What with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 scheduled to hit theaters so soon, I thought it would be fitting to revisit its predecessor, if only to emphasize to those who haven’t seen it that they truly must. Vastly better than all three film’s in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, it brings a fresh new perspective to the franchise that includes a great deal of heart.
Directed by Marc Webb, the film stars Andrew Garfield as “Peter Parker,” a high-school loner who was abandoned by his parents and left to live with his uncle and aunt (Martin Sheen and Sally Field). When he discovers an old briefcase of his father’s, he embarks on a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – a quest that leads him straight to the laboratory of Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father’s former partner, who happens to have a scaly, villanous alter-ego.
Those of you who know Marc Webb as the director of (500) Days of Summer will be unsurprised by the fact that this film, though not at all devoid of combat, focuses much more on relationships than action sequences. In fact, some of the movie’s best scenes are between Peter and “Gwen Stacy” (Emma Stone), for they deal with teenage romance with a great deal of nuance, maturity, and delightful humor. This is not to say that the action is subpar – on the contrary, in fact, it is quite adequate. It’s just that it isn’t front-and-center, and personally, I see no trouble with that at all, thanks to Webb’s skill as a storyteller.
Attention must also be paid to the skills of the actors. Garfield is always a winning presence, and he performs admirably here, balancing Peter’s gangly awkwardness with his newfound strength. Stone shines, too, bringing her customary quirky charm to her role and making Gwen more than a standard love interest. The rest of the cast, particularly Sheen and Field, all bring new depth to their established characters.
If you somehow missed The Amazing Spider-Man – or avoided it out of allegiance to the original trilogy – I encourage you to seek it out posthaste. More than a mere action movie, it’s a wonderful update of a classic superhero story that adds new life to old characters. I’m looking forward to the sequel.
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