The Retold Story

Rating: 8/10 (11 July 2013)

In a cinematic scene of superhero films and reboots one of the most controversial was The Amazing Spider-Man, the reboot of a series that was critically and commercially popular. The Amazing Spider-Man is divisive, with opinions ranging from it being the best Spider-Man film so far to being a waste of space.
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is a nerdy outsider who enjoys photography, inventing and skateboarding. His parents mysteriously run off in the middle of the night when he was young and he has been living with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field) ever since. One evening Peter finds his father's briefcase which contents his research that he wanted to hid from mysterious forces. Peter is led to Oscorb, meeting his father's old research partner, Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) and he ends up getting bitten by a genetically altered spider giving his spider powers.
When Uncle Ben is murdered on the streets Peter goes on the hunt for his killer, leading him to become Spider-man. But at the same time Connors is forced to test an experimental serum on himself, leading him to become the Lizard, a powerful creature that is a deadly threat to the whole of New York.
Let's get the comparisons to the original Spider-man films out the way: the special effects are better, I preferred the hyper-realistic look of this version then the original film and Garfield is a stronger Peter Parker/Spider-man then Tobey Maguire was. But Cliff Robertson was a better Uncle Ben and Rosemary Harris was perfect as Aunt May and Field was not able to compete. On the whole I felt that the original film was generally a better origins story: I preferred that Peter was bitten by a spider in a lab visit and I especially preferred Uncle Ben's death in the original film because it had more emotional impact and handled better because Peter comes up a real dick in The Amazing Spider-Man.
There are also comparisons to actual scenes and ideas between the original film and the reboot which will lead to some spoilers. We get similar scenes of Peter awkwardly using his powers when he first gets them, citizens of New York (crane lift operators) helping Spider-Man during his confrontation with the villain and Peter losing a father figure which results in Peter having to reject the woman he loves. There are even similarities between the villains as both men are scientist are forced to experiment on themselves and developed a split personality.
The Spider-Man origins story is equal to Superman and Batman for well-known it is and there is less leeway for reinterpretation. I personally felt that it was a waste going through the origins story again because it is so well known, killing the pacing especially because it takes an hours before we get to see Peter Parker don the spandex. It would have been more effective if Peter Parker was Spider-Man and the origin was done in flashbacks. But once Spider-Man does show up the pacing picks up with gusto and director Marc Webb shows great confidence with the action sequences and special effects (even more impressive considering his previous film was (500) Days of Summer).
As a comic book fans I would have liked to have seen Curt Connors' family, adding to the dilemma of Peter Parker trying to stop the Lizard without harming him too much and made Connors more sympathetic. I also would have preferred to see more of a snout and be a raging beast: but Ifans is talented actor and it is good to see him in a Hollywood film. Ifans did have a great sinister delivery as The Lizard.
One more small criticism is some of the humour in the first half film which was weak, a little awkward and was topped off by comedy music. It was out of place for a film going for a more serious tone.
Danny Elfman did supply strong scores for the first two films, particular giving the series a signatory theme tone. Whilst James Horner's score for The Amazing Spider-man does not quite those heights he still gives the new series some good music that is dramatic, soaring and triumph when needed.
On the whole there are elements which The Amazing Spider-Man does improve upon the original Spider-Man whilst the original Spider-Man was better on other parts. If there was a way to blend both films together then you would properly get the perfect Spider-Man film.