Uncle Ben dies again

The Amazing Spider-Man: ***/*****, or 7/10

One of the most respectable and thoughtful things about this year's biggest Marvel movie, The Avengers, is the way it was set up in the first place, introducing the various superheroes individually before assembling the team itself, thus establishing a shared, epic cinematic Marvel universe very close in feel to the comic books it is based on, yet not so convoluted as to alienate audiences unfamiliar with the wondrous world of Marvel Comics. It was a huge gamble, but fortunately for the studios involved and for the many fans of the characters and their films, it payed off big time, smashing many box office records, thus paving the way for a 'Phase 2', another large scale five year plan, not only adding sequels to the Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Avengers films, but also kickstarting more Marvel projects to tie in with this brave new world on film, including Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man and Nick Fury movies. Such foresight and careful planning unfortunately can't be detected in the Sony Pictures' franchise of that other much beloved Marvel character, Spider-Man, who after an initial hugely successful trilogy of movies ingratiously was denied a third sequel because of creative differences between the studio and the top people involved, making the former take the much dreaded 'reboot road' instead, restarting the movie franchise all over again only a decade after it first originated. It's a kick in the groin, not only for the webslinger himself, but also for his legions of fans and even regular audiences across the globe, who now get treated to another take on a character who's origin story is no secret to anybody.

Of course a different approach had to be taken to avoid the new flick, now titled The Amazing Spider-Man (and so at least respecting Spider-Man's first own comic book series of the same name), feeling too much of a déjà vu compared to what we've seen before. Warning! Spoilers! Undoubtedly inspired by the success of the recent rebooting of the Batman franchise, the studio opted for a darker beginning for the otherwise merry and witty superhero, heavily involving the absence of his biological parents – something Raimi's trilogy largely ignored – who left their little son Peter Parker (now played by Andrew Garfield) to be raised by his Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and were supposedly killed in a plane crash shortly after their departure. Drawing inspiration from the Ultimate Spider-Man line of comic books, Peter's parents were involved in shady genetic experiments involving the crossbreeding of humans with animal species, which is of course what the origin of Spider-Man is all about. Unfortunately the subplot concerning Peter's mommy and daddy is largely left unresolved the moment Peter's investigation into his past leads him to his father's close colleague Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), a one-armed scientist working for the sinister Oscorp Company, further attempting to crossbreed species, in his case humans and lizards, in an admittedly somewhat silly, comic-y attempt to regrow his lost limb, with dire consequences.

However, under the direction of Marc Webb (I'll refrain from using 'nomen est omen' remarks here, since that has been done to death already), whose director's credit of importance prior to this gig only included the acclaimed romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer, it's not all creepy experiments and traumatic childhood incidents that form the prime ingredients of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man. Clearly establishing Peter, performed by Andrew Garfield of The Social Network fame, to be a typical high school kid, Webb also finds time for lighter scenes developing the romance between him and Gwen Stacy (the beautiful and talented Emma Stone). Peter's previous movie girlfriend Mary Jane Watson is left out altogether in favor of having him hook up with his original lady love from the comics, even though this might confuse audiences since Gwen was already featured in Raimi's Spider-Man 3 (then played by Bryce Dallas Howard). Stone plays off wonderfully against Garfield's Peter Parker: unlike ex-Peter Tobey Maguire, he seems more appropriately aged to convincingly pull off a high school teenager, and he does a better job at playing both Peter and Spidey, carefully balancing between being too much of a nerd and too cool a superhero to believably be a nerd in real life. However, unlike Stone, Garfield is found guilty of overacting in his display of various ticks and goofy mannerisms when first feeling spider powers within: but playing a regular human being, Stone just has it easier, while the task of carrying the picture falls on Garfield's shoulders, which he does it adequately enough. The lighthearted scenes of teen angst and young love between the pair form a stark contrast with the gritty look into Peter's family issues, but they are a necessary part of recreating the Spider-Man persona, since the webslinger was always a lighter, easy going and cheerful superhero to begin with. In fact, it's clear Webb has more experience with romance and teen drama than he does with superheroism, considering the scenes between Garfield and Stone on many occasion feel more compelling than the action stuff, which of course is also a major must-have for any superhero movie. Plus, the smart and ambitious blonde Gwen is a welcome reprieve from the naive, childhood traumatized redhead Mary Jane from the previous films: unlike the latter Gwen does not find herself in grave danger at the hands of nasty supervillains at least twice per film, at which point her only solution seems to scream for her hero to come and rescue her very loudly. Apparently there was still some room for improvement left in Raimi's otherwise superior tackling of the franchise, which Webb eagerly accepts by making Gwen an independent young woman who's at least as smart as her boyfriend and shows much more tact and discretion when the going gets tough.

