After the mixed reactions of Spider-Man 3, Sony Pictures decided it was time to reboot the series by retelling the origins of Spider-Man, a new cast with Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge) as the titular character, Academy Award winner Emma Stone (La La Land, Zombieland, The Help) as Gwen Stacy, a realistic tone inspired by Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, and an attempt to start their own Marvel Ciematic Universe (MCU for short) with only Spider-Man characters due to the fact they own the film rights to the character prior to an agreement with Disney and Marvel Studios to allow the character to be in the MCU.
Now that Spider-Man: Homecoming is out, here’s an article to look back at the first reboot of the beloved American icon.
By the way this review doesn’t contain any SPOILERS. Feel free to read it.
Spectacular & Negative Aspects
Spectacular: Besides the classic origin story, we get to learn more about Peter’s childhood, such as his parents.
The Main Cast including Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifrans, did an awesome job on their performances.
Fun Fact: Emma Stone, who plays Gwen Stacy, worked with her co-star Bryce Dallas Howard in The Help, (she is also Ron Howard’s daughter) who also played the role of Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3. I sense Doc Brown’s paradox!
The Supporting Cast consisting of Denis Leary, Sally Field, Martin Sheen also did a good job on their performances.
Not really a Spoiler if you’ve seen Spider-Man’s origin too many times, Uncle Ben’s death is different from the other film. I guess they didn’t want to do a shot-for-shot-remake with Peter chasing his uncle’s killer.
The Chemistry between Peter and Gwen was one of the main highlights.
Unlike Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy which was based on elements from the Mainstream Universe and the 90’s cartoon, the reboot is based on the Ultimate Spider-Man comics focusing on a Peter’s high school years as a crime fighter.
Action Scenes were organic with a battle involving Spider-Man & Lizard.
Special Effects looked gorgeous. A much better improvement than the effects from the 2002 version of Spider-Man.
A Bathroom Scene with Peter having a tiny problem with his powers, reminded me of a scene from X-Men Origins Wolverine. At least they didn’t have any fake looking C.G.I. like Wolverine’s claws.
Peter’s web-shooters are finally added to the movies. Unlike Tobey Maguire’s Spidey who acquires organic webs in his body, this marks the first time the web-shooters are depicted in a Spider-Man film.
One Scene pays tribute to one of Star-Lord’s favorite movies, Footloose. Minus the dancing.
Like almost every Marvel based film, Stan Lee has a cameo.
If you’re a big time major cinephile, Peter has a poster of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. No wonder Spider-Man has a good taste in cinema.
A Mid-Credits scene is in this film, don’t miss it!
At the very end of the credits, the film is dedicated to the memory of Laura Ziskin, who produced this film, also produced Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. It was nice of Sony and the producers saying goodbye to one of their trusted colleagues.
Negative: Uncle Ben never said his infamous words of wisdom to Peter, “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.” It’s like Green Lantern nor saying the “Green Lantern’s light oath.”
The Final Verdict: A-
This is the only good Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield, until the biggest disappointing sequel came out in 2014, which results in yet another reboot with Tom Holland taking over the role.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 