Spiderman, commercially known now as
'The Amazing Spiderman' has finally been rehashed after only 9 years.
It seems to be the season for remakes and re-imaginings. In 2003 Sam
Raimi directed a trilogy of films, loosely, based on the comic hero
Spiderman. Now, in no way am I slating the original films, I just
think they were kinda boring. Sure the first film was aright, it was
cheesy but it was good family fun, the acting was good and the plot
was solid but it lacked the gutsy, edgyness of a really god hero
movie. The second film was so generic I genuinely cannot remember it.
The third instalment however was unbelievably strange to watch, note
Tobey Maguires strange pelvic thrust dance. Needless to say they are
films I do not seek out to watch.
So when I set out to my nearest
Cineworld with a friend I wasn't expecting much, but ended up being
pleasantly surprised by the film. The plot is quite different from
the original in quite a few ways; first of all, and most notable to
me, there is no Mary-Jane, we now have Gwen Stacey played by the
lovely Emma Stone, MJ being too weak a woman for this more modern
take. Secondly it's way more sciencey. It plays very nicely on the
current 'geek is sexy' trend, a trend I have no quarrels with.
Thirdly, Spiderman is still created by the bite of a spider, but not
a 'radioactive' spider instead it's a genetically altered one, this
fits in better with our current affairs in society. See, Super heroes
and the way they acquire their powers are always linked to the state
of the world affairs at the time of creation. Spiderman is
radioactivity, the X-men were mutants, Superman was an 'Alien', Hulk
was gamma radiation and the Fantastic Four acquired their powers
during an accident in space, give it a think over when you have time,
it's quite easy to see how current events match with who is created
when.
The main villain is no longer the Green
Goblin but rather a disabled science professor who can mess with your
genes. No really, telling the truth. Oh, he can also turn into a
moderately evil giant green lizard man, didn't I mention that before?
Ah, I suppose that makes him sound a lot more scary. What this
professor is trying to do basically is cure his disability, he lost
his right arm from just above the elbow and is trying to use genetic
information from lizards that can jettison and regrow their tails
almost at will. This inevitably leads to failure and causes him to
turn into a strange lizard/human thing that goes terrorising the city
and it's occupants. Spiderman has to step in because obviously the
police force can't find or stop a giant lizard man. The Captain of
the Police force is Gwen Staceys father, which makes it a little
awkward when Peter Parker/Spiderman, played by Andrew Garfield, falls
in love with her.
I really enjoyed this film, the acting
was great, the relationship between Peter and Gwen is sweet and
believable without being overly soppy and lovey, the science aspect
of the plot made the film seem so much more realistic than the
magical radioactive spider bite that grants Parker super strength and
a God complex. The ending itself was pretty awesome, it was very
predictable, down to a T, but it was still a good laugh and a good
day out and I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes a good
superhero/family/action film. Good for kids, teens and adults alike.
