On release, Nathan reviewed The Amazing Spider-Man; “far superior to the original…Rhys Ifans was fantastic”, personally I couldn’t disagree more. And on the eve of the Blu-Ray release, here’s why.
The Amazing Spider-Man had none of the expected heart, given Webb’s directorial debut, (500) Days of Summer, save for scenes involving Charlie Sheen, and to a lesser extent, Sally Field. With woeful CGI – a step backwards from 10 years past – and a tone not dissimilar from the Twilight franchise – this was a studio’s vision, rather than a creative one. Once again the pursuit of the almighty dollar won out.
The Amazing Spider-Man feels needless and second-hand, given the re-treading of old ground, covered better by Sam Raimi (a fear which I hold for Evil Dead, although I am somewhat comforted in the knowledge that Raimi is involved and the excellent trailer). The Amazing Spider-Man required a significant departure, similar to that of Nolan’s Batman from Burton’s, however this was sadly lacking.
Rhys Ivans was a poor choice for Conners’, who in turn was a poor choice of villain, given Spider-Man’s catalogue of foes, and Andrew Garfield too much the pretty boy for Peter Parker – neither seemed a good fit for their respective roles.
I opted not to see in 3D therefore couldn’t possibly comment, save for, no film has been enhanced by its use (and that includes Final Destination 5).
Whilst critically well received and being a major draw at the box office, this reworking wasn’t for me. However, such is my love for the character, I’ll likely be in the cinema on the opening night of the next Spider-Man movie, even though the villain will be another of Spider-Man’s lesser enemies, Electro.
And so to the Extras, which include “Rite of Passage: The Amazing Spider-Man Reborn” – in which Producer Laura Ziskin reveals the reason for the switch from Spider-Man 4 with Tobey Maguire to The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield; ‘Peter Parker just grew up too fast…This reboot has allowed us to change the tone of the franchise’.
Another feature is the classic ‘cast and crew’ interviews – in which Andrew Garfield reveals he was ‘unsure if he could do the role’ yadda-yadda-yadda. What follows are various shots of the design of the new suit, including custom web shooters as designed by Peter Parker, outlining his brilliance, and the Lizard’s design.
There are numerous deleted scenes we featured previously HERE, as well as stunt rehearsal videos and a look at the process of developing the video game. All as captivating as it sounds.
Enjoy.
Mark Brassington 