And tough it gets for poor Peter Parker. First, he has to contend with the bite of a genetically enhanced spider, which is what you get for sneaking into a lab which is clearly marked off-limits due to biohazards. The result is Peter not only gets superhuman strength and reflexes and the ability to walk on walls (even when wearing shoes), he also gets a lot grumpier, to the point of treating his loving Aunt and Uncle in a very ungrateful manner (the many occasions where he immediately plunders the fridge when coming home, all the while ignoring their sound advice, are a good example of his douchery), as well as breaking an excessive amount of stuff both at home and in school. Obviously, this leads to the obligatory life lesson that with great power must come great responsibility, a value the audience already had learned in obnoxious preachy detail in Raimi's films, but is also too important an element in Spider-Man's origin to be ignored. And so, Uncle Ben bites the dust again, shot dead by a thief, and Peter knows he shouldn't be an ass and help people with his new found abilities instead of acting like a dick. Only took an hour of the film to set this up, thus making half the film a redundancy for retelling things that didn't need retold, except for the mounting sexual tension between Gwen and Peter. Fortunately, from here on out Webb gets the opportunity to develop the story more as he sees fit, now that the back story is firmly on people's minds again (though it can only be called arrogant on the studio's part to think it never was in the first place). However, there's still plenty of unresolved things left, so we can only assume the truth about Peter's parents is left for the unavoidable sequel. Considering the dull way it was handled here, that's not something to look forward to too much.

After Uncle Ben has died, Peter looks for the criminal who did it, acting like a vigilante and beating up people who were not at all involved, though many of them were caught in the act of unlawful behavior anyway. This gets him on the radar of police captain Stacy (Denis Leary), Gwen's father, who feels nobody but law enforcement should clean up society's sinister side. This ideological conflict between Peter and Stacy is one of the movie's strongest additions to the overall Spider-Man film franchise, though in itself it's not entirely new, considering a similar difference of opinion was witnessed in the previous trilogy between Peter and newspaper edition J. Jonah Jameson (a beloved normal human character from the comic books who was present throughout Raimi's films, but sadly remains completely absent in The Amazing Spider-Man), but is handled on a more serious note here instead of ending in skits of comic relief as it did before. It also adds fascinating but underused conflicts of interests for Gwen, who has to choose between her loyalty to her father and her love for her boyfriend. However, Spider-Man's main problem in this film lies not in the police issuing a warrant for his arrest, but in a scientist losing his objective thinking because of his obsession for personal enhancement on a genetic scale.

Like Gwen Stacy, Curt Connors was already introduced in the previous Spider-Man films, but was never put to full use. Originally, Raimi had planned a fourth Spider-Man film which would see him evolve into the bad guy Lizard. Ironically, Raimi left, but Lizard stayed and is now the first supervillain Webb's new Spider-Man faces. As an introductory nemesis, Lizard may not have been the best choice, especially considering the rather ridiculous diabolical ploy of his to release a bioweapon that would turn the population of New York City into lizard people like himself (and what is the silly deal with him attracting all those little lizards in the sewers? I'll have you know under normal circumstances lizards would just die in such an environment. Shenanigans!). However, in relation to the subplot taken from Ultimate Spider-Man concerning Peter's father dabbling in biogenetics and the personal connection between Peter and himself this implies, he's the logical choice, considering the other available Spidey foes, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus, have already been used in Raimi's films (though one of them does get his fair share of references and possible sequel set-ups in this film). Rhys Ifans portrays the “mad scientist” affectionately as a sympathetic but obsessed man who too desperately means to improve his body, which affects his mind as he finds his judgment impaired when his solution transforms him into a huge lizard man. Oddly enough, unlike the Lizard of the comics, he seems to fully retain his mental faculties instead of becoming more beast than man, which makes it all the harder to accept his final weird wicked scheme. However, the creature he ends up becoming does make for a decent amount of action scenes, including a rampage on a bridge, a high school confrontation between him and Spider-Man and an impressive though overly digital final battle on top of a skyscraper when he fights both Spidey and Captain Stacy. However, Webb ultimately disappoints where action is concerned, considering there's not nearly as much fight sequences as one would expect from a superhero movie, mostly because of the excessive focus on retelling Spidey's origin story and dragging his parents into the mix. At least the action that is present feels dynamic enough, but we would have wished for more. Better luck next time.

