Jasonic's Favorites: The Amazing Spider-Man
Hello, and good evening, Internet!
With this being the movie that launched my Spider-Man fandom, a thousand channels on YouTube, and further encouraged reboots everywhere, this film is special in a lot of ways as well as having the distinction of being the first Spidey review on this blog that I've done from scratch.
Released in 2012, The Amazing Spider-Man was Sony's back-up plan for Sam Raimi canceling his plans for Spider-Man 4 to be released in 2011 with Sony desperately wanting to maintain the rights to the character. This certainly caused a lot of backlash from the Spider-Man fandom based on the fact that back then it denied us the chance to see Spider-Man swing into the then-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as how many believed it was something of a "Dark Knight ripoff". While the comparison is sound given that this reboot follows in the footsteps of Batman Begins with its darker tone, retelling of the iconic origin, and deeper, more personal themes, it does not copy the same plot elements as Batman (i.e.: fear of spiders) and generally feels darker due to all the action scenes taking place at night. What's more is that whereas eight years passed between Batman & Robin and Batman Begins, which gave fans enough time to anticipate and accept a reboot, only five years passed between Spider-Man 3 and this film, which made the reboot experience with Spider-Man more of a whiplash by comparison. People then were unwilling to accept a new Spider-Man actor/continuity because everyone loved Tobey Maguire and wanted him to get a proper sendoff after his third film failed to live up to expectations. While I did watch Spider-Man 1 as a kid, I never watched 2 and 3 prior to The Amazing Spider-Man so the character rebooting didn't bother me at all; in fact, this was the first theater experience I had with the Web-head back in 2012 when my best friend and I went to see it in 3D. It may not have been the best film experience I ever had, but I give this movie so much credit for allowing me to willingly experience Spider-Man firsthand with the character becoming my biggest inspiration thereafter in terms of him being my favorite superhero, which opened up a new fandom for me to invest in, and encouraged me to adopt everything Spider-Man as a way of life. As someone who absolutely adores the character of Spider-Man as well as Andrew Garfield as an actor, I often hold this movie in high regard for planting a lot of seeds in me. That said, does this movie truly deserve all the backlash and criticism it was initially met with? To find out, let's trace our steps to Oscorp, stumble into the spider lab, and get bitten by the spider that allows us to become the Amazing Spider-Man -- not really, but we all wish.
*SPOILERS* (though it's been years and Spider-Man and his reboots are common knowledge by now)
The movie reboots Spider-Man into a new continuity; in it, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) grows up with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field) after his parents, Richard (Campbell Scott) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz) left him in their care, never to return as Peter got older. While dealing with typical teen issues at high school such as figuring out who he is, Peter befriends Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) after she saves him from bullying from Eugene "Flash" Thompson (Chris Zylka). At home, Peter then unexpectedly uncovers his father's briefcase, which leads him to investigate its contents, discovering his father's former Oscorp colleague, Dr. Curtis Connors (Rhys Ifans). Peter then sneaks in to the most recent Oscorp internship program -- which is unexpectedly led by Gwen -- where he unofficially meets Connors and accidentally bumps into a man that had access to something in his father's work known as the "decay rate algorithm". Peter then follows the man, stumbling into a lab full of spiders spinning their Oscorp biocables and exits in horror, unaware that a lone spider hitched a ride on him before biting him. To the shock of absolutely no fans watching the movie, but to Peter's shock no less, he develops spider powers, which subsequently cause troubles on his subway ride home and morning routine the day after. While dealing with his newfound powers, Peter introduces himself to Dr. Connors as Richard Parker's son, presenting his father's work to Connors after learning how close they were all while knowing that Connors longs to regrow his missing arm. The usual Spider-Man origin antics of Peter humiliating Flash to get even and getting in trouble with Uncle Ben happen while Peter does lab work with Connors to perfect the latter's lizard DNA formula trials, neglecting his responsibilities to pick up Aunt May while Uncle Ben changes shifts at work. This leads to Uncle Ben's "responsibility" speech, which Peter rejects, Peter storming off into the night and encountering a cash register thief (Leif Gantvort), which Peter lets go, allowing the thief to get away and kill Uncle Ben. Riddled with guilt and sadness, Peter goes out into the night to find the killer and progressively adopts a masked vigilante persona, which gets the attention of Gwen's father, Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary), who sends the police after Peter as he becomes known as "Spider-Man". While this happens, Connors rejects Oscorp's offer to jump to human trials with the lizard DNA, testing it on himself instead so as to selfishly regrow his arm; upon Peter revealing his identity to Gwen and becoming romantically involved with her, he rescues people from their cars on a bridge as Connors (now "the Lizard") attacks, retiring his need for revenge against Uncle Ben's killer to help people instead. With Spider-Man a wanted man and the Lizard on the loose, the world of Peter Parker and the city of New York will never be the same.
