We are just a little under two weeks away from the release of The Amazing Spider-man. It is a movie that I am having a hard time getting a gauge for, as curious would be the best word to describe my anticipation for the film. When the movie was initially announced as a reboot of the franchise my first reaction was like so many other fans; Why? Sam Raimi's movies were hugely successful even with the less than stellar third installment, Spider-man 3. In fact I would dare say that the second Spider-man movie, with Dr. Octopus, is right up there with the best super-hero movies we have seen to date. With as much money as those movies earned it really didn't surprise anyone when Sony announced a 4th installment was going to be made. But it seemed as soon as those rumors started Sam Raimi dropped out of the directors role, then word broke that Toby Maguire wouldn't be back, and then the sudden announcement came that they were rebooting the franchise.
In this movie actor Andrew Garfield takes over the lead role of Spider-man. Everything that I have read about how he views the character, and how he grew up as such a fan makes me believe he will be able to pull it off if he is given a descent script. The basic premise of the story is a new twist on how he got his powers, the loss of his parents, and him becoming a masked vigilante. His love interest in the film is played by Emma Stone. She plays the role of Gwen Stacy taking the place of Mary Jane in the other films. Rhys Ifans plays Dr. Curt Connors who of course ends up becoming the Lizard and Spider-man’s antagonist in the film. Other actors include Martin Sheen as Ben Parker, who I believe is an excellent casting choice, Denis Leary as Captain George Stacy, and Sally Field as Aunt May. In all the film has a high quality cast that should be able to deliver the goods. Of course the best actors in the world can't make an excellent movie without a great script.
That leaves me back at square one, how do I feel about the movie? As more and more trailers have been released my skepticism has grown. It is hard to make any hard determinations by the few tidbits we have seen, but it feels like there is a ton of stuff going on in the film. At one moment they show the wise cracking Spider-man we all know from the comics, then they show Peter Parker's search for the truth about his parents, followed by scenes of Dr. Connors transforming, then a very angry Denis Leary yelling at his police officers, not to mention interspersed clips of Emma Stone, and Spidey swinging through the air. In all it seems like they are trying to do a ton with the plot in this movie, and I hope they aren't biting off more than they can chew. If they can manage to pull it off it could be one of the surprise movies of the summer, if not it will be another disjointed Spider-man 3. Then when rumors came out that Sony Executives were not happy with the finished product back at Cinemacon in Las Vegas my spidey-sense went off that this movie might be a real bomb.
I wish nothing but the best for any super-hero film, especially one with the popularity of Spider-man, but this movie has me worried. Of course like everyone else I will be in the theater July 3rd scarfing down popcorn, so I guess we shall see if it delivers the goods or not, and the Sony executives will be laughing all the way to the bank.