And there will unmistakably be a next time, considering the amount of unresolved plot lines and the extra scene after the main end credits which sets up the next movie's bad guy very similarly to the way The Avengers did, except the precise identity of this villain still remains somewhat of a mystery (quite frustrating if you're a long time avid comic book fan like me). However, it's clear this new Spider-Man franchise, like its predecessor but unlike the superior Avengers franchise, doesn't look much further into its own future than a few years down the road, a tactic that, if not changed soon, will undoubtedly lead to yet another unnecessary reboot in the next decade. Unlike the many superheroes that form the Avengers, Spider-Man still stands alone, so if it's amazement you're after in your marvels, this is not where you should look for it.

And watch the trailer here:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/theamazingspiderman/

Journey 2: underwhelming in all but the third dimension

Rating: ***/*****, or 5/10

A few days ago I criticized the disappointing use of 3-D in Star Wars Episode I, which was re-released solely to cash in on the 3-D hype currently controlling Hollywood studio executives' minds (and their bank accounts), and to a lesser degree the minds of audiences around the globe. Being converted in 3-D over a decade after its initial release, the 3-D effects in Episode I were unfortunately far from compelling or convincing, though seeing the movie itself back on the big screen was a bit of a blast (if you like Star Wars in general, and can swallow the prequel trilogy specifically). Viewers flocking to theatres expecting to find the new 3-D addition to The Phantom Menace a worthwhile event will be disappointed, since there just seems to be little room for 3-D were it was never intended to be, often making you forget the 3-D is there to begin with. The opposite is also possible, as Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, released in theatres this week, makes perfectly clear.

Journey 2 is, as the title obviously suggests, a sequel, though the first movie wasn't simply called Journey. It was called Journey to the Center of the Earth, and it was released in 2008. You probably missed it, if you are aware of this particular incarnation of Jules Verne's classic adventure novel at all. It was one of the earlier entries into the current 3-D craze and hit theatres at a time when there were still few theatres with 3-D projectors around (oh, the good ol' days!). I myself was very much aware of it though because it featured a bunch of dinosaurs, and movies with such contents make me lose all objectivity. And apparently common sense as well, since I bothered to travel all the way to Almere to see it in a theatre there that was a few years ahead of its time, like Almere often thinks it is (if you don't know about this wretched city, Google or Wiki it, but be sure to eat lunch or dinner afterwards). The movie theatre in question – I will not mention its name – has got to be the ugliest, most depressing movie building I've ever visited: it kinda felt like an image out of an Orwellian dystopian future. I actually paid to see the movie full price, something I hadn't done in a while then because of my 50% student discount powers, and which I have never done since, in payment for my loyal, unquestionable service to the sinister Pathé company. But despite these trials, my dubious perseverance was awarded with a delightful viewing experience: I saw massive caves, subterranean oceans, stunning blonde Anita Briem, flying piranhas, Trilobites and of course the much coveted dinosaurs, all in spectacular 3-D! For a short while, this movie made me a believer in 3-D. And then it got milked... and milked... with often such hugely dismaying results that I lost my interest in 3-D and the mere notion of a movie I anticipated being released in 3-D made me cringe and sigh out loud.