Given how the origin of Spider-Man is common knowledge largely thanks to the first Raimi movie ten years prior, it's understandable how many complained that this movie retreaded that storyline in a year where The Avengers and Batman were onto their biggest movies yet. So what do I think of it? Well, my plot summary of the first Raimi movie was a lot more straightforward than this one, which is not a bad thing; in fact, I like now how this version went out of the way to add more detail as far as character interaction and realism building towards the major origin moments. Peter's parents were barely mentioned in the old movies so to have their disappearance be the plot hook was refreshing even if we didn't get much of it in the way of "the untold story" that the trailers promised us. On top of that, this movie allows Uncle Ben and Peter a fleshed out father-son relationship that feels genuine to a point where Uncle Ben's death isn't just something that happened for the sake of the origin, but a very emotional moment for Peter and the audience. On top of that, the added detail of Peter being less of a nerdy outcast and more of a hipster skateboarder outcast is something that's either been complained about or overlooked and I'm here to defend it. Peter maintains his signature brains for the sake of the plot, but having him be what was considered in 2012 a more "modern" nerd was a fresh update to an otherwise cliche trope of a dorky dude becoming somebody special in the end. The sequence of him skateboarding to Coldplay's "'Til Kingdom Come" even integrates some "webswing-shadowing" with him swinging off chains to test his agility and makes for a unique take on the originating elements of Spider-Man. The fact that this Peter is allowed to make web shooters as opposed to being granted organic webs is also much more faithful to the comics and displays Peter Parker's brains in a natural fashion -- his ability to create technology of his own is even foreshadowed by him having a homemade electronic lock on his door, something I always found amusing. Lest we not forget my favorite part of Spider-Man: the romance; making Gwen Stacy the love interest from the get-go in this franchise is not only a more accurate portrayal of Peter's first love, it was the lifeblood that carried the only two movies we got in The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. When most people didn't like this movie and its sequel for being disappointing, undercooked, or "too different" from the Raimi movies, everyone's appreciation went toward the romance between Peter and Gwen -- an element which was enhanced by the fact that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were dating in real life by the sequel -- and it got me to love the couple more than any other in Marvel along with Gwen herself. She was certainly no Mary Jane and for the better as she raised the standards of superhero love interests in film.
