The Amazing Spider-Man
When I pitched this article to my editor, he quickly wrote back: “Bet it gets tough around The Amazing Spider-Man“. Now, I am a defender of this film and its tight story acts like a nice sorbet cleaning my palette after Spider-Man 3‘s bloat.
Admittedly, it is generic. Martin Sheen is great, and he makes up for the decision to kill him off, again. Retelling the origin feels necessary considering Andrew Garfield’s Peter is hung up on dead dads. The whole storyline about his missing parents is boring. In fact, the whole plot is boring. Luckily, Marc Webb knows this, and he smartly foregrounds the smaller character scenes. Emma Stone and Garfield have amazing chemistry and are both great in their respective roles. It may not be anything special, but The Amazing Spider-Man does lay some good foundations for an interesting take on the web-slinger.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
It might be because I’m tired, but The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn’t as bad as I remember. In fact, as my former housemate reminded me on Twitter, I was a big fan when it was released in 2014. A couple of rewatches highlighted the flaws and I put it on the shelf marked “Never watch again”. Yet, viewing it now, I can see why I initially liked it. I am a sucker for performance and chemistry, and the all-star ensemble brings it. The scenes of Stone and Garfield talking are gripping in a nice rom-com way and Sally Field delivers a devastating monologue even if she hated these movies.
So it’s a shame the film keeps jeopardising itself by cutting from a sweet character moment to Spider-Man dressed as a firefighter or whatever Marton Csokas is doing. The film is constantly being pulled by its superhero spectacle responsibilities from the thing it wants to be, which is a moving relationship drama. Even though this is the film that finally aces Spider-Man’s swinging, that spectacle is pretty boring, and it gets worse with every bit of information doled out about Peter’s parents. The changes that storyline makes to Spider-Man’s mythology take away what makes the character special and show this angle was ill-advised.
In the end, The Amazing Spider-Man series has a lot of nice moments and its characters have their own individual aims. I like the fact Aunt May has a subplot about her training to be a nurse. And, I think we should always praise Garfield’s Spider-Man. The scene where he tries talking Electro down shows he was a Spider-Man with humanity who’d save anyone.
Well, that’s the end of the binge, but I promised some stuff on Homecoming so here it is:
Spider-Man: Homecoming
I’m not going to lie, I have conflicted emotions concerning Spider-Man: Homecoming. The movie is really enjoyable, but it feels like two films bashed together: an excellent teen movie and a perfunctory superhero one. The film didn’t feel brave enough to blend the genres together (when it does, its one of the best superhero films) and as a result, it underuses its incredible cast. Just because your movie stars teenagers doesn’t make it a teen movie. Homecoming is a superhero movie with a teenager when it should be a teen movie with a superhero.
What are your thoughts on the Spider-Man series and Spider-Man: Homecoming? Let us know in the comments below…
Henry Bevan
Originally published July 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