And on the topic of milking, we're back to Journey 2 3-D. Apparently, Journey 1 (I'm lazy enough to use this abbreviated title, even though I claimed above there is no movie with this nomenclature) made some money despite its limit release (limited since it was only released in 3-D instead of a regular 2-D version also being in circulation, as is usual now). And therefore, Hollywood Law states a sequel or some other follow-up must be produced by any means necessary. And now we have the result.

Guess what? Whatever shortcomings this sequel has (and there are many many many of those), in regards to 3-D effects, it's one of the best films I've seen in the last few years! Apparently the powers-that-be behind this franchise were aware of the 3-D history behind the first film, and honoured it by making sure the second film would surpass it on this front. So again we get a fast paced adventure flick filled to the brim with nifty, neat-o 3-D effects, ranging from the generic 'in-your-face' type to the excellent use of it in backgrounds and tracking shots, showcasing what you can do with 3-D and how few other movies make full use of its potential. Some of the most memorable set-ups include a zoom shot over the lost city of Atlantis, with the camera flying past a huge statue's trident, a giant electric moray eel swimming in a circle so closeby you feel like reaching out and touching it, a harpoon being thrown right into our eyes and The Rock getting berries thrown at his nipples, which bounce back in every direction (the berries, not the nipples). I had the good fortune of seeing this in an IMAX theatre, and I felt completely immersed into the movie, an effect 3-D hasn't had on me in a long time. This movie made 3-D feel like the event that audiences hope for it to be, instead of just a lame addition installed to justify higher admission prices. The 3-D alone makes this movie work, which is a rare happenstance, despite 3-D movies being so plentiful nowadays. It seems once again a 2-D version is nowhere to be found, which should be the case considering if you take away the 3-D, little of interest remains...

Despite the fantastic use of 3-D and a good overall sense of adventure, this movie just has nothing else going for it. The story is bare boned and predictable at every turn (not that there are many turns anyway): Josh Hutcherson (the only remaining element from Journey 1 aside from the Verne references) is being a spoiled brat who wants to go off and find some island because his grandfather sent him morse code messages on how to find it, and his stepfather (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who replaces Brendan Fraser as the heroic lead) awards his misbehavior by taking him to said island in the hopes of creating a bond between them. In Palau they charter a rusty old helicopter and its pilot, Luiz Gusman in a stereotypical JarJarist comic relief role (i.e. supposed to be funny, but failing miserably) to fly them to their location, and as a bonus they get Vanessa Hudgens along for the ride as eye candy. Of course they quickly find the island, which Verne, plus various other authors randomly thrown in, alluded to in his novel Mysterious Island. As happened in the previous film, the works of Verne are used as guides to the protagonists in their quest to stay alive, as if the places Verne described actually existed (think Scientology's take on L. Ron Hubbard's books, except with a better author being used and less religious nonsense mixed in). Naturally the group ends up stranded there and has to run from one threat to the other to stay in one piece, a confrontation with a giant frilled lizard providing the most memorable action scene. The grandfather (Michael Caine, apparently once again in dire need of cash, otherwise he would have turned this sucker down) is found alive and well and takes them on a tour across a number of digital set pieces, including Atlantis, giant bees and a volcano spewing gold. The island of course is too good to be true, and turns out to be swiftly sinking, so our heroes have to get off by finding Captain Nemo's hidden submarine, which they do, after which they get home safely and all's well that ends well.

Worn out subplots concerning Josh Hutcherson's grandfather never really caring about him and The Rock wanting to be accepted as a father figure by his stepson provide the only real opportunities for the audience to bond with these characters as it sets out on this voyage with them, but ultimately viewers won't care less about them and just want to see them get into one fantastic situation after another, which is of course what they get. Say what you will about Journey 2, but at least it doesn't pretend to be anything other than the most basic adventure extravaganza with copious amounts of action and excitement.

