When is it too early to reboot a superhero franchise? I guess it's never too early in the case with Spider-man. With the Sam Raimi-Tobey McGuire adaptation still fresh on my mind I went to see the new version today and was pleasantly enteratined. Sure Marc Webb and team seemed on a mission to copy Nolan's Batman reboot formula, making a much more dramatic and darker version of the famous web slinger but Mr. Webb was still able to capture a hint of that Spidey teen angst that helps make Spider-man such an enduring and unigue character of the genre. Unlike the Batman reboot there's nothing really ground breaking about this one; but, hey, it doesn't really need to be with a character as popular as Spider-man. There's a new back story dealing with Peter's parents and a different girl friend but all in all it's the same story, which might explain the feeling of dejvu I had watching the first hour (causing the tempo to drag some too). What's interesting is how hard it is to think of this film without comparing it to the earlier version. I refuse to pick one over the other. I like them both equally. That said I do think this one lacked some of the joy and trimphant heart that Raimi infused with his version so well. But this one seemed to have more emotional range that I loved. Andrew Garfield is fantastic and Emma Stone as usual rocked my world. Really the entire cast did a splendid job. Already things are in place for a sequel and I'm certainly intrigued. Let us hope this is just the beginning of better storytelling to come. Grade: B+
Spoilers: I have a few requests though for the second one. 1) Please give us more info on Peter's web slingers. I always worried about this part of the story (Raimi's organic version is better in my opinion). How does he get refills? Did he steal the formula from Oscorp and now makes the stuff in his bedroom? Can he ever run out of webbing? Does he have to reload? 2) I know you're going to probably kill Gwen Stacy off but please keep her around as much as possible. 3) We need better fight scenes. These were pretty good but I think a better villian will help with that. Plus Peter should be better doing his thing the more he does it. 4) Get him out of high school quick. 5) Don't give us more than two villains, please. 5) If James Horner's going to do the music again, can he come up with a better theme. Sorry but he blew it. 6) Stop the POV shots as Spider-man swings from skyscraper to skycraper. It doesn't look that great in 3D . 7) Last but not least, make sure that Spider-man is a funny smart-ass not a dick.
No comments:
Post a Comment