THINK TWICE: Does The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Deserve To Be Given A Chance? Part I

It was January, 2010, when Sony Pictures ultimately announced the end of Sam Raimi’s reign and the beginning of new series, new vision and new arc. One and half year later, we have: 

• Marc Webb, the director of critically acclaimed (500) Days of Summer, to helm the franchise about one of the most iconic superheroes in the world
• Andrew Garfield, the winner of BAFTA and nominee for the Golden Globe, as a new incarnation of Peter Parker/Spider-Man
• Emma Stone, a new face of teenagers’ choice, as Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man’s first love in comics
• Martin Sheen, a first-class actor, whose name is associated with such movies as Wall Street and JFK, as Uncle Ben, the classic figure that once said “With great power comes great responsibility”
• Rhys Ifans, the man whose appearance simply instills all characteristics of a bad guy, as a troubled scientist Curt Connors, who is finally confirmed to become the Lizard in the movie
• James Vanderbilt, the writer behind David Fincher’s Zodiac, and Steve Kloves, who penned Wonder Boys and Harry Potter’s film series, as screenwriters of the new film about Spider-Man

It may seem like Sony prepared a whole battalion of creative minds and talents to not just return one of its main franchises back to the big screen, but make it with a completely new approach. Nevertheless, it’s obvious that, with the span of five years and total gross of almost $2.5 billion, Sam Raimi and his Spider-Man trilogy became a part of pop culture and even succeeded to establish its own fan base around the world.

On the contrary, there are still many other Spider-Man fans that were almost humiliated by Raimi’s films and blamed his interpretation in betraying the character of Spider-Man and misleading audience in believing who the superhero is. It was not until disappointing Spider-Man 3 and endless talks about the fourth installment digging a hole for continuous “development hell”, when Sony decided to make a risky decision to re-start the franchise with a new director and new cast, which saddened some fans and pleased others.

Now, with The Amazing Spider-Man planned for the release in July, 2012, the general opinion about the upcoming movie hasn’t formed yet, but already demonstrates its ups and downs. After the first teaser-trailer of The Amazing Spider-Man, the reaction from audience was rather mixed and left skeptical about the idea of the new movie. Some of the dominating concerns among viewers are stated to be: dark tone, Twilight’s influence, Nolanesque style, highly contrasting.

The fact that the film is going to show the origin of Peter Parker and how he becomes Spider-Man only added fuel to the fire of people’s perplexity and confusion as to what expect from the film’s the story of which was already told a decade ago. Furthermore, the last scene in the teaser, for the first time, depicted what it’s like to be Spider-Man by showing the swinging scene from the superhero’s POV. It drew a lot of controversy and love/hate feel, as well as comparison with the visuals from a video game Mirror’s Edge. 

On the contrary, those that were lucky to attend the recent Comic-Con, held in Sand Diego, CA, right after the release of the teaser, positively responded to the panel for the new movie about Spider-Man. Not only Andrew Garfield’s emotional speech succeeded to arouse enthusiasm from the audience, but the nine-minute footage became the main reason for many to reconsider their opinion of what the movie will be like.

Numerous web resources, from sites about comics and movies to personal blogs, from Youtube to Twitter, were filled by comments from Comic-Con, most of which referred to The Amazing Spider-Man as a completely different, yet faithful, take on the character. The footage’s content included such scenes as: Uncle Ben chastising Peter for humiliating one of his classmates, Peter awkwardly asking Gwen for a date, the process of making web-shooters, Peter fighting in a subway, Spider-Man making fun of a thug, police after Spider-Man, and, finally, the revelation of the Lizard at school.

In conclusion, the audience at the Comic-Con panel was gratified by Marc Webb’s endowment of his Spider-Man with wisecracks, humor, imperfection and practical stunts, whereas Peter, aside from resembling a modern type of nerd, is an outcast, struggling against society that is not willing to accept him. Aside from praising the coming advent of the Spider-Man they have always been looking forward to seeing on big screen, viewers especially noted the film’s tone and soundtrack, which achieve to bring warmth to the film and distinguish each scene from another, yet smartly building a big picture out of the prevailing theme that connects all storylines by its concept of, as Webb stated in one interview, “a kid who grows up looking for his father and finds himself”.

Whether The Amazing Spider-Man will triumph as a beginning of new incarnation, like Batman Begins, or end up as a fiasco, similar to The Incredible Hulk, will remain a question for the next eleven months. Regardless, the more accurate subject of uncertainty to ask now would be, if the movie deserves to be given a chance or not?