Spideython: The Amazing Spider-Man

There's really only one reason in this world that causes my spine to shiver when the word, "reboot," is mentioned in the context of Hollywood.

-sigh- We all knew it was coming to this. To put it kindly, Spider-Man 3 didn't do so hot, and the reaction was not what the studio wanted. Comic book lovers clamored for a more comic-true Spider-Man for their next film. So, Sony kicked out Raimi and took about five years away from the franchise to slowly reboot everything with a new director, new actors, new everything...and with a reboot, you have to give that origin story...hence, The Amazing Spider-Man.

And I'm going to be very up front, I've never liked the Amazing movies, and I highly doubt that feeling is going to change any time soon, it sure didn't change with my most recent viewing, just tonight. 

This time around, we have a story that follows closely to the first Maguire Spider-Man, that I'm not going to go into too much detail, just replace Green Goblin with The Lizard. That starts the first of my problems with this film. I feel like we've been here and done this before, and they did it so much better the first time...and that rubs me off the wrong way severely. I feel no sense of stake from this because it does not carry the weight of the original.

Second problem is who they got involved with this reboot. With a few exceptions (namely Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben), they do not hold a candle to the originals when it comes to how well they were cast. Andrew Garfield manages to spit the puns needed for Spidey, but does not play a convincing Peter Parker, not like Tobey Maguire did. Sally Field does not have the same gentile aunt demeanor as Rosemary Harris. I could sit here all night picking apart the actors, so I'll spare you most of the details.

The main problem, though, is that the film isn't terrible. If this caliber of film was made for any other superhero, it would work! It's well done and follows its source material, and it certainly isn't boring, but you just sit through it and get the feeling that you've been here and done this before. I don't hate it...I just think there could have been something better done with it.

The Amazing Spider-Man is a tough movie to review, it feels like such a minor blip on the radar these days because we know how much the series dropped the ball (we'll get to that tomorrow, mind you), but it feels unfair to just downright disregard it. I don't know, I'm going to be fair, and give a very M.O.R. 6.5/10, because it does manage to do some things right. I'd just rather reach for any of the Raimi films over this, any day of the week.