The Secret Origin of Gwen Stacy

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2012)

Sam Raimi's 2002-2007 Trilogy was fantastic - He totally captured the essence of Spider-Man. But Marvel Comics themselves constantly re-tell the stories, and sometimes re-invent their superheroes, so also do Filmmakers who are telling, and in this care, re-telling these stories.
Sam Raimi was not called on to do the re-telling, this time it went to newbie Marc Webb. How did he do? Not as well as Raimi did with his first two installments. But swell enough, to keep us interested. Is this an unnecessary re-telling? That's a big "Nope."
Andrew Garfield is the new Peter Parker. He is less of a wimp than Tobey Maguire's version: Less of a wimp. But more of a geek. He's better at science than Maguire was. He Skateboards. He even stands up to Flash Thompson, stupidly, but he shows a measure of bravery, which Tobey lacked. He is also taller than Tobey Maguire.
This new kid has it built in. he is intelligent, Maguire not so much. He's sharp, Maguire often did not know what was transpiring under his steamy glasses. He is not shy like Maguire was, where Maguire stood with thumb up it, Andrew Garfield acts. This is not to say I am not endeared to Tobey Maguire's version. But this new kid has his own way of doing it.
We also delve into a subject that was not looked into very much in the Spidey Comics I had read-What happened to Parker's Parents, who they were, what did they do, and how Parker ended up with Uncle Ben and Aunt Mae? Campbell Scott is Richard Parker, a scientist working for Oscorp, and Embeth Davidtz is Mary Parker, Peter's doting mom. As a kid, Peter Parker was played by Max Charles. Sally Field is Aunt Mae and Uncle Ben is Martin Sheen: THIS I liked very much.
Richard and Mary Parker are frightened by something. Their house has been burglarized. Richard has some secret papers in a hidden drawer: Peter sees this, he remembers. He remembers his father's leather attaché, and the papers inside. But the Parkers are frightened, They drop Peter off at Uncle Ben's and are never seen again.
Next Scene, Peter Parker is in High School, photographer for the school paper, geek, but respected. Has the gall to call Flash Thompson by his real first name, which he is rewarded with by a butt kicking. Enter Gwen Stacy aka Emma Stone. Perfect. She knows how to deal with Flash.
A leak in the basement draws Peter's attention to his dad's Attache Case. There is a photo of Richard Parker with "some guy" (Rhys Ifans) - Uncle Ben tells Peter later that this is Dr. Curt Conners, who was a friend of the Parkers.
These family ties are tightly woven threads of the story. Peter Parker is very much Richard Parker's son. But he does enjoy a close relationship with his Aunt and Uncle.
Peter finds the compartment in the attaché case that holds papers with the symbol "øø" and some scientific formula. Looking up Conners on the computer, he sees that an internship program has just started, so he goes to Oscorp and sneaks in. On an escalator, he sees a representation of the shadowy image of Norm Osborn.
As it happens, Gwen Stacy is the head intern, but she lets Parker stay. He gets Conner's attention by knowing the answer to a question he asks the interns. But then he bumps in to a man named Rajit Ratha (Irrfan Khan) and sees that "øø" symbol on a paper he drops. He follows Ratha and finds a room with the same symbols, spiders fall on him from a machine.
Gwen Stacy finally kicks him out and this is when he is bitten.
From this point in the film, it matches some of the events from Raimi's version - He plays around with his new abilities and in standing up to Flash Thompson, gets into trouble, causing Uncle Ben to be called to Mid-Town Science (The school where Parker went), and phase one of the Uncle Ben "responsibility" lecture.
After school he goes to see Dr Conners and tells Conners who he is, giving him the formula which he did not know that his father was keeping from Conners and the rest of Oscorp.
Missing is the whole "Wrestling Match for Money" angle but the story with Uncle Ben is pretty much the same, he is killed by a petty thug, causing Parker to go out vigilante-style. Unlike Maguire, he cannot shoot webs from his fingers, he uses webbing he gets from Oscorp to make the Web- Shooters. Eventually he makes the costume and then goes out hunting some more - THIS is where Andrew Garfield is very good as Spider-Man, he is VERY good with the Spidey-Cracks. "Hey! I'm Swingin'' Here!"
Denis Leary is Captain Stacy, Gwen's dad, who Parker has several confrontations with as both Parker and Spidey: This is an excellent character, especially when Parker starts showing interest in Gwen.
Most of this film shows the results of Peter giving the formula to Conners, who uses it to mutate into "The Lizard" and how parker as Spider-Man corrects that mistake with Gwen's help, and the ultimate cost. The problem with this film is mostly the Digital Lizard, which although done well, is just too difficult to believe. But Spidey's fights with the creature are a good blend of practical filming and CGI. The Raimi films have too much Digital Spider-Man, most of the Spidey in this one, are really Garfield or whoever is in the costume doing stunts.
I liked this more than I expected to, and I was very pleased with the chemistry between "Parker" and "Gwen" and the way Parker/Spidey admits to Gwen that "The Lizard" was his responsibility. The "Power/Responsibility" connection was not preached out at us, is was worked into the story on a gut level.