The actors also did a great job with a lot of their performances; after Tobey, but before Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield was my favorite Spider-Man actor in terms of personality, build, and aesthetic. I admittedly like his Peter Parker better than I used to though his Spider-Man side was where it's at; he quips a ton more than Tobey, making him that much more comic accurate, his sense of humor is spot on, and while in the mask, his body language conveys what all he's feeling. The best example of this is in the car thief scene where he tilts his head in confusion and asks, "Really? You seriously think I'm a cop?" when the thief asks if he's a cop -- the interaction being a possible nod to Batman Begins. Emma Stone became my celebrity crush after this movie for how brilliantly she portrayed Gwen -- the character also become my comic book crush later; she is not only a lookalike to the main Marvel Comics universe Gwen, but she has the brains, the spunk, and authority of a well-written love interest and female character in general. Her chemistry with Andrew, as I said, carried this franchise and while some have found it awkward to watch, it has set my standard for what kind of chemistry I desire in a female companion. As the mentor turned villain, Rhys Ifans is a great choice to be Dr. Connors/the Lizard; his accent makes for a more exotic take on the character and his emotional deliveries regarding his late colleagues as well as his missing arm sell well the sympathetic villain approach that a villain like the Lizard deserves -- you especially feel sorry for the lizard formula affecting his mind later on. Martin Sheen was an excellent Uncle Ben if I do say so myself; compared to previous versions, he was a much more cheeky, lighthearted take on Uncle Ben who loves to have fun and poke around with people. The sternness he exhibits during the responsibility scene, no matter how much they alter the quote, created a very real family intervention feeling as he confronted Peter and even told Aunt May to back off defending him. For that matter, Sally Field, I believe, is an underrated Aunt May; she can be snippy, assertive, and her face often shows genuine concern for Peter the more he goes out and gets beat up while he never tells her he's Spider-Man. A trend mainly started by the Ultimate Spider-Man comics was to make Aunt May younger and as a result, Sally Field looks the part of an Aunt May who's in about her 60s as opposed to her 80s. On a related note, this movie picked well with Denis Leary being a younger-looking Captain Stacy; I rarely, if ever, saw this guy in live action prior to this movie, but his signature humor is there in scenes like the precinct scene where he snarks with Peter about being "the mayor of Tokyo" upon him mentioning that Connors is transforming into something like Godzilla. I would even go as far to say that Chris Zylka is a fine take on "Flash" Thompson in the sense that he is more than simply the big tormentor to the scrawny nerd. He has the stuck up bully demeanor that every big jock take on Flash should have and he even has much more development than the previous version, having a mini-arc of becoming friends with Peter and a fan of Spider-Man over time. Minor actors like Campbell Scott as Richard Parker aren't given much to do in this movie unlike the next one, but the actor's stoicism leaves a lot to the mystery and interpretation of Peter's father that gets saved for the sequel for better or worse.
A Spider-Man movie would be incomplete without great action and special effects and this movie is no exception; Andrew Garfield's action scene outside the suit against the criminal who looks like his uncle's killer and his cohorts appears to be mostly stuntwork done by a stuntman and it has some great adrenaline to it alleviated by the fact that Peter can use his spider powers to escape their grasp. Scenes like this appear to be the main scenes with practical action and this is also a pre-MCU Spider-Man where Spider-Man's suit is actually practical all the time -- in my opinion, it is also one of the best designed live action Spider-Man suits for being so unique compared to the others. Most of the other action scenes are all CGI and for a time like 2012, this movie really elevated how far CG had come since the early 2000s. For example, the Spider-Man vs. Lizard high school fight shots were the two of them fighting in a CG recreation of the school, which was mind-blowing to me because when I watched the movie for the first time, it obviously never occurred to me how it was made. Even then, seeing how the shots were made on YouTube after my friend told me it was all CG actually impressed me because normally films before then would simply stick animated characters in a live action shot so to hear and see how it was done differently was a step above what I had previously known CG to be capable of. The fight itself also made for the longest, most dynamic fight in the movie with Spider-Man against the Lizard; since the bridge encounter was just Spider-Man swing kicking the Lizard before he crawled away and the sewer fight was just a quick struggle under the water, the wait for an even battleground between the two was well worth it. What made this fight unique was how it incorporated both combatant's base creature traits into the action; for example, Spidey is acrobatically dodging Lizard's tail swipes throughout and once Gwen provides a distraction, Spidey crawls around the Lizard to web him up for the sake of restraining him. The Lizard himself is also a great use of CGI with its scales appearing very realistic and the one closeup of his lizard eyes having that accurate reptilian look, which goes to show how Connors had basically lost his humanity at that point. If I had to complain, I would say that the Lizard's face doesn't look as reptilian as it could with the way it maintains Connors' human elements, but I will say it's a nice way to maintain Rhys Ifans' likeness even while he's in lizard form. If there's anything that the Spider-Man movies get right consistently, it's both the action and the CGI elements and this movie did exceptionally well in both.
