Tuesday 10 July 2012

Film Review: "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012)




"Peter… I know things have been difficult lately… I think I know what you're feeling. Ever since you were a little boy, you've been living with so many unresolved things... they make us who we are. And if anyone's destined for greatness, it's you... You owe the world your gifts. You just have to figure out how to use them and know that wherever they take you, we'll always be here. So, come on home, Peter. You're my hero..." This lies at the heart of The Amazing Spider-Man. This superhero film directed by Marc Webb based on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man. It is the fourth Columbia Pictures film that portrays Spider-Man in film and is a reboot of the Sam Raimi film series. The film will portray Parker as his super powers are evolving in high school and will explore him trying to discover the truth behind the death of his parents, and discovering himself in the process.

Development of the film began with the cancellation of Spider-Man 4 in 2010, ending director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film series that had starred Tobey Maguire as the titular superhero. Columbia Pictures opted to reboot the franchise with the same production team along with James Vanderbilt to stay on with writing the next Spider-Man film while Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves helped with the script as well. During pre-production, the main characters were cast in 2010. New designs were introduced from the comics such as artificial web-shooters. Principal photography started in December 2010 in Los Angeles before moving to New York City. The film entered post-production in April 2011.

The film stars Andrew Garfield as the title role of the superhero. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors, Denis Leary as Captain George Stacy, Martin Sheen as Ben Parker and Sally Field as May Parker. The performances were all great, but there some characters that were not necessary for this particular vision for the film. Garfield makes an interesting hero of the film because his struggles involve real people — and real lives. Garfield as portraying an arrogant and misunderstood outsider who acted as a rebel before his transformation, which gave the film a restless, reckless energy and a welcome sense of danger. Tobey Maguire in the original Spider-Man trilogy was earnest, Garfield's Spider-Man is whip-smart and likably cheeky, with an undercurrent of teenage angst. Garfield's spindly physicality evokes the Marvel illustrations of the 1960s. Emma Stone made a great love interest as Parker's first love Gwen Stacy. Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard was a great and memorable performance but the Lizard was lackluster compared to villains from the previous films and had comparable dramatic range to Godzilla. But I thought the technical execution of the Lizard was impressive and long last my dream of seeing that villain on the screen has come true.

The Amazing Spider-Man kind of feels like a goofy, mediocre reboot compared to Batman Begins (2005). However, It exists largely to entertain and delight, which used to be precisely what summer blockbusters were engineered to do.

Simon says The Amazing Spider-Man receives:


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