The amazingly "one dimensional" spider man

Rating: 3/10 (7 July 2012)

Being a die hard fan of spider man ever since the comic book, my expectations were pretty stratospheric to be honest. The fairly newbie director Marc Webb managed to float the idea of brand new, snazzy looking reboot of a franchise which has like any other superhero franchise a loyal legion of fans, but does he deliver which is point of debate. Ever since the promotion of the movie had started introducing the cast and the preproduction it portrayed a picture of generation ahead of Sam Raimi's series. Going into the actual movie it does have the high-octane action sequences and endearing uncle-nephew sentiments which spidey series has been famous for, smashed in are the comic capers of peter parker portrayed by Andrew Garfield quite convincingly, Who brings down the nuances of a troubled teenager and a witty athletic superhero to the T. His portrayal of peter parker as a confused yet determined teenager seems more convincing than Tobey Maguire's in the earlier movies. Like the basketball court scene where he wrecks down the basket leaving everybody around gasping, or the scene in the subway where he unintentionally beats up couple of citizens and nearly molests a lady due to his suddenly developed "spider-sense" and heightened reflexes. Performance by Emma Stone as Gwendolyn Stacy shows she can emote on cue beautifully like the scene where she confronts peter at his home after her father's death. Sally field and Martin sheen were as expected from the veterans a class apart. All these characters lend to the movie the perfect combination for a great superhero movie but the script which can hold them together has to be equally strong. Expected are the points with the twists which rattle you up and you think the movie is building momentum but it again slows down like a roller-coaster going uphill, It vexes you to see the continuous high and low in the pace of the storyline which are NOT the makings a great superhero movie. For every scene which goes by you think couldn't it have been tweaked to make it maybe a little bit more funnier little bit more hard-hitting. In every spider man saga we have heard of the nemesis was a close acquaintance of peter parker, which makes it even more hard for spider man to encounter, Rhys Ifans as the disturbed scientist and the surprisingly clever Lizard keep you at the edge of your seat and spider man on his toes. In a attempt to "be different" from from the earlier movies the movie throws some light on untouched aspects of peter's past life like his parents and their mysterious disappearance, they had also decided that peter will be throwing synthetic webs which he shoots from his watch/web thrower unlike in the earlier movies where spidey's web was bio secreted.
The cinematography of John Schwartzman like his previous works on movies like pearl harbor, Armageddon suits the tone of the movie. The mood set by Schwartzman compliment the movie in each aspect. Of course the movie was taut in all the technical aspects including the amazing visuals. I feel i should talk more on the visuals. On the whole the movie moved quite one dimensionally and left the audience wishing for much more. Hope Marc spins a better Webb for his script and treatment of the next spider man movie if the production house intends to keep him.