By far what differentiates this movie from the Raimi movies tonally and enhances it greatly in my opinion is its music and aesthetic; the late James Horner composed this movie and brings an effectively somber, contemplative tone to it. "The Briefcase" is a prime example of this with its piano motif being heard throughout the film -- first when Peter finds the briefcase -- and essentially being the piece that defines the film tonally. The motif is mainly heard at the start of "Becoming Spider-Man", which is practically the main theme of the movie; the choir piece alongside the triumphant horns in the theme are what make it sound most like a Spider-Man theme and with it being about the halfway point of the movie, it certainly lightens the tone and shows how much more brighter Peter is becoming in terms of his superhero persona. Even with the movie's intial somber tone, this apparent tonal shift never bothered me because a superhero is meant to inspire hope for others even when he himself is hopeless and I think it makes sense given what trauma Peter went through with losing his parents AND Uncle Ben in this version. By far the best piece in this movie that I keep coming back to is "Rooftop Kiss"; it's that iconic Peter and Gwen kiss moment that everyone single or not wishes they could recreate and it starts off with light piano to signify the budding intimacy between the two. Eventually, the music swells at the point where Peter uses his webs to spin Gwen around and into his arms, demonstrating how the romance blossoms full force to a point where they kiss for the first time -- and in a rather relaxed fashion too. The music, acting, and chemistry between the actors were one of many reasons for years I yearned for a girl like Gwen if not a relationship similar to hers and Peter's and while I have yet to fully get there, I find it fun to relive my vicarious living I used to do through characters like Peter Parker. I mentioned before how Coldplay's "'Til Kingdom Come" was used in the scene with Peter skateboarding with his powers and that was, by far, the best use of a vocal theme in the movie. The music I would say enhances the more grounded take on Spider-Man in the sense that the world itself is also much more realistic; it is not Batman Begins levels of dark and brutal, but the fact that Peter goes through a montage to figure out his vigilante look and the technicalities of wearing spandex takes into account both the realism of wearing a Spider-Man costume as well as Peter Parker's brains in putting together the costume. As I said before, the movie feels darker in the sense that all the action scenes take place at night and that's only enhanced by the somber, less popout lighting throughout the movie. While I absolutely adored the Raimi trilogy's "Spider Cam" shots of CG Spider-Man webswinging, this version has charm in the sense that the CG and stuntman(?) Spider-Man have much more weight to their webswinging, a sensation enhanced by the brief shot we see of Peter webswinging in first person view at the shot of the final suit reveal. As someone who has experienced this and every other Spider-Man movie soon after they came out, this was a great way for me to dip my toes back into the world of Spider-Man and become the superfan I am today and, to that I say, this movie may not be perfect, but it is underrated.
With that said, I never genuinely complained about this movie and find it to be an underrated gateway into the Spider-Man mythos. It adds more contextual details and character interactions to the overdone, but iconic origin of Spider-Man, gave us one of the best on and offscreen superhero couples even to this day, gave many actors the opportunity to expand their horizons and even become household names, gave us great action and special effects -- one of the best Stan Lee cameos on top of that -- and is reflective of what were then changing times where darker reboots were prevalent with more somber tones musically and aesthetically. The amount of backlash it used to get for being as different as it was is almost unheard of today as most people watching it for the first time nowadays aren't most likely aren't coming straight off the heels of the Raimi trilogy to watch this -- if you marathon all the Spider-Man movies definitely, but even then, if you know the history, you aren't disappointed there's no Spider-Man 4. I was there when the hate for Andrew's take on the character and especially this movie and its subsequent sequel were prevalent to a point where the first take at a Sony Spider-Man Universe got canceled to some people's relief. Thankfully in today's world, most people have given this movie and its franchise a second chance given that Andrew returning in Spider-Man: No Way Home made way for renewed interest in his version of the character and franchise. I still love this movie for a multitude of reasons and one of them is how it played a part in changing my life to the point of becoming the Spider-Man fan I am now. All that said, I give this movie a solid B and recommend it to Spider-Man fans, fans of Andrew Garfield and/or Emma Stone, people who want to get into the character or franchise, or for those curious about the "darker times" of Spider-Man media and movies.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
With this being the movie that launched my Spider-Man fandom, a thousand channels on YouTube, and further encouraged reboots everywhere, this film is special in a lot of ways as well as having the distinction of being the first Spidey review on this blog that I've done from scratch.
