In my personal opinion, for a reboot of a movie franchise to be successful, it must contain a bold new direction with enough of a story to stand on its own, but still have a few nods to the franchise that made it successful in the first place. A perfect example of this would be J.J Abram’s Star Trek in 2009.
It’s no secret that Sony needed to make another Spider-Man movie to keep the license within their brand. Instead of continuing the series, why not start it over?
The Plot:
As an intelligent outcast, Peter Parker tries to survive the daily life of a high school teenager while living with his aunt and uncle. While investigating some clues that lead to information about his late father’s research at Oscorp, Peter is accidently bitten by a radio active spider, giving him extraordinary spider-like abilities. As he befriends a long time colleague of his father, Dr. Curt Conners, Peter soon realizes that his new found powers will be put to the test as a horrible accident transforms Dr. Conners into something much more.
The Characters:
Peter Parker\Spider-Man - Andrew Garfield
Gwen Stacy - Emma Stone
Dr. Curt Conners - Rhys Ifans
Uncle Ben - Martin Sheen
Aunt May - Sally Field
Captain Stacy - Dennis Leary
The Good: Overall, the movie was extremely entertaining. As a retelling of the origin of Spider-man, Screen Writer James Vanderbilt did a fantastic job of remaining closer to the original origin story, while giving it some new life in a new franchise. I am sold on Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. The awkward high school scenes with his new found love, the irresponsibility of a teenager growing up, and the emotion felt throughout the movie, both high and low, were all very credible. The biggest selling point for me was the wise-cracks and one liners that were sorely missing from the Raimi series as Spider-man interacts with the bad guys.
Emma “boots” Stone was equally good in her role. Although some of the scenes felt forced, the over all connection between the two characters was believable and even brought back a few memories of my own relationships in high school. Rhys Ifans, for me, was the connection to the original franchise. While watching the scenes between Peter and Curt Conners, I was taken back to a lot of what I loved about Spider-man 2 and the relationship between Octavious and Peter. The battles weren’t just physical, they were also emotional for the characters and this was portrayed very well. The action was intense, and the CGI was spot on. I was concerned about the first person view that the teaser trailer first showed us, and although it is used sparingly throughout the movie, it is not overbearing and used just enough to enhance the scenes, rather that distract. One more thing, the web shooters were designed really well.
The Bad: Most will say the suit will belong here. The only problem I had was the silver in the boots. It just doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the outfit. For me, the most disappointing part of the movie was the discovery of Peter’s new powers. Instead of exciting, I found it to be very nonchalant and had a horrible choice in music. It came across as, just another day in the park, instead of “HOLY CRAP! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!” and left me with something missing, where as the original left me with goose bumps.
The Ugly: Andrew Garfield’s hair… Jonas Brothers called, they want their do back…
Bottom Line: With a new look and feel, Marc Webb and crew have put together yet another great addition to the super-hero franchise. Fans of the books and the original movie will find themselves rooting for the heroes, relating to the villain and will be excited for a sequel, which, if you stay through the mid-credits, you will find a bonus scene. Also, love it or hate it, look for Stan Lee’s cameo appearance – that particular scene was brilliant.
Agent Smith approves this movie – 3.5 out of 4