Let's try something a little different today... instead of a movie review, how about a movie trailer review. Today, the teaser trailer for the newest Spider-Man movie, entitled "The Amazing Spider-Man," was released. If you don't know, this flick is a complete series reboot with absolutely no connection to the previous Spidey flicks directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire. Instead, this movie will be directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and stars Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The main difference is that this movie will take place during entirely during Parker's high school years, when he first gets bit by the radioactive spider responsible for making him super-powered.
Here's the teaser... My review after the jump.
My thoughts... I've been skeptical about this movie ever since I first heard about it. I enjoy Sam Raimi's take on the Spider-Man series (yes, I even kind of liked the third one) and was actually looking forward to a fourth entry... but that got scrapped when Sam Raimi had creative differences with the studio. This teaser actually gives credence to something I've been concerned about since this movie was announced... that it would either be too similar to Twilight or a mediocre teen sci-fi show on the CW. Eep!
The Good:
I will say that I'm glad that they're taking this movie in a different direction than the previous movies, simply because I like to see a different filmmaker try different things. The apparent darker and more dramatic style is just fine with me. It also looks like that it's trying to keep it character-driven and less action-focused, which in theory could be a good thing (don't get me wrong, action is important too though). Plus, the high school setting doesn't bother me too much seeing as many Spidey comics took place during his teenage years anyways. It's also nice to see them actually using Gwen Stacey as the love interest in her proper setting (ie, not shoe-horned into the story for the convenience of a love triangle a la Spider-Man 3). The cast is quite good as well, Andrew Garfield as Spidey, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Sally Field as Aunt May, Dennis Leary as Captain Stacy, and Rhys Ifans as The Lizard... yeah I have no problem with this cast. So yeah, there's barely enough to keep me hopeful.
The Bad:
Eeeesh... this teaser reeks of Twilight and WB bullshit. I really don't mind the high school setting, but I'm hoping and praying that this doesn't end up being a half-rate love story with flat dialogue, stale performances, questionable morals, and shitty abstinence messages. I might have been able to somewhat take solace in all that had the trailer featured some cool action or neat displays of superpowers, but nope! Instead, we get a weird first-person cg running segment that looks like a cut scene out from a mediocre video game. The cgi in that 30 seconds is pretty awful. I know I know... it's just a teaser trailer and they've got a whole year to fix up the effects (which they probably will), but it's just not boasting me with much confidence right now. Not to mention, we only barely get a glimpse of Parker in the costume. Granted, that's not a huge concern but it's just kind of a bummer.
Overall:
Yeah, this trailer isn't exactly doing it for me. Yes, it's only a teaser and it's still way too soon to judge, but if Sony is going to get the nay-sayers to come around for this flick, they'll have to do much better than this.
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