Released in 2012, The Amazing Spider-Man was Sony's back-up plan for Sam Raimi canceling his plans for Spider-Man 4 to be released in 2011 with Sony desperately wanting to maintain the rights to the character. This certainly caused a lot of backlash from the Spider-Man fandom based on the fact that back then it denied us the chance to see Spider-Man swing into the then-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as how many believed it was something of a "Dark Knight ripoff". While the comparison is sound given that this reboot follows in the footsteps of Batman Begins with its darker tone, retelling of the iconic origin, and deeper, more personal themes, it does not copy the same plot elements as Batman (i.e.: fear of spiders) and generally feels darker due to all the action scenes taking place at night. What's more is that whereas eight years passed between Batman & Robin and Batman Begins, which gave fans enough time to anticipate and accept a reboot, only five years passed between Spider-Man 3 and this film, which made the reboot experience with Spider-Man more of a whiplash by comparison. People then were unwilling to accept a new Spider-Man actor/continuity because everyone loved Tobey Maguire and wanted him to get a proper sendoff after his third film failed to live up to expectations. While I did watch Spider-Man 1 as a kid, I never watched 2 and 3 prior to The Amazing Spider-Man so the character rebooting didn't bother me at all; in fact, this was the first theater experience I had with the Web-head back in 2012 when my best friend and I went to see it in 3D. It may not have been the best film experience I ever had, but I give this movie so much credit for allowing me to willingly experience Spider-Man firsthand with the character becoming my biggest inspiration thereafter in terms of him being my favorite superhero, which opened up a new fandom for me to invest in, and encouraged me to adopt everything Spider-Man as a way of life. As someone who absolutely adores the character of Spider-Man as well as Andrew Garfield as an actor, I often hold this movie in high regard for planting a lot of seeds in me. That said, does this movie truly deserve all the backlash and criticism it was initially met with? To find out, let's trace our steps to Oscorp, stumble into the spider lab, and get bitten by the spider that allows us to become the Amazing Spider-Man -- not really, but we all wish.
*SPOILERS* (though it's been years and Spider-Man and his reboots are common knowledge by now)
The movie reboots Spider-Man into a new continuity; in it, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) grows up with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field) after his parents, Richard (Campbell Scott) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz) left him in their care, never to return as Peter got older. While dealing with typical teen issues at high school such as figuring out who he is, Peter befriends Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) after she saves him from bullying from Eugene "Flash" Thompson (Chris Zylka). At home, Peter then unexpectedly uncovers his father's briefcase, which leads him to investigate its contents, discovering his father's former Oscorp colleague, Dr. Curtis Connors (Rhys Ifans). Peter then sneaks in to the most recent Oscorp internship program -- which is unexpectedly led by Gwen -- where he unofficially meets Connors and accidentally bumps into a man that had access to something in his father's work known as the "decay rate algorithm". Peter then follows the man, stumbling into a lab full of spiders spinning their Oscorp biocables and exits in horror, unaware that a lone spider hitched a ride on him before biting him. To the shock of absolutely no fans watching the movie, but to Peter's shock no less, he develops spider powers, which subsequently cause troubles on his subway ride home and morning routine the day after. While dealing with his newfound powers, Peter introduces himself to Dr. Connors as Richard Parker's son, presenting his father's work to Connors after learning how close they were all while knowing that Connors longs to regrow his missing arm. The usual Spider-Man origin antics of Peter humiliating Flash to get even and getting in trouble with Uncle Ben happen while Peter does lab work with Connors to perfect the latter's lizard DNA formula trials, neglecting his responsibilities to pick up Aunt May while Uncle Ben changes shifts at work. This leads to Uncle Ben's "responsibility" speech, which Peter rejects, Peter storming off into the night and encountering a cash register thief (Leif Gantvort), which Peter lets go, allowing the thief to get away and kill Uncle Ben. Riddled with guilt and sadness, Peter goes out into the night to find the killer and progressively adopts a masked vigilante persona, which gets the attention of Gwen's father, Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary), who sends the police after Peter as he becomes known as "Spider-Man". While this happens, Connors rejects Oscorp's offer to jump to human trials with the lizard DNA, testing it on himself instead so as to selfishly regrow his arm; upon Peter revealing his identity to Gwen and becoming romantically involved with her, he rescues people from their cars on a bridge as Connors (now "the Lizard") attacks, retiring his need for revenge against Uncle Ben's killer to help people instead. With Spider-Man a wanted man and the Lizard on the loose, the world of Peter Parker and the city of New York will never be the same.
