The Amazing Spider Man

Hey! Doesn’t this seem familiar? Who cares, it was great anyway!

Directed By: Marc Webb

“My professor told me there were ten different types of plots in fiction, but I’m telling you there is only one. Who am I?” This is a quote from “The Really Amazing Spider Man”. But how could a ‘superhero flick’ be “really amazing”? This film has been criticised by numerous reviewers for the simple fact that it exists. Apparently, it was ‘too early’ for a reboot. This is an extremely similar take on the same origin story of Rami’s 2001 production. But who cares if it’s a good film. Is that not enough of a reason for it to exist?

It is a film of many conflicts and human emotions. This is one aspect of Spider Man’s appeal - he is powerful yet haunted by mundane matters. It is these types of conflict that make this movie so powerful and entertaining. Marc Webb focuses his attention on characters more than on mindless action scenes; this is not to say, that the action scenes are not visually stunning and comprehensible - this is what the first film of Raimi’s series lacked.

For a film to be character driven and great, one thing must be outstanding - the acting. Andrew Garfield plays the socially out-casted Peter Parker with vulnerability. Peter’s parents abandoned him at a young age leaving him to be raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He has always had a void in his life that could never be filled. Perhaps it is this void that leads him to be socially out-casted and lonely until he is befriended by Gwen Stacey who is drawn to his bravery and to his inner struggles. The film explains a similar origin story to the original film, but it does it using a more interconnected approach. All the characters in the film are related to each other in some way. To explain it is to give away much of the fun and intricacies of this well thought out film.

Marc Webb breaks the status quo of Hollywood movies and strives for something greater. He builds his film around relationships that all shape this super powerful and super flawed human being. By doing this he turns an imaginary super hero into a human being that is relatable to you and me.

Josh Cabrita