Review of Spider-Man (1977) by Julian T — 30 Aug 2014

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I have no words to express how much this means to me. I can count on one hand the number of things in this world I love more than Spider-man. I have been obsessed with the character since I was 5, and have read and watched just about everything Marvel has to offer. With the notable exception that is the very good 'Spider-Man 2', the prior trilogy we were treated to was somewhere between campy, poorly written and wooden (the original 'Spider-man') and soulessly wrong, childhood destroying black tar ('Spider-man 3'). I can not express how much this film reaffirmed my love of this character and did him complete, total, unrelenting justice.

Before I talk about this new film, I feel like I have to address the original trilogy. Sam Rammi's vision of Spider-man was a horribly misguided one full of problems, and made all the more misguided by his self-professed faithfulness to the comics and source material. Obviously staying true to the comics was very important to Sam, hence the unforgivable retcons in which he made Sandman Uncle Ben's killer, Eddie Brock into a 98 lb weakling, Harry's Green Goblin into Rocket Racer's retard cousin, Dr. Conners into a physicist, every bad guy into a sympathetic villain, Mary Jane into Peters first love, and about 5,000 other non-grounded in the comics angles. Also to boot, the script, acting, effects, formulaic stories and overall themes were underwhelming at best. I do not exaggerate when I say that I consider 'Spider-Man 3' to be among the worst movies of all time. Obviously Sony felt the same, choosing to ditch a Rammi directed 4th installment and instead move forward with a total reboot. Needless to say, I was beyond thrilled.

While there are a boatload of differences between this new interpretation and the Rammi films, the absolute largest one is the script and acting. They are incomparable. Andrew Garfield IS Peter Parker. There is no other actor I ever want to see play the character. In just a few films in America, Garfield has vaunted himself straight to the top of list of 'Best Young Actors in the Country'. His Peter Parker is an emotionally complex, conflicted and socially awkward character who actually involves you in an emotional response. This is the polar opposite of the stone-faced and unresponsive cardboard cutout that is Toby Maguire. As brilliant as Garfield is, he is matched by his co-star Emma Stone who is fantastic as Gwen Stacy, Peters first love. Her interpretation of the character is a fresh one, blending elements of both the classic 616 version and the Ultimate version to make a familiar yet unique take. Not to mention that Stone and Garfield's chemistry is just off the charts. Beyond the two leads, the rest of the cast is great. Ifans is a terrific Connors. Able to convey both his contemplative and animalistic sides. Martin Sheen is a perfect Uncle Ben, and the scenes he shares with Garfield are undeniably powerful. Some of the smaller roles played by Leary, Fields and Khan are not at the level of those previously mentioned, but all are serviceable. As I said earlier, the script is great. It actually reflects the way people talk. Its witty and funny when it should be, somber and serious when it should be, charming when it should be. It accurately reflects the spirit of the comics, balancing humor and seriousness throughout.

The effects are incredible. I've never been one for 3D, but if there was ever a movie in history that was made for it, it would be a Spidey flick. Unlike the original trilogy that was extensively CGI, director Mark Webb went much more practical with his film, and you can just tell. It has a gravity and a physicality to it that the originals lack. For all the whining about the new Spider-man suit, it looks just freaking fantastic. It puts the original to absolute shame. Simply beautiful. The lizard is interesting, his look echoing to the very early days of the character in the mid 70's. I was worried about the fact they went the flat faced lizard approach, but he looks terrific. He is big, strong and seemingly unstoppable. He is the first villain in a Spider-man movie that clearly outclasses the hero, and therefore makes you feel as if Spider-man is really in danger, something it never felt like in Raimi's films.

Direction is also top notch. The action scenes are filmed beautifully, choosing to focus on a spot and let the action come to it rather than trying to follow the characters themselves, which often results in blurry and hard to follow sequences. The cinematography, lighting and shot framing are spot on. It is incredible to think that this is only Webb's second feature, and that his first was an independently released rom-com ('500 Days of Summer').

Really, the largest single complement I can give this film is that the people who made it really and obviously care about the fans. The characters are written correctly, often utilizing several interpretations of the characters but leaning most heavily on the Ultimate line. Regardless of which line it uses in different instances, everything here has basis in its source material. In the few instances it isn't right out of the comics, it is a non-obtrusive spin on Spidey's previously existing mythology. In addition, It totally nails Spidey's motions, mannerisms and wise-ass nature, something that was sorely missing in Raimi's films. Toby was simply wooden, both in his physicality and his monotonous lack of humor and charisma. Plenty of comic book style nuggets throughout the action sequences, such as Spider-man spinning a web in the sewer to sense vibration, slingshoting his way up a building on his webbing, and an awesome upside-down battle on the ceiling of a high school.

There are only (and I mean ONLY) two flaws I can think of. One is the score. Generic throughout, and in some spots just downright distracting and childish. James Horner has long been one of the flat out worst film composers in contemporary times, simply rehashing his over the top brass section and metallic persuasions. In addition to being just bad, it is also far too reminiscent of Danny Elfman's score for the original films. Big and orchestral, it is far to grandiose, not at all reflective of the pensive and intimate atmosphere of the film. You need not look further than another Andrew Garfield vehicle ('The Social Network') to find they type of score that would have brought the music to its potential. Ambient electronic beats, white noise, and glitchy compositions would have done a lot to separate this from its predecessor. As it stands now, the score is pedestrian and solidly below average. In addition to the score, the editing felt very choppy at times, as if there was alot more that was supposed to be in the movie but ended up on the chopping room floor. I'd be fairly surprised if there isn't a Directors Cut Bluray release that features a ton of deleted scenes.

All in all, this is absolutely everything I could possibly ask for in a movie about my favorite character of all time. It is just perfect. Anyone who says otherwise is either uneducated regarding Spider-man's source material, or is still somehow stuck in Sam Raimi's bogus fluff-ball cheese-factory interpretation. I'm not usually one to say 'if you don't agree with me, you're wrong', but if there is one thing in this world I know, it is Spider-man, and this film is 99.9% perfection.