Still Not Sold on the New Spider-Man Movie


 
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Entertainment Weekly's Spider-Man cover

The new edition of Entertainment Weekly, arriving on newsstands today, has Andrew Garfield on the cover, dressed in his Amazing Spider-Man superhero costume. And I still don’t know what to think of this reboot.

The EW issue, incidentally, is the annual Comic-Con issue, in which the magazine shows off loads of exclusives just prior to the mega-convention’s kick off in San Diego. The issue also includes exclusive peeks at the new Total Recall, Season 2 of The Walking Dead, and Fox’s highly anticipated Terra Nova.

It’s not that I don’t want The Amazing Spider-Man to succeed. I hope director Marc Webb and his cast and crew knock it out of the park. But the reboot is happening so soon after the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire series; Spider-Man 3 was released in 2007, meaning there was just five years between one series and another. And aside from the overstuffed finale, I adored the Raimi films. With the first of those releasing in 2002 and Webb’s coming next year, that means we’ll have two versions of the same origin story appearing on film, separated by only ten years.

Any fool can see that this new series is a film studio attempt at cashing in on a recent hit series by starting the whole thing over. This doesn’t mean it can’t be good. But it’s a huge risk. If it crashes and burns, then it’ll be a very long time before we see the wall-crawler on the silver screen again. And some of Webb’s choices feel a little… off.

For starters, there’s the Spider-Man costume. I get the need for interesting textures in this age of HD, but the thing looks like a bunch of basketballs were deflated and sewn together. And did we really need all those vertical stripes on the front? We get it: Andrew Garfield is incredibly slender.

Speaking of Garfield, the guy’s got acting chops, no doubt. But when those first images of him in the costume surfaced, I was convinced he hadn’t done any physical prep for the role at all. He wasn’t just skinny, he was downright wimpy. The picture in this set of him with his shirt off at least confirms that he did work out enough to get — well, if not ripped, at least he’s toned. Which is appropriate for the character.

There are also differences in the new movie that feel like they’re there just for the sake of being different from the Raimi film. Gwen Stacy as the love interest, for example, or the mechanical web-shooters instead of Raimi’s organic shooters. These are plot elements much closer to Peter’s origin story in the comic book, yet other aspects of the production make it clear that faithfulness to the source material is not at the forefront of Webb’s priority list. (Hello again, costume.) And The Lizard as the villain? Does that character really create a powerful enough screen presence to justify being the main villain?

Then again, maybe Gwen’s presence as the love interest means we’ll finally get a properly-done big screen version of Gwen’s death atop the George Washington Bridge. If not in this film, then maybe in the second one.

It feels like Webb is trying to make this film Spider-Man’s version of Batman Begins. That movie retold Batman’s origins with greater insight and depth and character motivations than any other film, TV series, or comic book ever had. So if that’s Webb’s blueprint… maybe he’s a lot smarter than anybody knows. All of this, after all, is just speculation based on a handful of pictures. Perceptions and opinions will hinge entirely on seeing the movie itself.

Anyway, enjoy the EW pics below, and then let us know your thoughts about the new film!

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Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, aka the Amazing Spider-Man

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The Amazing Spider-Man

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Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors, aka The Lizard - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Who HASN'T wanted to ride the subway this way? - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Andrew Garfield shows Emma Stone how much time he's spent at the gym - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben and Sally Field as Aunt May - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Check out the leather web-shooters -- Steampunk much? - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Spidey looks appropriate spiderish, but I can't stop staring at those weird boots - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Behold: the gratuitous butt shot! - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Peter wails on Flash on the b-ball court - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Spider-Man makes his first public appearance, as a costumed wrestler. Again. - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Peter teaches bully Flash Thompson a thing or two - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Dennis Leary as Captain Stacy - The Amazing Spider-Man

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Aunt May and Uncle Ben are concerned over Peter's suddenly extreme metabolism - The Amazing Spider-Man


 

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Unathletic, uncoordinated tall man with endless creativity stampeding through his overactive brain. Comes with beard, wife, and two miniature humans. Novelist. General blogger and main Gaming Geek for ForeverGeek. Lead Blogger, Apple Gazette.

11 Responses to Still Not Sold on the New Spider-Man Movie

  1. Katie Hart says:

    I agree – it’s far too soon. To me, Tobey Maguire IS Peter Parker, despite the fact that I only watched Spider-Man 3 once and probably won’t again. A few of the pics above hint that Andrew Garfield might do a good job with Parker’s awkward/terrifying/exhilarating transition from boy to superhero, but the glimpses of Uncle Ben and Aunt May felt like sacrilege. No. Just no.