Given how the origin of Spider-Man is common knowledge largely thanks to the first Raimi movie ten years prior, it's understandable how many complained that this movie retreaded that storyline in a year where The Avengers and Batman were onto their biggest movies yet. So what do I think of it? Well, my plot summary of the first Raimi movie was a lot more straightforward than this one, which is not a bad thing; in fact, I like now how this version went out of the way to add more detail as far as character interaction and realism building towards the major origin moments. Peter's parents were barely mentioned in the old movies so to have their disappearance be the plot hook was refreshing even if we didn't get much of it in the way of "the untold story" that the trailers promised us. On top of that, this movie allows Uncle Ben and Peter a fleshed out father-son relationship that feels genuine to a point where Uncle Ben's death isn't just something that happened for the sake of the origin, but a very emotional moment for Peter and the audience. On top of that, the added detail of Peter being less of a nerdy outcast and more of a hipster skateboarder outcast is something that's either been complained about or overlooked and I'm here to defend it. Peter maintains his signature brains for the sake of the plot, but having him be what was considered in 2012 a more "modern" nerd was a fresh update to an otherwise cliche trope of a dorky dude becoming somebody special in the end. The sequence of him skateboarding to Coldplay's "'Til Kingdom Come" even integrates some "webswing-shadowing" with him swinging off chains to test his agility and makes for a unique take on the originating elements of Spider-Man. The fact that this Peter is allowed to make web shooters as opposed to being granted organic webs is also much more faithful to the comics and displays Peter Parker's brains in a natural fashion -- his ability to create technology of his own is even foreshadowed by him having a homemade electronic lock on his door, something I always found amusing. Lest we not forget my favorite part of Spider-Man: the romance; making Gwen Stacy the love interest from the get-go in this franchise is not only a more accurate portrayal of Peter's first love, it was the lifeblood that carried the only two movies we got in The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. When most people didn't like this movie and its sequel for being disappointing, undercooked, or "too different" from the Raimi movies, everyone's appreciation went toward the romance between Peter and Gwen -- an element which was enhanced by the fact that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were dating in real life by the sequel -- and it got me to love the couple more than any other in Marvel along with Gwen herself. She was certainly no Mary Jane and for the better as she raised the standards of superhero love interests in film.
