Admirably Spun

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2012)

When it was announced that a Spidey reboot was in the works, most people responded in the same way (namely, by groaning and emphasizing their contempt for Hollywood and it's lack of originality). Likewise, I thought it completely unnecessary to start from scratch, as Sam Raimi and company had crafted an admirable trilogy (the third installment being a take-it-or-leave it experience). With The Dark Knight Rises on the horizon and The Avengers having ruled the first half of the summer movie season, it seemed as if Marc Webb had accepted a fool's errand in attempting to spin a tale that, by all accounts, didn't need to be retold.
Lo and behold The Amazing Spider-Man, an origins tale that's a much darker, more brooding take than its 2002 counterpart. This time around, Peter Parker is played by Andrew Garfield. Unlike Mr. Maguire, this Parker has a tangible chip on his shoulder. He's a moody teen who vividly recalls the day his parents dropped him off at Aunt May and Uncle Ben's so his scientific genius father could sort out a mysterious mess at Oscorp, only to never return. Peter has inherited his father's knack for figuring out how things work—albeit in a more mechanical sense —and, though introverted, is clearly a clever kid in his own right. As new insights about his dad's work come to light, Parker finds himself in the labs of the fabled biogenetics lab that his old man helped build. It's then that he is—wait for it!—bitten by a mutated spider.
As you can see, the basic layout of The Amazing Spider-Man is very similar to what transpires in Raimi's feature. One key difference, however, is the decision to focus on Peter's father. This helps motivate Peter to embark on a quest to discover "who he is," which ultimately leads him to the realization that his dad's intentions were noble. Another significant difference here is the tone; Webb and Garfield remove the slapstick comedy that made the original (the 2002 original, that is) a colorful, light-hearted affair. In its place is a decidedly more drab depiction of the Big Apple and its inhabitants, and— for my money, at least—a more compelling vision of how Parker comes into his own as the web-slinging hero of yore.
So, even though there are plenty of familiar elements, the movie feels like a more mature take on Spidey that causal moviegoers and more ardent web-heads can both admire and appreciate.