  2. Yeah, I share your mixed feelings about this. It has so much incredible talent involved, both in front of and behind the camera, it seems like a “can’t miss”. On the other hand, some of the things we’ve seen so far (i.e. the costume) leave some doubt. Oh yeah, while Raimi did a super job in bringing Spidey to the screen, many parts of the trilogy have not aged well. It’s definitely time for someone else to take a swing at it.

  3. Richard says:

    How in the world can he fit all that hair under the mask???

  4. Sundance Kid says:

    How are they going to top one of the most iconic movie kisses of all time? (the upside down spider-man kiss)

  5. GoGetGreek says:

    I like the idea of the mechancal web-shoooters as that is true to the comics, and i know that films never stick to the details in the comics but I don’t understand how they are making anything spider-man related without Mary-Jane Watson. For me it seems a bit strange that they just decided to ignore this character and put in the character that is meant to be the love interest after Mary-Jane and then die leading Peter back to MJ. Basically putting it, for me Spiderman will always somehow end up with MJ. If the film were to have MJ as a character and then (possibly in a sequel) have Gwen’s death scene (which, if done right, could be a memorable and really dramatic scene)and then lead to an MJ/Peter relationship, then I may have been more interested. Course if MJ was in it then it may have been a bit predictable. I just hope this is a good film, although it seems too early and overall a little pointless to me.

  6. lee says:

    this movie stinks i was hoping spider man 4 with carnage or venom back with a few friends but nothing beats spider man 123 it was perfect funny they had all the characters right and the right people to play them you cant replace peter parkers boss either lolol i think they shouldve kept going with the saga toby maguire was the perfect spider man there will be no other like christopher reevs was the original super man edward norton was the perfect hulk its like taking ironman and put tom criuse to play him the movie industry needs to stop messinthings up just how they made night crawler in xmen 1st class look like a skinny hell boy lol you dont do that keep it original like x2 now that was night crawler picture perfect

  7. cat says:

    i don’t get it! why people hate gwen, i mean is not important who he loved first, but it is imortant that she existed and then died.
    At the end parker still stays with mj.

  8. Britt says:

    Hey all so first off sad cuz I didnt know one that Gwen charter existed now i have to google how that all went down lol second ruefully the last spiderman movie sucked in my opion to many villains in one movie for me anyway. The custom is bad looks to rough I liked Tobys costum better. This new Peter looks like he can do good but after seeing the trailer Peter looks more like a depressed teenager then being the smart nerd I thought he was. I bet people are going to go to the theatre to see if it’s a bast or not. But I think it’s to early. It hasn’t been that long since the first movie. I probably won’t see it. Well maybe if they get better trailers for it. Cuz to me it seemed like they hinted that peters dad was like a superhero or something. At lest the new spider is cute. Lol and British ( hope his American ascent is good) ( and Toby was also a looked) so In my opion right now I’m not going to see it not unless i find out what the plot is. ( and more then just him learning how to master his powers) and question is Peter best friend in it??? ( forget his name right now) I really hope I’m wrong about this movie. I hope it’s a huge blow out but. I doubt it

  9. William says:

    I’m not sold on this movie at all yet! Gwen will die at some point per the comics. Yes spiderman is different from Amazing spiderman but if Rami couldn’t pull it off why is this movie going to be any different? Movies are suppose to be made around the actor and the actor is to make the part! It should go hand and hand. I hope this one does not go down in flames.

  10. Papadish says:

    I grew up in the golden age of comic books. TV was new and not much on. The big highlight every month was when the new comic books hit the stands, and Spidey was my absolute favorite. Raimi had most of it wrong. Gwen was Spidey’s love… until she was killed by the GG on the bridge. MJ came later. ‘Sounds like they have the story right in this one, including the mechanical web shooters… but I absolutely hate the costume… looks like crap and what’s with the daddy longlegs on the chest and back… this is wrong in so many ways. The guy playing ‘Spidey looks totally wrong for the part. Face, skinny body, nothing right here. I can put up with Sally Field, but Martin Sheen as Ben? Martin Sheen is plenty enough reason to not bother going to see this new Spiderman… Of course I would not be saddened by his death, but being happy about Sheen’s death would ruin the rest of the movie… The best thing Raimi had going was J K Simmons portrayal of J Jonah Jameson. Toby Maguire was not Spiderman… too wimpy and did not have the right personality… Dunst sucked as MJ… nice tits though. GG should have been played by Christopher Walken… not Defoe. In my mind, Hollywood will never get this one right. Good special effects though. Nice to see Spidey look so natural swinging through the streets, but still nothing without the right cast and story.

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