Character development, plot twists and deep themes are of course lacking because they are not needed to thrill audiences for 90 minutes. Unfortunately the abundance of lousy jokes, many of them imvolving poop and assorted viscous, oozy materials, were apparently considered a necessity, but most of them (especially the ones provided by Gusman) are just not funny. In fact, given The Rock's known comedic talent (which he applies well in this film, the high point being the aforementioned berry throwing scene), Gusman's character might as well have been omitted entirely. Vanessa Hudgens looks gorgeous (again, good use of 3-D) but her relationship with Josh Hutcherson follows the cliche ridden path from nuisance to acceptance to romance, while chemistry between them is low. There's more chemistry between The Rock and the various creatures he has to fight in order to get his friends to survive the day, and of course, it's these creatures that stand out the most. Tiny elephants, giant birds, bees and lizards and a moray eel endowed with exceptionally high voltage give the cast a run for their money, but win the day in staying in our memories of this movie. In Verne's novel, such animals were of course absent, which means the producers were heavily inspired by Ray Harryhausen's take on this story, which ended up in his fabulous Mysterious Island in 1961, showcasing some of his brilliant stop motion photography that still awes audiences today. It's unlikely Journey 2's creatures will survive in cultural memory as well as their predecessors, but for now, they do their job.

Suffice to say, the carefully crafted but sensational use of 3-D is this movie's only truly redeeming feature while all else is quite forgetful. When the movie is over and the lights go on again, you've had the 3-D ride of your life, but the movie itself won't stay with you for more than a few days at best. Whereas Episode I results in audiences asking themselves 'Was I watching this movie in 3-D?'. Journey 2 will have them asking 'Was I watching this 3-D in a movie?'. However, given Journey 1's limited release and the fact a Journey 2 was made regardless, the wide release of the latter will undoubtedly spawn a Journey 3. The producers took this into account and made sure there's enough not quite so subtle hints as to Josh Hutcherson's next destination. And as long as the 3-D effects stay on their current level of excellence, we won't mind taking that trip to the moon with him in a few years...

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer impressions

Latest trailer for the arachnid epic spins a web of questions: will it be Amazing, or just Spider-Man?

Now that the first official trailer (not to be confused with last year's lenghty teaser, which was based more on characters and showed little actual Spidey), is out, I find my common sense tingling as to whether this premature reboot will deliver an equally carefully weighed balance of characters and FX, as well as humour and drama, as Sam Raimi's first film did ten years ago. After all, it's only been five years since Spider-Man 3 and people undoubtedly will still link this movie to the ones that came before, even if they're aware Amazing Spider-Man will restart the franchise. Judging from the trailer footage, some elements from the previous film(s) have been retained, either to help guide the audience back into this side of the Marvel Universe, or to confuse viewers with leftovers from the previous trilogy mixed with a retelling of how Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) became Spider-Man.

So what glimpses did the trailer offer? With regard to familiar characters and situations we have been introduced to in Raimi's Spider-films we will be refamiliarized with:

-Curt Connors: the one-armed college teacher and scientist was first introduced in Spider-Man 2, played by Dylan Baker. In both the second and third film, he served as a sort of science mentor to Peter Parker, helping him to remember that with great power (i.e. Peter's scientific mental capacities) also comes the responsibility not to be lazy. He also provided vital plot information when he got the dubious honour of serving a purely expositionary role explaining away the symbiote and its need to bond with a host to feed off his negative emotions when Peter donned the black suit in the third film. It's obvious his appearances in both films helped pave the way to the rise of Spidey's reptilian nemesis Lizard. The fans have been expecting the poor doctor to transfrom into his green alter-ego for a while now, and it finally happens in this film, so the patience has payed off (if you like Lizard of course). However, this is not the Curt Connors we know: played by Rhys Ifans this time, it's a reimagining of the same character, which means his relationship with Peter will also have to be reimagined, this time via Peter's father Richard instead of just college. In fact, when this movie will establish Spider-Man's origins all over again while retconning the previous films completely, that means Lizard will be Spidey's first super-powered antagonist. I'm not sure Lizard is compelling enough as an introductory bad guy. At least he has the personal connection with Peter to create more emotional impact for his character, but will he be as much of a believable threat as Spider-Man's quintessential arch enemies Dr. Octopus or Green Goblin were in Raimi's films? We'll have to wait and see...

