So I figure this post requires some disclaimers:
1. I love comic book based movies
2. I didn’t really like the original Spiderman movies — Toby Macguire is a good actor, but he wasn’t the sassy, nimble, totally-not-stone-expressioned Spidey I always envisioned.
With that in mind, understand that this remake was AWESOME for me. The Peter Parker in this version (played by the wonderful Andrew Garfield) is serious and yet sarcastic. His father and mother die when he’s young and he lives with his aunt and uncle. He’s tall and skinny, so I could personally see him as Spiderman a lot easier than Toby. He has sass and is still insecure, and he struggles with school bullies at school. He eventually struggles with responsibility (which has always been a big theme in the Spidey world, and understandably so), and that becomes one of the founding moments that creates Spiderman.
When Peter finds his father’s old briefcase, he pays a visit to his father’s old colleague, Dr. Kurt Connors (the awesome Rhys Ifans). From there, the plot unfolds, and while you won’t necessarily be surprised — it’s a superhero movie after all, they’re fairly straightforward — how this movie goes about it is a little better.
There’s something about this one that’s nice. It’s got some cheesy dialogue (not as much as the first) and some hilarious moments as well, but overall it just feels grittier, more realistic(ish).
The awkward/adorable romance between Parker and Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) is also better; I found it believable for two high school seniors who are also matured by outstanding circumstances — Peter’s loss of his parents and Gwen’s dad being the police chief — as well as intelligence (Gwen’s an intern for Connors at Oscorp, so there’s that, and Peter’s just spiffy).
My one complaint is more of a personal thing. I’m not a big fan of James Horner’s music (well okay, I can be, but it really varies). He did a good job here, but I felt it made the tone of the movie a little more superhero plastic-y and less gritty-realistic. I wasn’t looking for the intense score of the new Batman movies or something, but maybe something a little darker than Horner’s iconic, well, style. It worked in Avatar, not so much here. But you might love James Horner’s stuff and what it does for the tone of the movie, so take this part with a grain of salt.
So okay, I’ll stop raving now before I give away spoilers (I’m proud of myself for not doing that already) or something. Just go see the movie for Fourth of July or something, it’s definitely worth it.
OH. And there’s a hilarious scene involving Stan Lee in this one. He’s in all the Marvel movies, but his appearance in this one was by far my favorite to date. You’ll see why. Also there’s this one scene where Garfield lands on his stomach and it’s supposed be all, “Oh no he’s injured,” but his suit seriously made that shot focus in on his butt. Me and my husband were laughing because we heard someone behind us go, “Well hello, Spidey.” People in movie theaters can be wonderful sometimes.
Have you seen the new Spidey movie? What do you think?
Thanks for the review! Must admit, I was not too interested in seeing this one, but now I think I know what I’m doing this weekend. p.s. – Congrats on publishing Dominant Race!
Yeah, a lot of people seem put off by the idea of a Spiderman remake so soon after the other movies, but this one was better (to me), and I hope it’s worth the money — it’s getting so expensive to go the movies these days.
Also thanks!
I still haven’t decided how I feel about this new one. We may not make it to the theater to see it, but I do love Emma Stone… plus, it’s a comic book movie which means I’m sure we’ll see it as soon as it’s at Redbox.