Let's just get this straight, I don't hate remakes. I don't even hate the idea of remakes. Sure, certain movies should never, ever, ever be remade by anyone. But, at the same time, certain films both good or bad, could be very interesting or, dare I say, done better by another artist's interpretation. So, no, I don't hate remakes. Not one bit.
That being said, while I was never against a re-make of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, I wasn't exactly begging for one either. Don't get me wrong, I hated Spider-Man 3 with every fiber of my being, but did I really need to see my favorite web crawler swinging through the streets of Manhattan yet again? No. And I really wasn't interested in seeing his origin again, even with a new cast and more modern special effects. But, The Amazing Spider-Man had the talent necessary to convince me that maybe, just maybe, a remake (I'm sorry, 're-imaginig') of Spider-Man could be better than the original. A talented director, two of the best rising stars in Hollywood, state of the art 3-D effects, and a few great trailers. I was pumped. But, while The Amazing Spider-Man wasn't a bad film by any means, it was definitely hindered by some major flaws and doesn't even hold a candle to the first two Raimi films.
The best thing about The Amazing Spider-Man was actually the worst thing about the Spider-Man trilogy, and that's the casting. Each actor is perfectly cast in TASM. Andrew Garfiled is wonderful, constantly charismatic, tough when he needs to be, and utterly convincing in the role. I'm a straight man, completely confident with my sexuality but, hell, Garfield was so damn lovable that I almost fell for him too. Almost. Emma Stone also turned in a strong performance, even if she's not as memorable as she was in her other films. Thanks in part to the writing, Stone makes Gwen Stacy more than just the girl-next-door archetype we've come to expect from the series, and much more than a damsel in distress. But, stealing the show is Dennis Leary as Captain Stacy. Leary was wonderful, turning in one of the best performances of the year. His performance was so compelling I'd pay another $14.50 to watch a spin-off entirely about his character.
The action, while not entirely memorable, is also well staged an exciting. Thanks to some truly wonderful special effects and great use of 3D (I'm not a huge supporter of the medium, but I recommend paying the extra bucks to see this film in it) the action is exciting and a lot of fun to watch. The original Spider-Man was one of my very first favorite films, and watching the action scenes from it makes me feel like an 8 year old again. While those scenes in TASM weren't that good, those action scenes certainly made me feel young(er) again.
But, then, there's the problems. The big problems. The main one being the film's villain. Honestly, was including the Lizard an afterthought for the writers? He's one of the absolute worst villains I've ever seen in a comic book movie! He is, essentially, thrown into the film after it's already half over, and his motive and 'evil plan' feels only half thought. Not to mention that he's not exactly that threatening and whoever had the idea to have the Lizard talk in a completely unaffected British accent deserves to be fired.
Also annoying is the fact that, even with some additional twists and a little mystery thrown in to keep us on our toes, the overall origin of Spidey is essentially the same and, even with better actors, it feels like we're watching the same movie over again. I tried hard to care about Uncle Ben and that fateful spider-bite again, but I simply couldn't.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a good movie, and one of the better summer blockbusters of the year. That being said, if you're expecting to be swept away by the film and already plan to pre-order your tickets for the sequel (which is already scheduled for May 2014, by the way) then you might be disappointed. As for me, I liked this film, but when I'm itching for a Spider-Man fix, I'll return to the Raimi version.
OVERALL GRADE: B-
No comments:
Post a Comment