Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-man.

First of all, I'll say I wasn't looking forward to this one. Did there need to be another Spider-man? The first and second films of the deceased Raimi trilogy were paragons of the genre, the third was absolute shite. Pulling a new continuity out of the ether a few short years after that train wreck would be a mistake in my opinion. But you can't keep a good character down for long, Norton and Ruffalo's Hulks proved that.
   The Amazing Spider-Man was actually a lot more enjoyable that I expected, I found myself thoroughly entertained start to finish. It wisely doesn't waste a huge amount of time with the origin story, as we all know he gets bitten by a radioactive spider already. What is introduced early on, and is of far more interest, is the strange relationship between our man Parker's absent father, and his business partner Curt Conners, who is the chief acting talent in the whole film in the form of delightful Welsh crackpot Rhys Ifans. He steals the show hands down, he's fun to watch, physical, crazy without being insane. Hands down the best performance of the film. I was quickly relieved to see that Rhys's performance isn't lost upon his transformation into the film's super villain either, as plot devices allow him to change back and forth from his human to his monstrous form. Trust me, that isn't as bad as it sounds. The Lizard's face is also modeled on Rhys' own, and indeed the monster talks, with Rhys' serpentine British whisper fitting oh so well.

To give credit where it is due however, our man Parker is also played with more depth and realism than we've ever seen before. Gone is Tobey Maguire's lackluster awkward college kid, replaced by the energetic Andrew Garfield's performance. He's conflicted, he's a jerk to his aunt and uncle, he's horny, he's a true to life teenager. Scenes from the film will resonate with almost any twenty something who survived high school in the last decade. Even Flash, the school bully, is played realistically here, he's not a bad kid, he's just an asshole sometimes. The scenes where Parker is first discovering his new strength were fun and played off better than we've seen before. There was a rhythm to his evolution into Spider-man that, although rushed as usual, was more organic to watch. It was satisfying to watch him better the school bully in a simple, sarcastic show off way. It's what we'd all have done in the same situation. Another thing I loved about this incarnation of the hero, is the obvious attention to making him act like a spider. He moves in ways we've never seen the character move before, crawling around his enemies binding them in web, even building himself a whole web to rest in at one point that felt a fantastic show of his new urges as his body changes. One of my personal favorite plot-lines from the old Spider-man cartoon was Parker's continued evolution, becoming less man and more Spider, and It was great to see his strange new compulsions on screen.

For a superhero plot-line, character development was first priority, and I will always appreciate that. That's where the third film in the previous series fell apart. No characterization, just forced plot and split second out-of-character actions with little to no motivation behind them. Here we have an excellent hero/villain dynamic from the start, there is no pissing about, Spider-Man and The Lizard know one another and the secrets of each identity from early on. This brings a sort of respected rivalry more than an opposition that is far more interesting than the usual fare. It was fun to watch the confrontations between them every time. Even the character of Uncle Ben was handled with a far better touch, we all know he's fated from the start, and it was good to see him played by an excellent actor, Martin Sheen, and for him to be a guy with a genuine personality as opposed to the practically flawless angel of a man he's usually depicted as. The emphasis on character doesn't slow the story however, and it moves along at a solid kinetic pace to it's conclusion. Nothing is hugely predictable in the storyline, with the exception of the classic macguffin finale plot device that could have been more subtle, "Oh this old thing? Just a device for spreading vaccinations on a city wide scale in one go...."

Superhero cliches aside, it's the best of the genre in a while. More heart than The Avengers, and perhaps a promising re-invigoration to the character beloved of so many. Sadly, one is never enough for these vultures. Lets hope they don't fuck it up again already.