The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

After Sam Raimi's trilogy came to an end, the studio (or more precisely: Sony) quickly decided to do a complete reboot of the 'Spider-Man' series. Why? Well, so they wouldn't lose the rights to the franchise.

It seemed like a silly idea. I mean, most people still had the Raimi Three still firmly embedded in their minds, so why start over yet again? But still, they did and we got this one.

So yes, we get another origin story of Spider-Man, but this time, there are subtle differences. Here, Peter Parker isn't that nerdy outcast he usually is. He's just an average highschool kid, who happens to be incredibly smart. He is picked on a little by Flash Thompson, but still, it's nothing major. Also, when he becomes Spider-Man, he constructs his webshooters instead of them being glands on his wrists. So it's a mix between different iterations of comic book Spider-Man. No Mary-Jane either, it's all about Gwen Stacy. And our villain this time around is Dr. Curt Connors, whom fans might recognize more rapidly as the Lizard.

Well how about that? A villain that hasn't been overused. Colour me surprised.

A shame the same can't be said for the villainous plot. It concerns releasing a gas from a tower and changing people in New York into lizardpeople. This is one of those films that seemd so prevalent around that time with stuff having to happen on top of skyscrapers and such. You'd almost think screenwriters around that time just copied stuff from each other in class.

Maybe they did.

There is a lot to like about this one, though. What Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man absolutely nails, is his cocky attitude. People seem to forget that Spider-Man at first was an arrogant son of a bitch. Joking has always been a staple of the character, but when confronted with these newfound powers, Peter Parker often is a bit of a dick because he becomes overconfident. This is neatly introduced and luckily doesn't get overdone so we would hate the character.

Rhys Ifans is also very good as Curt Connors. He is believable as the scientist who desperately wants to change the world for the better, but who succumbs to madness through a supposed 'cure' that regrows limbs (and his arm), yet he ignores the fact that this serum also makes him prone to violence and irrationality.

The action is done well and some of the shots of Spider-Man traipsing through the New York sky are pretty darn cool.

But there are of course issues with this one. Once Connors turns into the Lizard, the plot becomes very much by the numbers. That is okay for a superhero film, but somewhere, you get the feeling they missed something. I can't really put my finger on it, but for all the world- and characterbuilding they set up, the finale feels a little flat.

What I absolutely loathe, though, is the design of the Lizard. I like the bodyshape, but the face is horrendous. They chose to make it fairly humanoid and it just doesn't fit with the rest. I'm sure that if they gave him a much more reptilian face it would have worked just as well. You know, like a real lizard? And don't tell me it's about lack of expression in a less humanlooking face. It's CG, you can do whatever you want. If you can make velociraptors say "Alan!" with animatronics, you can sure as hell give the Lizard a similar face with CG and make it work.

But I know: that might just be nitpicking.

Often, this one gets a bad rep, but I fear that has more to do with this one being so close to the Raimi-films and maybe Sony had better waited longer before trying again. But all in all, this is an enjoyable one with some flaws.