Five years seems a bit soon to reboot any film franchise; the last films are still fresh – at least in my mind – and viewers might be un-enthused at the prospect of watching the new rendition of films they first watched only several years ago. However, for Spider-Man fans still recovering from Sam Raimi’s Spider-man 3 headache, this reboot may be the perfect remedy. The Amazing Spider-Man, which is scheduled to be released on July 3, 2012, will be directed by Mark Webb.
Like Raimi’s Spider-man, this reboot will also be an origin story and will focus on how Peter Parker got his spider powers in high school. In fact, from what I could glean from the new trailer, The Amazing Spider-Man seems less like a reboot and more like a redo. It seems as if filmmakers will attempt to completely erase viewers’ memories of Raimi’s Spider-man series, which was entertaining, but often hokey and cheesy with melodramatic moments wedged in.
However, the key difference, and perhaps the key to the reboot’s success is the tone. It’s clear from the trailer that The Amazing Spider-Man will be much darker, grittier and more serious than Raimi’s whimsical, summer blockbuster series. The story will tend more to Parker’s parental situation than has been done previously, touching upon the fact that he is indeed an orphan. Perhaps the tonal change might make it a bit less popular among children, but more so among older viewers and critics.
Andrew Garfield, who was put on the map after garnering acclaim for his supporting role in The Social Network, will play our possibly less friendly and more brooding neighborhood spider-man, while Rhys Ifans, who recently portrayed Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, will play the villain Dr. Curt Connors who is also known as The Lizard.
Emma Stone will play Gwen Stacy, a classmate and love interest of Parker, as oddly enough, Mary Jane Watson will be absent from the film. However, after watching three films with the uncomfortably unconvincing romance between Toby Maguire’s Peter and Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane, it’s refreshing to not only see a new love interest, but two characters with chemistry.
It’s unclear at this point in time whether or not The Amazing Spider-Man has the chops to succeed, but the trailer revealed something promising – as well as something reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s recent work. Either way, at least it’s safe to say that it will be better than the monstrosity that would have been Raimi’s Spider-man 4.