Directed by Marc Webb, who previously helmed the romantic dramedy “(500) Days of Summer,” and written by James Vanderbilt (who also worked on “The Losers”), Alvin Sargent (who worked on Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy), and Steve Kloves (who worked on all eight films in the “Harry Potter” franchise), “The Amazing Spider-Man” is, of course, somewhat familiar to all of us. If you’re even remotely aware of Spider-Man as a superhero, you know his mantra of “with great power comes great responsibility,” you know about the traumatic death of his Uncle Ben, and you know about his struggle to do the right thing for citizens who sometimes view him as a nuisance. Webb, Vanderbilt, Sargent, and Kloves keep all those integral elements in here, but where “The Amazing Spider-Man” excels is the humanity of it all. And for that, you can thank lead actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.
Garfield, as the new Peter Parker, is a wonderful thing, from his physicality—tall, lean, a little awkward and gangly—to his emotionally engaging performance. He’s believable as an outsider misfit, as a teen boy falling in love, and as a young man rising to defend his family and his city when they need him the most, and he doesn’t have to scream or overact to prove it. Garfield has shown similar depth in “The Social Network,” “Never Let Me Go,” and “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” but here he really sparkles when paired with Stone. As the brainy Gwen Stacy, Parker’s original love interest—before Mary Jane Watson came along—Stone is refreshing and realistic, the same kind of absurdly likeable qualities she’s brought to “Crazy, Stupid, Love.,” “Easy A,” and “Zombieland.”
It helps, naturally, that Garfield and Stone fell in love while filming the movie (they’re still dating, yay!), so the chemistry you seen onscreen is the real thing, people. Apparently that kind of devastating cuteness can’t be faked.
“The Amazing Spider-Man” starts at the beginning, so for those new to the superhero (if such people still exist), the story is pretty clearly laid out. After the death of Peter’s parents, he lives with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen), his father’s brother, and his Aunt May (Sally Field). Interested in photography and science (and, newly, skateboarding), Peter (Garfield) is good at grades but bad at everything else, like defending himself from bullies and properly interacting with his mega-crush Gwen (Stone). He feels like he’s treading water until he finds some of his father’s old research and becomes drawn into his unfinished work for Oscorp Industries, specifically his “decay rate algorithm.”
Uncle Ben and Aunt May complain about how Peter’s father’s scientist partner, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans, of “The Five-Year Engagement,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” and “Nanny McPhee Returns”), never came to express his condolences for his parents’ deaths, but Connors is a big-shot now, working on cross-species genetics. Having lost his right arm, Connors is convinced animal genes are the answer to growing it back—and Peter’s decay rate algorithm may be just the trick.
But just when Peter visits Oscorp and realizes, after running into shady character Rajit Ratha (Irrfan Khan), that things may not be all hunky-dory, he develops his superpowers and a flirtation with Gwen, both of which snowball rapidly. The rest of the story, including the tragedy involving Uncle Ben, the negativity of Gwen’s overprotective and anti-Spider-Man father Capt. Stacy (Denis Leary), and Connors’ transformation into a villain, take up the next hour and a half or so.
So much of this story would be frustratingly, overwhelmingly boring and repetitive if Webb didn’t do such a good job making sure most of the film’s elements work against type. As Connors, Ifans is a focused, calm villain, never going too bombastic in his portrayal of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-like Lizard. When he finally goes for broke and spits, “Poor Peter Parker,” the kid in me who used to watch the Saturday morning “Spider-Man” cartoon leapt for joy. Khan and Leary, normally fatherly and overbearing in their roles, respectively, switch personalities to great success.
And what else is there to be said for Garfield and Stone? Although Peter sometimes gets mired in his own excessive wisecracks, Garfield appropriately demonstrates how the character grows over time. He’s hilarious during the necessary physical comedy—like when Peter smashes up a subway train and his bathroom and eats everything in his kitchen, including the uncooked frozen food, unaware of the full details of his increased strength—and gut-wrenching during a fight with Uncle Ben that we know will change both of their lives. But Stone holds her own: As Gwen, she’ll give female fans someone to root for, a smart girl who doesn’t always need Spider-Man to save her. Ultimately they’re more than just tragic teenage lovers, but when the script calls for them to be all youthful and giggly and romantic, they’re good at that, too.
The frustrating parts of “The Amazing Spider-Man” have nothing to do with the performances, really, but with pacing and length: The film feels overly long at 136 minutes, and the beginning—with all the science and stuff—somewhat drags. There’s a plot-hole involving Rajit Ratha that remains annoyingly unresolved, and while a very patriotic scene near the end of the film makes sense because of its Fourth of July release date, it’s still a bit jarring (not nearly as natural as the similarly themed conclusion of “Battleship”).
But the performances are impressive, the action is thrilling (especially because of the clear influence of parkour, and a few first-person point-of-view sequences that work especially well in 3-D), and “The Amazing Spider-Man” is ultimately its own film with its own vision and message. As far as reboots go, “The Amazing Spider-Man” couldn’t have been much better.
