It’s never an easy job for a director who’s trying to make a movie out of a legendary comic book franchise. It’s harder still when you’re trying to reboot an already successful movie franchise based on this comic book character. So I’d like to give Marc Webb the benefit of the doubt and assume that it was a total misunderstanding of the concept of Spiderman rather than a lack of talent on his part that led to this movie being an utter disappointment (Though another plausible explanation could be that he might’ve been inebriated throughout the shooting and post production of the movie).
To be fair to Webb, one can’t say he didn’t try. He has tried deviating from the original plotline of the Spiderman comics to avoid predictability and monotony in this movie (he even borders on changing some facts that are sacrosanct to the franchise). However, he seems to have absolutely no clue as to the target audience of this movie as well as their intellectual capacity. The story has some gaping plot holes and the character development (especially spidey’s) lacks a lot of the elements that made spiderman one of the most popular underdogs in the marvel universe.
Spiderman was popular with the masses because of his humble background (that people could relate to) and the raging battle between conflicting emotions that constantly raged in his mind (quite akin to Tobey McGuire’s portrayal of a PMSing woman in spiderman’s body). The only emotion that’s been portrayed in this movie is when he tells his girl friend that he likes to kiss her.
There’s not much to complain about the acting, but each character in the story as well as their influence on the leads is so poorly defined that the audience barely has a chance to connect with them. There’s no way of feeling the bond between Peter and his uncle and aunt and absolutely no portrayal of how much of a downtrodden geek Parker happens to be. Also, one of the most crucial characters in the franchise has been completely cut out of the story, much like Peeves the poltergeist was cut out of Harry Potter. [Note to the director – J.Jonah Jameson is far from expendable. Spend less time explaining how the costume was designed and work a little extra on helping your audience understand the characters (also – get a bigger budget so you can afford a Jameson)
The plot of the movie was so weak it would’ve but a Kamal R Khan movie to shame. The same old story of a good guy going bad by accident and going around terrorizing people for the most ridiculous of reasons. Why the villain would painstakingly create a 3D walkthrough explaining his glorious plot to any and all passers by in his secret hideout is well beyond my understanding. I feel that the drunken monkey on Columbia’s payroll that suggested this scene is quite overpaid.
The fight scenes and climax in the movie as well as the pathetic attempts at infusing comedy into these didn’t do much for the cause either. There’s not a single scene in the movie that registers as impressive to the viewer – least of all the one with the cranes. So, if you’re watching this movie just for the 3D experience, don’t! It’s not stereoscopic and is absolutely worthless.
So, to sum things up – here’s what you can expect from ‘The Amazing Spiderman’:
Pros
- Most theatres today are air-conditioned.
- You can try getting to first base during the kissing scenes in the movie.
- Some theatres have tasty, overpriced snacks and comfortable seats.
- Not at all risky for people with heart problems.
- The last scene with a web shooting straight for your head makes you welcome the feeling of impending doom with open arms and is worth 0.01% of the money you spent.
- You help the producers recover the money spent on the movie so that they can continue living their extravagant lifestyles. Good karma keeps your circle positive.
- Still a better love story than Twilight.
Cons
- You can’t un-watch the movie after it’s over
- Emma Stone isn’t half as hot as Kirsten Dunst was in the earlier spider man.
- Your girlfriend might fall in love with Andrew Garfield (consider this a pro if you’re looking to dump her or if she’s currently in love with Edward Cullen).
- Worthless 3D, laughable plot – not appealing to kids or adults (I’m a bit of both), mediocre acting and pathetic overall package.
- The game on the movie (which is friggin awesome) isn’t offered at a discount to those who made the mistake of watching it.
- Your mother’s going to ask you to clean your room after seeing how neat and tidy the sewers in the movie were (I’m not joking – they’ve got freshwater springs in there – talk about attention to detail).
Hope this helps you decide whether you want to catch the movie at the box office, buy the DVD (yeah right!), or illegally download the movie via torrents (Which is very wrong and something I would seriously recommend against. Remember – with great download speeds comes great responsibility!).
Want more refined and structured reviews? - check out the IMDB page of the movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/
