Too soon for a remake

Rating: 5/10 (2 July 2012)

Just 10 years after the 2002 'Spiderman' movie was made, I was originally baffled as to why this movie would be - not Spiderman 4 - but instead a remake. Was there something lacking in the original movie I wasn't aware of? Was it not true to the original comic book story? Or was this just an easy cash-in job for Hollywood?
The verdict: easy money for Hollywood producers. There was almost nothing original about this movie. The storyline is almost identical, and whilst you are, strictly speaking, about to read so-called SPOILERS, I assure you if you have seen the 2002 film, there's nothing new here. Peter is being picked on at high school by the jock; he fancies a girl there; his uncle is shot by a bandit Peter previously decided not to stop; he gets bitten by a spider which gives him superpowers; etc. Even the bad guy has a connection to one of his friends (it's his girlfriend's mentor). The pacing / sequence of the movie is almost to the minute predictable: initial confrontation with bad guy, one more encounter in the sewer leaves our hero scarred, then a final battle atop a skyscraper. Yeah, been there, done that. Not impressed, sorry.
One of the major selling points to this movie, no doubt, will be the amazing special effects. Admittedly, i did not see this movie in 3D, but I honestly couldn't notice much improvement since the original. The camera work during his swing-across-the-city scenes were all very impressive, just like the previous movies.
It seems the current obsession in movie-making is the superhero theme. They know people will pay money to see this movie. For those die-hard fans, I hope you disagree with this review. For those in doubt, I say, save your money. Send Hollywood the message you're not going to give them your hard-earned for such a non-imaginative, risk-less, factory-line sell-out.