The actors also did a great job with a lot of their performances; after Tobey, but before Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield was my favorite Spider-Man actor in terms of personality, build, and aesthetic. I admittedly like his Peter Parker better than I used to though his Spider-Man side was where it's at; he quips a ton more than Tobey, making him that much more comic accurate, his sense of humor is spot on, and while in the mask, his body language conveys what all he's feeling. The best example of this is in the car thief scene where he tilts his head in confusion and asks, "Really? You seriously think I'm a cop?" when the thief asks if he's a cop -- the interaction being a possible nod to Batman Begins. Emma Stone became my celebrity crush after this movie for how brilliantly she portrayed Gwen -- the character also become my comic book crush later; she is not only a lookalike to the main Marvel Comics universe Gwen, but she has the brains, the spunk, and authority of a well-written love interest and female character in general. Her chemistry with Andrew, as I said, carried this franchise and while some have found it awkward to watch, it has set my standard for what kind of chemistry I desire in a female companion. As the mentor turned villain, Rhys Ifans is a great choice to be Dr. Connors/the Lizard; his accent makes for a more exotic take on the character and his emotional deliveries regarding his late colleagues as well as his missing arm sell well the sympathetic villain approach that a villain like the Lizard deserves -- you especially feel sorry for the lizard formula affecting his mind later on. Martin Sheen was an excellent Uncle Ben if I do say so myself; compared to previous versions, he was a much more cheeky, lighthearted take on Uncle Ben who loves to have fun and poke around with people. The sternness he exhibits during the responsibility scene, no matter how much they alter the quote, created a very real family intervention feeling as he confronted Peter and even told Aunt May to back off defending him. For that matter, Sally Field, I believe, is an underrated Aunt May; she can be snippy, assertive, and her face often shows genuine concern for Peter the more he goes out and gets beat up while he never tells her he's Spider-Man. A trend mainly started by the Ultimate Spider-Man comics was to make Aunt May younger and as a result, Sally Field looks the part of an Aunt May who's in about her 60s as opposed to her 80s. On a related note, this movie picked well with Denis Leary being a younger-looking Captain Stacy; I rarely, if ever, saw this guy in live action prior to this movie, but his signature humor is there in scenes like the precinct scene where he snarks with Peter about being "the mayor of Tokyo" upon him mentioning that Connors is transforming into something like Godzilla. I would even go as far to say that Chris Zylka is a fine take on "Flash" Thompson in the sense that he is more than simply the big tormentor to the scrawny nerd. He has the stuck up bully demeanor that every big jock take on Flash should have and he even has much more development than the previous version, having a mini-arc of becoming friends with Peter and a fan of Spider-Man over time. Minor actors like Campbell Scott as Richard Parker aren't given much to do in this movie unlike the next one, but the actor's stoicism leaves a lot to the mystery and interpretation of Peter's father that gets saved for the sequel for better or worse.
A Spider-Man movie would be incomplete without great action and special effects and this movie is no exception; Andrew Garfield's action scene outside the suit against the criminal who looks like his uncle's killer and his cohorts appears to be mostly stuntwork done by a stuntman and it has some great adrenaline to it alleviated by the fact that Peter can use his spider powers to escape their grasp. Scenes like this appear to be the main scenes with practical action and this is also a pre-MCU Spider-Man where Spider-Man's suit is actually practical all the time -- in my opinion, it is also one of the best designed live action Spider-Man suits for being so unique compared to the others. Most of the other action scenes are all CGI and for a time like 2012, this movie really elevated how far CG had come since the early 2000s. For example, the Spider-Man vs. Lizard high school fight shots were the two of them fighting in a CG recreation of the school, which was mind-blowing to me because when I watched the movie for the first time, it obviously never occurred to me how it was made. Even then, seeing how the shots were made on YouTube after my friend told me it was all CG actually impressed me because normally films before then would simply stick animated characters in a live action shot so to hear and see how it was done differently was a step above what I had previously known CG to be capable of. The fight itself also made for the longest, most dynamic fight in the movie with Spider-Man against the Lizard; since the bridge encounter was just Spider-Man swing kicking the Lizard before he crawled away and the sewer fight was just a quick struggle under the water, the wait for an even battleground between the two was well worth it. What made this fight unique was how it incorporated both combatant's base creature traits into the action; for example, Spidey is acrobatically dodging Lizard's tail swipes throughout and once Gwen provides a distraction, Spidey crawls around the Lizard to web him up for the sake of restraining him. The Lizard himself is also a great use of CGI with its scales appearing very realistic and the one closeup of his lizard eyes having that accurate reptilian look, which goes to show how Connors had basically lost his humanity at that point. If I had to complain, I would say that the Lizard's face doesn't look as reptilian as it could with the way it maintains Connors' human elements, but I will say it's a nice way to maintain Rhys Ifans' likeness even while he's in lizard form. If there's anything that the Spider-Man movies get right consistently, it's both the action and the CGI elements and this movie did exceptionally well in both.
