Marc Webb, director of the excellent ‘realistic’ rom-com (500) Days Of Summer seemed like a very strange choice to direct this reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. Indeed, after seeing the film I’m wondering if he was hired solely because of his surname. Not that there’s anything wrong with his direction – he’s just not suited to this kind of film, at least not based on this outing.
That might seem unfair, but I think it’s true. As already stated, I thought (500) Days was very good. The characters were well-detailed and felt very real, for lack of a better word. The Amazing Spider-Man shares this strength. The writers and Webb are able to build on outstanding performances from Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker) and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacey), to create more fully-formed characters than Sam Raimi was able to deliver in three whole films. The awkward romancing that takes place between the two is better than entire films devoted to awkward romancing. Peter Parker is an inherently likable character, and Garfield is an excellent fit. He’s suitably nerdy, socially inept, brainy, and when he pulls on the suit, plays the wisecracking, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man from the comics brilliantly. The debate over which female is Peter’s true love (Gwen Stacey, as present here, or Mary Jane from Raimi’s films) may rage on, but Stone gives an equally good performance, even standing up to Garfield in terms of awkwardness at times, but still bringing a lot of charm to the character. These central two performances are excellent, and the support cast all deliver too, especially the (sadly under-used) Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors. Dr. Connors/The Lizard is comfortably one of the most interesting Spider-Man villians – an emotional wreck so consumed by his desire to do good he effectively destroys himself. With an actor as good as Ifans, Dr. Connors could have been the best superhero villian this side of Dr Octopus, but he is reduced to living in the sewers and talking into a camera. A shame, but Webb rightly focuses his film on Peter’s developing relationship with Gwen and coming to terms with his powers.
So, while Webb, as expected, delivers firmly on the character side, it’s in the action side his lack of experience in this kind of filmmaking shows. The fight scenes are borderline unwatchable. Modern action films tend to use a million fast cuts during their fights, to create a sense of excitement, danger, etc. Watching fight scenes in The Amazing Spider-Man is like watching a series of stills, the cuts are so fast. One second Spidey is halfway up a wall – the next he’s on the roof. I have no idea how he got there. Raimi’s films reveled in the action, showing every web shot, every punch. The best action scene in Webb’s film doesn’t even involve fighting, just rescuing a boy from a burning car. Even the web slinging scenes are too shaky and all over the place.
The constant sequel nods in The Amazing Spider-Man are irksome too. Webb spins (pun no.1) out plot threads and doesn’t even attempt to resolve half of them. I understand the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a lock-on, but Raimi produced a whole trilogy of self-contained, well-resolved films. The advertising makes a big deal out of this film being about Peter trying to find out what happens to his parents – it’s not. We see them at the start, and they’re a plot device to introduce Dr. Connors. After that, they aren’t mentioned again until a post-credits sequence (make sure you stay to see this – interesting possibilities for sequels). The hunt for Uncle Ben’s killer (and his advice, which is given in a very long-winded, far less catchy than ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ form here) drives Spidey in Raimi’s films, but in this it is introduced and then drops off. It’s not just plot threads either – whole characters evaporate from the script (see – Dr. Connors’ shady boss, who vanishes halfway through).
This review contains a lot of bad points, I know. But The Amazing Spider-Man is a long way from being a bad film. It’s funnier than its predecessors, both in Peter’s developing powers (smashing alarm clocks) and Spidey’s nonchalant bad-guy beating (‘No! My weakness is small knives!’). Not to mention a spectacular cameo from Stan Lee. So while The Amazing Spider-Man excels in the human element, the superhuman element is sadly lacking.