Why a Spider-Man reboot so soon? Here's why

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2012)

I have to admit I had low expectations for The Amazing Spider-Man. Yes, I enjoyed the first of Tobey Maguire's outings as Spidey back in 2002 but the quality diminished with each sequel to the point that I didn't care if a fourth installment came to fruition or not. More than anything, it was the feeling I had a mere five years after the last installment, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, of 'Why another Spider-Man so soon?' However, the decision to return to the timeline of the source comics and introduce Gwen Stacy as Peter Parker's girlfriend (instead of the more familiar Mary Jane Watson) increased the interest. Maybe this would be a new approach. Then the casting of Andrew Garfield intrigued. His superb turns in Never Let Me Go and in the more widely seen The Social Network certainly suggested he may have something new to bring to the part. The trailer clinched it for me, hinting at a Spider-Man Begins leaning. If Christopher Nolan could obliterate the camp, tarnished Adam West Batman with a completely reinvented trilogy, what could director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) create with The Amazing Spider-Man? It's not Batman Begins, let's get that straight immediately. Nolan's trilogy stands head and shoulders above all other superhero films at the moment and is unlikely to be dethroned any time soon. But The Amazing Spider-Man is a huge success and an extremely enjoyable first foray into Spidey world by all involved and this is down to some fine writing by James Vanderbilt (who has just penned next year's RoboCop reboot) and the courage of Webb not to rush into the action and villain chasing too soon.
A large part of the film is spent meeting, understanding and developing a relationship with Peter Parker through his childhood, the loss of his parents, his relationship with his aunt and uncle, the death of his uncle and his decision to become the superhero and gradual evolution of his crime-fighting alter ego. We see that Peter is flawed. He's cocky at times, he's angry, emotionally wounded, damaged goods and incredibly lonely. When he's bullied at school, it isn't the obvious type of bullying that results in a dramatic conversion to prize-fighting champion, it's the slow, constant drip-drip that niggles, that eats away at confidence and distills the inner turmoil to anger that could easily become rage but veers towards sulky stubbornness and carries its own consequences.
Such time is spent with the family that when Aunt May (Sally Field on fine form that surely must lead to more screen time in the sequel) rebukes Peter we, too, sit up and listen and when Uncle Ben (the ever-excellent Martin Sheen in another flawlessly strong and sincere performance) is murdered in front of his nephew, though we know it will happen and is only on a screen, it wrenches our gut and we know Peter's anguish for ourselves.
When Gwen steps into Peter's life it, too, is gradual and believable. There are no great fireworks or sudden changes but a slow maturing of their friendship into something stronger. The chemistry between Garfield and Emma Stone (so much more watchable here than in the good but overrated The Help earlier this year) is tangible and a pleasure to witness. They work together, they suit each other and one really hopes they stay together.
Inevitably, the superhero must eventually take centre stage and the catalyst has to be an (almost) equally super villain. In this instance it's Rhys Ifans' Dr. Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, with a destructive agenda. So good has The Amazing Spider-Man been up to this point that it's almost a pity when The Lizard arrives at all. It has to happen and it brings with it an increased level of excitement and action but something dims, the quality dips slightly and it becomes a more predicable, certainly a more standard comic book flick.
Ifans is dangerously close to panto villain at times but in his human form he is straight enough to offset the predictable swerves in naturalism and believability when he transmogrifies into lizard form. His make-up is better than the CGI and at times The Lizard's moves are clumsy and the facial expressions lacking in emotion. In the wide shots, however, Spider-Man's leaps and swings are far smoother and more elegant than in the Maguire years and are a minor annoyance when they are less than perfect rather than a jarring disturbance.
The Amazing Spider-Man is very good indeed and I am, for the first time, looking forward to Spidey sequel but I'm guessing the real amazement will come next week when at last The Dark Knight Rises.
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