The Amazing
Spider-Man - (July 3rd, 2012): PG-13
Distributor: Columbia
Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Opening Weekend Box Office:
#1with $62,004,688
Domestic Box Office
Gross to-date: $176,172,000
Gross Revenue: $377,772,000
Production Budget:
$230 million
Director: Marc Webb
Following the financial success of
2007’s Spider-Man 3, Sony Pictures secured
a May 2011 release date for the fourth entry in the series, but after the
sub-par critical reaction and audience disappointment concerning “Emo-Spider-Man,”
Raimi announced that he would be unable to maintain artistic integrity under
such a deadline, and so both he and Tobey Maguire decided to call it
quits. And so, with just over five years
between release dates, Sony announced that the entire franchise would be
rebooted and offer a revisited origin story to Marvel’s most popular superhero
with 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man. Director Mark Webb would be given the chance
to tackle his first big-budget blockbuster, while the talented cast that
included such names as Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary,
Martin Sheen, and Sally Field would provide one hell of a support team to help deliver
the “Untold Story” of the A-list superhero.
Promising a far grittier take on the character (in the vein of Chris
Nolan’s Batman series) than had been seen before, promotions guaranteed that
audiences would be treated to an explanation surrounding Peter Parker’s parents
(a subject-area unknown to all but the most devoted of comic book fans); add-in
the partnerships with Target, Twizzlers, and Carl’s Jr., and the hype
surrounding this 4th of July release was going through the roof. As a fan of the wall-crawler, I was pretty
excited for The Amazing Spider-Man,
but once I learned that the visual effects would feature first-person perspective
of the character’s trademarked web-slinging, I knew that I had to see the film
in IMAX 3D, and that fact alone was more than enough to guarantee a significant
dent at the box office.
Telling a rehashed version of a familiar
origin story, The Amazing Spider-Man
introduces audiences to social outcast Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), a brilliant
high school student who has lived with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt
May (Sally Field) since his parents mysteriously departed years ago. Coming across some of his father’s
belongings, Peter discovers that his father once worked with Dr. Curt Conners
(Rhys Ifans), a leading authority in cross-species genetics who works for
OsCorp and is researching a reptilian formula designed for limb regeneration. Sneaking into OsCorp as a potential high
school intern, Peter befriends his classmate and current student intern Gwen
Stacy (Emma Stone), all the while doing what he can to seek out Conners, learn
more about the disappearance of his parents, and share in his father’s
top-secret research. As he wanders away
from the group of interns, Peter is bitten by a genetically-modified spider and
begins displaying arachnid abilities, a talent he revels in until his indifference
to a liquor store robbery leads to the death of Uncle Ben. Vowing to catch and punish the shoplifter,
Peter fashions a costume, mask, and mechanical web-shooters, adopting the
vigilante persona of “Spider-Man” and drawing the unwanted attention of NYPD
Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary).
Though Peter is focused on his new duties and his growing relationship
with Gwen, a new threat emerges when Connors is transformed into a lizard
hybrid and begins terrorizing the city with truly sinister motives.
When it comes to the engaging
embodiment of classic characters, edge-of-your seat action, and stunning
visuals, The Amazing Spider-Man
delivers in spades and serves as a brilliant example of bringing superheroes to
life in a grittier and far more realistic manner than is usually showcased. While I can respect Tobey Macguire’s efforts,
Andrew Garfield proved that HE is the perfect embodiment of Peter Parker/Spider-Man,
delivering the character’s trademark humor and intelligence and playing
perfectly off of Emma Stone, who herself is so pleasantly charming that you instantaneously
love her; together, the two are a perfect couple that I can’t wait to see
return to the screen. And, in terms of
the villain, I absolutely loved the way that Rhys Ifans portrayed The Lizard (a
notoriously difficult choice from Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery); in addition to
the solid special effects surround his transformation, the Jekyll and Hyde
angle surrounding his decent into madness was executed brilliantly. And, in using a far more obvious emphasis on
traditional stunt work than has been seen in theaters recently, the effects
surrounding Spider-Man’s movements and combat are stunning and must be seen in
IMAX 3D…when Parker jumps off a building the camera morphs to first-person, you
will feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Unfortunately, even though the positives of The Amazing Spider-Man are definitely strong,
there are three specific gripes that I cannot easily overlook.
The first complaint I have
concerning the Amazing Spider-Man is
really hard to blame on anyone and is largely something that has to be
expected, but given the rest of film’s quality, weaknesses in story and music
are pretty blatant. Position it any way
you want to, but the fact remains that it has only been five years since Sam
Raimi’s Spider-Man films, and because
their memory is so fresh in everyone’s mind, some of the inherent wonder of
this story is lost; Uncle Ben’s death, Peter’s discovery of his powers…it all
is just too familiar, but perhaps a necessary evil for a reboot. When weighed against the original trilogy, it
is pretty hard to go up against Danny Elfman’s scoring, but the popular music
choice in this entry is nevertheless ill-fitting; there always has to be a
level of energy to Spider-Man, and because of that, hearing Coldplay during
some of the action sequences is just ridiculous. Finally, in terms of the story, every promotion
guaranteed a resolution to the story of Peter’s parents, but in an over two
hour running time, that plot hook is left unresolved and largely shelved until
the inevitable sequel…what a bummer. So,
even though none of these shortcomings are enough to sink The Amazing Spider-Man, they do weaken overall quality in a time
when audiences expect near-perfection from their superheroes (you can thank
Christopher Nolan for that one).
From a box office perspective, 4th
of July Weekend is prime distribution scheduling, but when the holiday falls on
a Wednesday, it can be a little difficult to draw audiences away from potential
travel plans. Still, a $62 million
three-day weekend and a $137 million six-day opening represents a very
respectable success…it may be a little short when compared to the Raimi
franchise, but when you look back at initial reaction to the project, things
could have gone far worse. Add-in the
massive foreign receipts from the overseas markets due to the inherent appeal
of “Spidey”, and Sony has nothing to worry about, even against a $230 million
production budget. At this point, it is
absolutely no wonder that the studio has already confirmed that a sequel will
be released in 2014 and that this reboot represents the first of a trilogy…who
knows, maybe the upcoming Fantastic 4 and Daredevil reboots will find similar
success. If you’re on the fence in any
way, rest assured that The Amazing
Spider-Man is a faithful and entertaining adaptation that you will be sure
to enjoy.
Overall Recommendation: High
