The untold story begins...again...

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2012)

When I walked out of the theatre after seeing this movie, I saw the poster for it, which had the tagline "The untold story begins"...to which the appropriate response is: "Again?". In another ten years they could again have another origin story for Spider-Man and use the same tagline again.
I'm not that familiar with Spiderman lore, but I did read recently that this origin story is more in keeping with one of the comic book iterations of this story...perhaps the first comic book series? So, basically, it's a tweaking of the Tobey Maguire incarnation as the hero. Someone on the internet did call me an idiot many years ago for saying that I saw a Spiderman movie in the cinema where the hero, Peter Parker, gained his powers by a bite from a radioactive spider. That person just didn't believe that I saw this. In any case, genetic engineering is more 'current' in our society, so bites from radioactive spiders is out.
Can't say that I remember, but I probably liked Tobey Maguire's turn as Spider-Man better. Perhaps if I'd seen this current version first, the situation would be reversed. In any case, Andrew Garfield is very good in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man...but he did strike me as having a very Tobey Maguire type of vibe to his performance. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is also good in her role as Peter Parker's love interest. And, again, she is very reminiscent of Kirsten Dunst in her role as another love interest for Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man (a different character though...hence why this origin story is slightly different to Tobey Maguire's version). One annoying thing about this movie is the piling on of coincidence after coincidence as far as how some characters keep popping up in places where they are likely to meet Peter Parker...or indeed for having a relationship to people Peter Parker/Spider-Man has 'conflict' with.
My biggest bugbear is the ancient cliché of the superhero displaying extraordinary powers in a sporting context. I'm Australian, so basketball or gridiron holds no interest for me. So, it's just so face-palming to see Peter Parker excel in those sports. No doubt it's aimed at the younger demographic for this movie...providing the lesson that yes, boys, you too can become an athletic superstar...with a little help from superpowers...and genetic engineering...and anabolic steroids too? This awful cliché reached its nadir in "Bionic showdown" where an American human/machine hybrid won a gold medal at the Olympics...yuh...no cheating there, sir!
The end of this movie does have a narrative hook to keep you watching sequels but I'm not sure that that will be enough to make me fork out to see it. Denis Leary as a prominent policeman in this movie was good for laughs and would have been a welcome return for any sequel.
A solid movie but the similarities to the Tobey Maguire incarnation are too fresh for me to get that much out of the movie...not sure, but I may have bailed on the Maguire franchise after the first sequel...these kinds of movies tend to peter out, interest wise, pretty quickly. For those new to the franchise, it's a likable origin story with some good casting and acting.