By far what differentiates this movie from the Raimi movies tonally and enhances it greatly in my opinion is its music and aesthetic; the late James Horner composed this movie and brings an effectively somber, contemplative tone to it. "The Briefcase" is a prime example of this with its piano motif being heard throughout the film -- first when Peter finds the briefcase -- and essentially being the piece that defines the film tonally. The motif is mainly heard at the start of "Becoming Spider-Man", which is practically the main theme of the movie; the choir piece alongside the triumphant horns in the theme are what make it sound most like a Spider-Man theme and with it being about the halfway point of the movie, it certainly lightens the tone and shows how much more brighter Peter is becoming in terms of his superhero persona. Even with the movie's intial somber tone, this apparent tonal shift never bothered me because a superhero is meant to inspire hope for others even when he himself is hopeless and I think it makes sense given what trauma Peter went through with losing his parents AND Uncle Ben in this version. By far the best piece in this movie that I keep coming back to is "Rooftop Kiss"; it's that iconic Peter and Gwen kiss moment that everyone single or not wishes they could recreate and it starts off with light piano to signify the budding intimacy between the two. Eventually, the music swells at the point where Peter uses his webs to spin Gwen around and into his arms, demonstrating how the romance blossoms full force to a point where they kiss for the first time -- and in a rather relaxed fashion too. The music, acting, and chemistry between the actors were one of many reasons for years I yearned for a girl like Gwen if not a relationship similar to hers and Peter's and while I have yet to fully get there, I find it fun to relive my vicarious living I used to do through characters like Peter Parker. I mentioned before how Coldplay's "'Til Kingdom Come" was used in the scene with Peter skateboarding with his powers and that was, by far, the best use of a vocal theme in the movie. The music I would say enhances the more grounded take on Spider-Man in the sense that the world itself is also much more realistic; it is not Batman Begins levels of dark and brutal, but the fact that Peter goes through a montage to figure out his vigilante look and the technicalities of wearing spandex takes into account both the realism of wearing a Spider-Man costume as well as Peter Parker's brains in putting together the costume. As I said before, the movie feels darker in the sense that all the action scenes take place at night and that's only enhanced by the somber, less popout lighting throughout the movie. While I absolutely adored the Raimi trilogy's "Spider Cam" shots of CG Spider-Man webswinging, this version has charm in the sense that the CG and stuntman(?) Spider-Man have much more weight to their webswinging, a sensation enhanced by the brief shot we see of Peter webswinging in first person view at the shot of the final suit reveal. As someone who has experienced this and every other Spider-Man movie soon after they came out, this was a great way for me to dip my toes back into the world of Spider-Man and become the superfan I am today and, to that I say, this movie may not be perfect, but it is underrated.
With that said, I never genuinely complained about this movie and find it to be an underrated gateway into the Spider-Man mythos. It adds more contextual details and character interactions to the overdone, but iconic origin of Spider-Man, gave us one of the best on and offscreen superhero couples even to this day, gave many actors the opportunity to expand their horizons and even become household names, gave us great action and special effects -- one of the best Stan Lee cameos on top of that -- and is reflective of what were then changing times where darker reboots were prevalent with more somber tones musically and aesthetically. The amount of backlash it used to get for being as different as it was is almost unheard of today as most people watching it for the first time nowadays aren't most likely aren't coming straight off the heels of the Raimi trilogy to watch this -- if you marathon all the Spider-Man movies definitely, but even then, if you know the history, you aren't disappointed there's no Spider-Man 4. I was there when the hate for Andrew's take on the character and especially this movie and its subsequent sequel were prevalent to a point where the first take at a Sony Spider-Man Universe got canceled to some people's relief. Thankfully in today's world, most people have given this movie and its franchise a second chance given that Andrew returning in Spider-Man: No Way Home made way for renewed interest in his version of the character and franchise. I still love this movie for a multitude of reasons and one of them is how it played a part in changing my life to the point of becoming the Spider-Man fan I am now. All that said, I give this movie a solid B and recommend it to Spider-Man fans, fans of Andrew Garfield and/or Emma Stone, people who want to get into the character or franchise, or for those curious about the "darker times" of Spider-Man media and movies.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
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