With the 2002 release of Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as ‘Spidey‘ and his love interest, I felt that Sam Raimi had done justice to Stan “The Man” Lee’s comic creation. Two more films quickly followed and a fourth was rumoured to be in the works.
Then, nothing.
The scuttlebutt was that differences of opinion between Maguire and Raimi was causing delays. It ended apparently with both sides leaving the ‘table’ and shelving Spider-Man 4 indefinitely.
Enter director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) with just the one feature film under his belt who was now going to helm the “new” Spider-man film.
With Toby Maguire admittedly being a bit long in the tooth to reprise Spidey at this late date, a search for a younger actor was launched.
Enter English actor Andrew Garfield, former gymnast and Spider-man fan. Good looking enough to set the ladies heart racing and athletic enough to do a lot of his own stunts.
With a new Spider-man, a new love interest was required. Kirsten Dunst was, like Toby, a bit old for the new, younger Spidey so they replaced her with the drool inducing Emma Stone. *Not as Mary Jane, but Peter Parker‘s first love in the Comic Verse, Gwen Stacy.*
The story line has been changed to allow a different take on the perils of Peter Parker. Deciding to focus on the ‘lack’ of Peter’s parents, it follows his journey to discover what his father did and who he was.
In a move that completely baffles me, actress Sally Field has been cast as Aunt May. Presumably because Cliff Robertson is no longer available, forever, they felt that a ‘name’ actor was required. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Sally Field, but I am having a hard time picturing The Flying Nun as Peter’s auntie. It also does not help that she doesn’t have the white librarian hair bun that May always sported in the comic.
They’ve also come up with a new villain. The Lizard aka Dr. Curt Connors, who, I am pretty sure, does not exist in the comic book world of Stan Lee. But hey! Why not ‘make up’ a villain? You’ve already made up a dubious plot line for Spidey and friends.
**I have to stand corrected on the Lizard villain, he does indeed exist in the Spider-man verse, I just forgot him, quite understandable considering he was introduced in 1963 when I was five. I was not yet a Spider-man fan. Just goes to show there is a reason to do ALL your research.**
Stan Lee (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
I know that a little detail like a non-existent search for Peter’s parents demise will not stop most of the targeted audience from attending in droves. It will be in the ‘new’ 3D, it will feature the ever beautiful Emma Stone and it will feature lots of web slinging, swinging, and splatting.
It looks to be witty (at least in the trailers it does) and very action packed. A perfect Blockbuster for the summer holidays. It opens here in the UK on the 3rd of July. I doubt I will be queuing up to see it.
I am slightly allergic to the demographic that will be in attendance and I really rather liked the ‘old’ Spider-Man. So I’ll most likely wait for the DVD. My Spidey-Sense is tingling and it’s telling me that, chances are, this might not be that great a film.
I’ve heard the story is done well. Too interested to wait. Will let you know how goes it.
Cool! I really would like to see it sooner rather than later, but, I still think it one for the old DVD. Can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
Saw The Amazing Spider-Man last night. MikesFilmTalk, I absolutely LOVED it! I’d heard the comparison before and would have used it myself: this version has the hefty, deep character/story power of the Nolan brothers’ Batman series. If you don’t care for that series, then ignore what I have to say. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and very much look forward to the next. I have to say the Tobey Spidey series was OK to me. Entertaining, but more flash and caricature than what Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man is. It helps that Garfield is adorable and extremely talented and that Emma Stone is equally so. This one begins with solid, great writing. It’s funny, too. What I loved most about it is that it got the teenagers right. While Tobey’s teen line was mainstream, popular, in-crowd teens, Andrew’s is the real, identifiable teen. Not explaining this well, but let me know what you think when you do see it. If I could buy your ticket, I would. I would not have seen this Spider-Man had it not been Garfield/Stone combo. Have to say, they sold me and did not disappoint.
Wow! Sounds like it really floated your boat. I’ll definitely have to give it a glance or two. My cinema bookings are a bit full so it will have to be a ‘DVD-er’ thanks for passing that on!
Nice review Mike. This movie definitely had plenty of fun and exciting moments and characters that we could feel something for. For some reason though, I just kept on thinking about the Sam Raimi original movies and yes, I know they aren’t masterpieces by any means, but I still loved them and it just seemed like this whole film was unnecessary, but fun.
I kind of felt like the studios were dancing on Raimi’s grave so to speak. I have to admit to being a bit of a Raimi fan-boy, I just love his films, whether they are the ‘old’ Spiderman films or his other films. It’s a shame when they start remaking a film before the dust has properly settled. Oh and thanks for the kind words!