The reboot no-one really wanted has been released. Check out the Film-Vault review!

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2012)

A new Peter Parker is donning the red and blue spandex and taking on the mantle of Spiderman. Its Garfield Vs Maguire, Stone Vs Dunst and Webb Vs Raimi. Who will win?The Answer is Garfield, Stone and Webb. This film matches the tone of how I always perceived Spiderman, and the actors and director hit the mark again and again scene after scene. It is an origin story, so we get the familiar bits, Peter gets bitten by a radioactive spider, Uncle Ben gets killed yada yada yada, but because the human side of the story is so engrossing the superhero bits take you by surprise, even the ones you know are coming. It really had me going for a while that they weren't going to kill Uncle Ben in this movie.
Brit Andrew Garfield is Spidey and my does he shine. In a (reaaallly) shoddy article I wrote for this website about two years ago, I commented on how Tobey Maguire's Spiderman was always whinging and whining. Garfield's Spiderman has the same problems, more so probably, but there is something about web-slinging through a city and outsmarting criminals that should put a smile on your face. That is where Webb shines. He has crafted the most realistic but still fantastic superhero story that I think has been told, by pumping it full of relatable human emotions. Enter Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey, and my is she fine. I can't remember an on-screen role haunting me as much as this one, aside from Zooey Deschanel in Webb's earlier work 500 Days of Summer. Not only is she beautiful, but she is kind, friendly, smart and brave. It's really quite a step above Kirsten Dunst's screaming bag of meat Mary-Jane. It's a perfect Emma Stone performance, and if it had been given in any film type other than super-hero, more people would be talking about it. She is given a lot to do, playing a turbulent emotional teenager has never been done so well. And the chemistry between them, really does sizzle.
The villain, the Lizard. In my opinion, the design is a little off, but I can get over that. In human form Rhys Ifans is first class playing the slightly eccentric Curt Connors. However, if there is one true criticism of the film it's that Connors development seems rushed through all three acts, particularly in his relationship to Peter. They were supposed to be good friends but there connection seems weak and at times, forced. . Who else have we got? Oooh, The Illusive Man himself Martin Sheen playing Uncle Ben. It's a perfect bit of casting here, even if he is only in about two scenes, and managed to inexplicably pull the out-of-his-league Sally Field.
From a directorial standpoint this is Marc Webb showing the world what he can do with a budget. He's pulled a fast one here, he has made a teenage rom-com but wrapped it in $300million dollars worth of special effects and spandex. Case and point, the discovery of his powers. As soon as he asks Gwen out, he feels all kinds of confident, and that really comes across, giving him the courage (cockiness?) to leap off buildings. Looking back at Raimi's Spiderman, it lacked this basic human connection and feels a little forced. Unfortunately, a couple of all too cheesy scenes occasionally snaps you out of the perfectly crafted realism, something I think could have been avoided.
The music is truly awesome; blending the high octane stuff (but never over the top) with the lovey-dovey stuff and a bit of twinkly piano music for the lighter bits makes it the cleverest score of the year so far. The special effects are second to none and if there was a film that was designed for 3D it's this one - if you've been on the Spiderman ride at Universal studios you'll know what I mean. It feels like you're really there with him slinging through the city. The action, while good, isn't as good as Spiderman 2. Some of the Lizard fights are a lot of fun, but I can remember Spiderman fighting Doc Ock on the above ground Subway line and it still gives me goosebumps.
While everyone was critical when this film was announced, I think they have all been silenced now. This film was everything a reboot should be, showing the original how it should have gone about it. With two perfectly cast leads (both with enormous futures) and a great director this is definitely not one to miss. Unfortunately this means that with a trilogy announced under the guidance of Sony, we won't see Spiderman in the Avengers for quite some time (but I sneakily liked this more, so I don't care).