British journalist David Quantick coined the phrase,
"Pop will eat itself," in regards to the way in which pop culture
constantly recycles what came before. In more esoteric terms, pop culture is
the Ouroboros, the symbolic snake that consumes its own tail. This leads us to The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony Pictures
attempt to call a mulligan on its lucrative Spider-franchise.
It's only been ten years since Sam Raimi brought the
wall-crawler to life with Tobey Maguire donning the red and blue tights in the
titular role. Spider-Man is widely
regarded as one of the finest comic book adaptations, but Raimi and company
were just getting their feet wet. "Spider-Man 2" was the rare sequel
that topped its predecessor in nearly every way. Unfortunately, too many cooks
spoiled the broth that was Spider-Man 3.
Despite pulling in nearly $900 million worldwide, the conclusion to Raimi's
trilogy was lambasted for its slapdash script and overabundance of characters. Mindful
of the criticism, Raimi was ready to make it up to the fans and went to work on
Spider-Man 4 with John Malkovich
attached to play the Vulture. But, studio execs weren't happy with the story
causing Raimi and his cast to depart.
In Raimi's place is the appropriately named Marc Webb, whose
only previous directorial effort was the rom-com (500) Days of Summer. The screenplay is credited to James Vanderbilt
(David Fincher's Zodiac), Alvin
Sargent (who worked on the previous trilogy), and Steve Kloves (Harry Potter). English actor Andrew
Garfield, who turned heads with his turn as Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin
in The Social Network, replaces
Maguire as Peter Parker. Raimi was an ardent admirer of the old school
Spider-Man and his films captured the spirit of the Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
era. The Amazing Spider-Man borrows
from the Ultimate Spider-Man series
by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, which rebooted Spidey for the modern
era. Trouble is, it had been nearly forty years since readers had seen Peter as
a teenager coming to grips with his newfound powers. For movie-goers, a scant
five years have passed since Spider-Man was last seen in theaters. Sony would
have been better off simply continuing the franchise with a new cast and crew.
Changes in creative teams happen all the time in comics, after all. Instead,
Sony has decided to start from the beginning with a new hook revolving around
the mystery of Peter Parker's parents, his so-called "untold story."
The Amazing Spider-Man
opens with a young Peter Parker being left in the care of Uncle Ben (Martin
Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). His parents, Richard (Campbell Scott) and
Mary (Embeth Davidtz) disappear into the night before dying in a plane crash. Flash-forward
to today and Peter attends Midtown Science High School where he harbors a crush
on the beautiful Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Stacy is an equally brilliant
student, who favors mini-skirts and thigh high boots. She interns for Richard's
former colleague, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), one of the top researchers at
OsCorp. It is there that Peter receives his fateful bite from a genetically
enhanced spider. If this all sounds familiar, it should.
All the major events that comprise Spider-Man's origin are
present. Peter's bullying at the hands of Flash Thompson (Chris Zylka), the
bite, and the death of Uncle Ben are told in slightly differing fashion from
the source material and Raimi's films. These scenes may be different, but they
are hardly unique. Amazing adheres
too closely to the basic structure of Raimi's Spider-Man as well as other comic book movies. Gwen is now the
romantic lead rather than Mary Jane Watson. Gwen's father, Captain George Stacy
(Denis Leary) of the NYPD, fulfills the antagonistic role once held by J. Jonah
Jameson. He is hell bent on arresting the masked menace known as Spider-Man. The
primary villain, the Lizard, repeats what had already been done with Willem
Dafoe's Norman Osborn. In Spider-Man,
Osborn desperately injects himself with an experimental serum that drives him
mad and turns him into the Green Goblin. In Amazing,
Dr. Connors desperately injects himself with an experiment serum to re-grow his
missing arm. The results drive him mad and transform him into a scaly and
monstrous creature. Amazing even
includes another sequence of rah-rah, post-9/11 patriotism as New Yorkers band
together to assist their web-slinging hero.
The one element that is supposed to set the reboot apart is
the mystery of Peter's parents. Their deaths have been touched upon in the
comics, but none of those issues are well-regarded. Indeed, their subplot is
one of the least interesting aspects of Amazing.
It's also one of the many plotlines that are dropped halfway through the
picture. Peter's search for the truth about his mother and father along with
his quest for the killer of Uncle Ben are forgotten by the mid-point as Spidey
focuses on defeating the Lizard. The former is no small loss as it seemed to
hint that Richard Parker may have mucked around with his son's DNA. Other tidbits from the trailers and marketing materials have also been excised
leaving the final product with a haphazard feel. Amazing is also a tangled web in terms of tone. The filmmakers want
gritty and realistic, yet utilize cartoonish facets like the Lizard's dastardly
plot to mutate all of New York City into reptilian creatures. And don't ask
about the scene where Peter refines his Spider-agility inside an empty
warehouse ala Kevin Bacon in Footloose.
The Amazing Spider-Man
never finds its footing visually either, despite the improvement in technology
since 2002's Spider-Man. Some of the
effects are good. The way in which Spidey swings across the city and his
contorted poses are reminiscent of Todd McFarlane's artwork. A brief POV
sequence looks as if it came from a video game and NYC appears awfully
artificial. The Lizard is by far the weakest screen villain in the Spider-Man franchise. Yes, weaker than
Venom or the Sandman from Spider-Man 3.
He's a clichéd baddie hampered by poor design work and shoddy CGI. Marc Webb is
clearly out of his element when it comes to action. A moment where Peter
confronts a group of thugs in a subway train is indicative of many American
action movies. Too many close-ups and rapid editing that reduce the scene to a
series of disembodied limbs.
The reboot's greatest strength lies with its cast. Andrew
Garfield had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Tobey
Maguire. Garfield looks more like the comic book version of the character,
specifically the one drawn by Humberto Ramos with his poofy hair and lanky
frame. Garfield's Peter Parker is less of a loser than Maguire's and has more
confidence. He rides a skateboard and isn't afraid of standing up to a bully
though he gets his ass kicked. He's also more of a wiseacre and more of a
science whiz. This Peter has honest-to-goodness webshooters of his own
devising, which should please sticklers upset by the organic shooters. Perhaps,
we'll see the Spider-tracers in future sequels?
Garfield has excellent chemistry with Emma Stone and their
scenes together are the best parts of the movie, particularly their first
awkward steps towards a sweet teen romance. Their performances make you forget
that they are too old to be playing high school students. While I think Kirsten
Dunst is a fine actress (I enjoyed her turn in Lars Von Trier's Melancholia), Stone is an upgrade as the
love interest. She's also not a helpless damsel in distress, but a strong
female character assisting Spider-Man with her intelligence. The supporting
cast is uniformly good with Martin Sheen being inspired casting for Uncle Ben
and Rhys Ifans doing a splendid job as the tortured genius. Sadly, none of them
get enough screen time to leave a lasting impression.
The Adequate
Spider-Man may not have the same ring as The Amazing Spider-Man, but it is a far more accurate description.
Most folks know that Sony must continue churning out Spider-Man flicks in order
to retain the rights. One can't fight the feeling that the reboot merely exists
as a blatant cash grab. It retreads old territory without offering anything
distinctly original.
Rating: ** ½ (*****)
No comments:
Post a Comment