My speed-review on Spiderman

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2012)

Sequels always has my hair standing up on its end due to the mega disappointment it dishes out to you, when you are in a particularly lascivious and enormously ravenous mode post seeing an unbelievable movie before. Only in some cases is your appetite satiated and I mean really satiated (case in point being: Nolan's Batman series). And now with this Spiderman; my hair standing on its end at the close of the movie did a mean pirouette. Boy was I happy!! I was delighted!! And never did I feel anybody could up Tobey Maguire's act as a 'bumbling geek turned mean vigilante' act with so much finesse and sass. I love underdogs but this movie makes me want to be an underdog with oodles of brio wrapped in that Grey gloomy hood on my pate which drops down time and again. Getting down to the movie review; I am going to highlight a few departures from the earlier Spiderman movie.
Spiderman himself: Tobey Maguire was a geek until the spider comes along literally and spins a web... he he but despite becoming a Spiderman the nerd quotient stays in good measure and keeps him harnessed within the web.. he he enough of web jokes...the only time that we see his wild and impertinent side liberated is in part 3 when he is in the garb or influence of a black suited Spiderman. Tobey was the sort of guy you sympathized with, you loved to mother, you loved to pet. I am not sure if he was a lust and drool over sort of a man despite the spider suit. He had his shortcomings and these short comings were evident and were there for all to see. No masks and all. Enter the amazing Spiderman and truly the transformation of the character of Spiderman is amazing.
Very frankly I was certain that the oddball in an ill fitted suit; Eduardo Saverin read Andrew Garfield ( In Social Network) could not play the role of a Spiderman with as much aplomb as his predecessor did. He literally cast a web of magic over atheists like me. This Spiderman was more easy to relate to, more aspiration evoking, had oodles of spunk and well was amazing and the transformation does not hurt both the eye and sensibilities with an overdose. The man looks infinitely more handsome than the earlier guy. Sorry Tobey! Has mettle with a keen eye for body language (do notice the head tilts, the quivering lips, the guarded, reticent body language and such other gobs of tiny details weaved beautifully into his portrayal). His costumes - the Grey hoods, the sweat shirt with a thumb hole etc.. add dimensions to the character. He revels in his prowess yet wears it as coolly as a pin badge - remember the scene where he deals with the car burglar with a saucy talk, reading something perched upside down, working nonchalantly on a rooftop, lazing on a web hammock playing games on a cell phone while expecting a certain Mr. Lizard to show up. It's this celebration of self and its capabilities which make him super cool and confident yet not cocksure since mind you there is not a hint of vanity which paints this confident facade. Clearly bring the trumpets on and everybody else move over a new heartthrob is born; British American actor Andrew Garfield; blessed with panache, a certain endearing vulnerability, an easy charm, fantastic body language, lithe body and lightning quick reflexes make him truly amazing.
While Kirsten Dunst played the Mary Jane part in the earlier series... she was more plain Jane than Mary Jane, I thought. Now we have Emma Stone taking over the love interest part as Gwen. I am not a huge Emma fan, I feel she is forever stuck in the Olive Pendergrast role she played in Easy A and her dialog delivery and well everything else remains the same movie after movie. The dialog delivery with a weighty jaw really doesn't work for me. But well overall she is not bad. The scene where she looks expectantly up in the Grey, dreary sky slightly inching away the umbrella from her face hoping to spot her love while at her father's funeral was particularly mesmerizing. The story is good too, lot of earlier scenes have been incorporated albeit in sync with the mood and tempo of this movie. I also loved the fact that the web that springs out is made by Spidey himself and not attributed to his bite by the power induced spider. What truly sets this edition apart is the fact that this is not Grey, it's bright... what I mean that the earlier version was very grief inducing. Can't forget Peter walking away knowing that he has lost his love. Spiderman was unable to reveal his identity until a good 2 parts while this one shows that despite the promise made to his beau's dad Peter shows every intent on breaking it... lovers across the world cheer. Also Peter has no qualms in showing his identity to everybody; he is in fact without his mask more than anything else. And our own Irfan Khan plays the role of a mean sidekick to Norman Osborn kept in the dark in this part. He looks assured and his dialog delivery had no accent, thank god for that. Also special mention for the Coldplay song; till kingdom comes which makes an appearance at the right time when there is a superbly subtle romantic interlude between Peter and his love interest. The music accompanies his joyous finding of love. What then follows is an uninhibited swinging in a grim, abandoned industrial area atop metal chains. It's like he has found his love and also himself. It's a sort of a very celebratory moment. It depicts a very gay abandon, a self release – free as one can be.