhero. Marvel Studios understands this so why can't other studios understand it. You can say that the other film (especially the first one) is too campy but they felt much more like Spiderman than this movie did.

Peter, in this film, is not only too dark but he is also a moron. He is supposed to be a genius but he does not come off as smart at all in this. After he discovers his abilities there are several scenes where he shows he has powers in public places whether it'd be in a subway or his school. There are also a couple scenes where he is web-slinging in the middle of the city without his costume where everyone can clearly see him. Really Peter!? How it that none of these people put it together that he is Spiderman? There are scenes like that in the original film but they are done subtler than it is here. He also puts his name on some of his personal belongings which is how The Lizard figures out he is Spiderman. Both Gwen and her father bother find out his secret too. He cannot keep his identity a secret to save his life. I know he is supposedly a teenager but he is a complete idiot in this film.

Some of the casting does not work for me either. I like Martin Sheen as an actor his take on Uncle Ben did nothing for me and I did not care for Sally Field as Aunt may at all. To me, Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris are the definitive Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

On another note, the effects are subpar. I cannot believe that this film cost more than the Avengers. Some of the effects look pretty good but most of them are on par with the first film which came out a decade prior to this. The effects of Spiderman 2 & 3 beat the crap out of the effects in this movie. For example, the CGI for the Lizard himself is god-awful. He looks almost as silly as the Green Goblin's costume in the first movie. The score is completely forgettable. Say what you want about the score for the other three movies, but at least it is memorable. I do not remember the music for Amazing Spiderman at all.

Overall, I did not like this movie at all. I know I am in the minority but I do not care. Hopefully Amazing Spiderman 2 is actually good. Say what you want about the original film, but that film is timeless, it has heart, and it is, above all, fun. I like all of the Sam Raimi films better than this film. Yes, I even prefer Spiderman 3 over this. That film was, at least, entertaining. This movie is boring, a retread of the first film, too dark, and is not that fun at all, in my opinion.