As you can probably guess by many of my older posts I'm a big Spider-Man fan. I read the comics as a kid, I had the toys, I played the games, and I watched the cartoons. Anything Spider-Man was awesome to me. Yes I even saw the campy 70's live action version.
As you can no doubt imagine, I was really disappointed with Spider-Man 3 and its treatment of certain characters. So when this movie was announced, and Andrew Garfield was cast I was less than impressed. However I chose to not watch any trailers, or read anything about it. I was decided to go into this movie unadulterated.
I wasn't expecting much, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
As always if you haven't seen it and wish to avoid spoilers jump down to the rating and final thoughts.
The Plot
The Movie intertwines several different Spider-Man stories into one seamless arch.
You have the inevitable origin story, the romantic interest story which in this case is Spider-Man's original love interest in the Comics Gwen Stacy, and you have the evil antagonist's story.
Each of them is taken from a different moment in Spider-Man lore, and worked together to create a fun, action packed movie that's actually of decent length at Two hours and change.
Uncle Ben
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
The first story we are introduced to is the mysterious past of Peter Parker's parents. Taken from a late 90's story arch it doesn't really delve much into it, before moving on to the present. We then move on to the prerequisite origin story for Spider-Man which in this case is changed around enough to be different, from the Toby Macguire version, but still retains certain elements of the original comic book story so its recognizable. However I did find the message got lost without any actual spoken confirmation from Peter until the very end of the movie. Also, I may have missed it, but the required quote from Uncle Ben is never spoken for some reason. I was expecting it to be heard in the voice mail Peter kept replaying.
The Villain story in this case focuses on Dr. Curtis "Curt" Connors, a.k.a The Lizard. While not Spider-Man's earliest foe, as that honor goes to Chameleon, The Lizard is one of his earliest ones. Appearing for the first time in issue #6.
Connors is a scientist researching reptilian DNA in an effort to harness their ability to regrow severed limbs. He transforms himself into a giant humanoid Lizard when he uses a serum he developed on himself. The story is fairly faithful to the comic book, and works well.
Finally we have the Love interest, nothing major here, though we do get to see Peter's original love interest from the Comic Book in a better light than what was done to her in Spider-Man 3.
Spider-Man meets his love interest in school, and she also happens to intern as a lab assistant for Dr. Connors.
Gwen is likable, her father Captain Stacy is a momentary threat to Peter, but becomes an ally rather quickly. All in all the character architecture for these 2 works as it should in the movie. They are there, play important parts, but don't get in the way of the rest of the movie.
The story works well in its setting, and the characters are well developed. Having a single villain instead of 3 in a movie helps give it the proper time.
It seems the story was edited down a bit though, as certain places it feels a little rushed, or simply cut off.
All in all the plot is quite good and manages to keep you reeled in for the duration of the movie.
CAST
CAST
For pete's sake people, the word "cast" has no past tense. I hear so many movie reviewers say "casted" in their videos its ridiculous. There is no such thing as "casted". Its used the same for past and future. With the only slight variation being the present in the form of "casting".
Three movies ago Sam Raimi cast Tobey Macguire as Spider-Man
Some director will cast some actor in some movie in the future.
Spielberg is casting Jude Law in his current film
Casting for the movie really surprised me in that it worked so well. Garfield as Parker/Spider-Man is spot on, and he really works to give Spider-Man his trademark witty banter during fights, and Parker's vulnerability outside of costume. Also, with him being British, I have to praise his american accent as being pretty good, and not distracting at all.
Gwen Stacy also worked for me fairly well. She is portrayed as a smart independent 17 year old (may be a little too much), but manages to not be the damsel in distress. She actually fends off the Lizard on her own, and manages to help Spider-Man stop him.
Uncle Ben and Aunt May: At first I was totally thrown off by Martin Sheen and Sally Fields in those roles. But as I continued to watch, they worked more and more. At the end, I realized that Sally field really is now the new younger Aunt May, and it works for this Peter Parker, since he's supposed to be in school still.
The biggest surprise however was Dennis Leary. He's awesome. He really is a commanding presence n screen. And even though you may think of him as the harsh loud mouthed comedian, he pulls off the refined and slightly stuck up Captain Stacy perfectly.
Cinematography and CGI
The Movie looks amazing. The city shots are huge, the CGI buildings are really well done, and the overall look of NY is just breath taking.
Spider-Man's athleticism is captured also perfectly, and many of his signature poses from the comic book are recreated albeit in CGI in the movie.
The movie looks overall really awesome, and captures the essence of Spider-Man from the comic in many ways better than Sam Raimi did.
The CGI Spider-Man moves both fluidly, but with weight. It doesn't look like CGI, and it shows girth, and weight in its actions.
Costume
The costume takes some cues from the early 2000's Spider-Man costume. However,I i feel it lacked a certain something. At the end of the day, it looked like Spandex. Something the Raimi version managed to avoid. It looks cool for a costume party, it just wasn't all there for the movie.
Overall
The movie was quote good. Its a lot of fun and doesn't seem all that long for over 2 hours. It makes good use of the characters, and explores them well. It also leaves potential story arches loose for future movies to explore.
The comparison with the Dark Knight may be a little too much, but the ambiance, and the overall feel of it is of a much darker tone. It does not however take itself too seriously, and it allows itself to have some really funny moments. Of course the always necessary Stan Lee cameo is present, and got a chuckle out of the audience.
All in all a really fun movie to watch, up there with the likes of Avengers, and Iron-Man.
I hope we get a directors cut, or extended version on Blue Ray as it seems there is more to tell that got left in the cutting room floor.
4 out of 5 reels
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