(By the way, like any other Spidey fanboy I can whine about Lizard's look in the film and say this isn't the Lizard I grew up with (which it isn't), but I'm not gonna do that. There's only so many ways you can portray a human/lizard hybrid on the big screen and have him seem realistic and expressive enough to make you feel anything for him. Let's see him in action first before shouting yay or nay.)

-Oscorp Industries: speaking of the Green Goblin, the trailer clearly establishes Oscorp to be present in more than just a cameo role. Connors has a job there, but does this mean one of the Osborns makes an appearance in this film? That would most likely alienate audiences who feel this movie builds on what came before (as Lizard seems to do here). After all, both founder Norman Osborn (the first Green Goblin) and his son Harry Osborn (the second Green Goblin), who also happened to be Peter's best friend, met their demise in Raimi's trilogy. So who's running Oscorp in this film? Either Norman Osborn will be re-introduced, and possibly be set up as a potential main villain for the next Spider-Man film, or the matter will be ignored entirely and the name Oscorp will serve largely as a sort of bonus to the fans without being addressed as a major plot point other than being Connors' employer, as well as Richard Parker's (more on this below). As for who has Peter's back at school when he gets bullied, it won't be Harry. It seems unlikely Norman, or even Harry, in a similar fashion to Connors, would follow up on traits established in the previous films, thus suddenly being alive again, which would be the main reason the writers decided to leave both of them out. Incidentally, we may not find out much about the Osborns' role at Oscorp, since it seems Spider-Man and Lizard do a good job destroying its headquarters while duking it out together there in what will undoubtedly bt the epic conclusion of this film.

-The Stacy family: but let's shy away from the bad guys for a while and focus more on Peter Parker's personal life. Mary Jane is nowhere to be seen. Gwen Stacy has replaced her as Peter's love interest. This too points to the fact this movie will be a complete and utter reboot of the franchise, since MJ and Peter were still very much in love last time we saw them despite all the issues between them in the third film (and boy, were there many!). Gwen already appeared in the third film (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), but only as a date for Peter to annoy MJ with. This time around, Gwen (played by Emma Stone) is the Original Spidey Girlfriend, as ironically she was in the comics, a looooong time ago (she got viciously killed off by the Green Goblin in 1973). This means the relationship between Peter and Gwen will also be re-established.The big question then is: will Gwen be aware of Peter's dual life as Spider-Man, and how will she find out? Judging from the trailer, she knows, given the shots of Peter and Gwen discussing Lizard and Peter's involvement in his existence. At least Gwen is more intelligent than Mary Jane, considering it took her only half a movie to find out about Peter's secret identity, wheras MJ only found out at the end of the second film. Gwen may not be as blond as she seems...

Also revamped will be the relationship between Peter and Gwen's father, police captain George Stacy. It seems the movie will focus a lot on this duo's dynamics; George (played by Denis Leary) feeling Spider-Man is a masked vigilante taking matters into his own hands instead of letting the cops do their jobs, which doesn't sit well with him and eventually makes him issue an arrest warrant for our poor friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. This is a darker take on Mr. Stacey than we're used to: in the original comics he seemed more of a dear old man, who might not have agreed with Spider-Man, but he didn't openly oppose him in this brutal a fashion. Stacy also appeared in the previous film (played by Zefram Cochrane James Cromwell), where he undoubtedly had less problems with Spidey's approach after he saved his daughter's life. This new version of Stacy as a younger, tougher man seems more in line with the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, in which he was murdered by an impostor wearing a Spider-Man costume, which led Gwen to hate Spider-Man. Could it be the new movie takes this route and sees Captain Stacy killed and Spidey somehow being implicated, leading to tension between Peter and his girl Gwen? Or will Spidey save Gwen's life once more, making Captain Stacy his fan? Or could it even be that Gwen actually dies as she did before, with Peter being unable to save her and Stacy declaring war on him? And what role will Lizard play in all this? Interesting line of questions, and proof that the writers most likely did well shying away from the Mary Jane routine.

-The Parkers: it's obvious that this movie will be a total reboot, which is why it will also see the family dynamics of the Parker family retold. Both the teaser and the trailer have made it very clear that this will involve the fate of Peter's parents. Raimi never felt the need to get them involved in his origin story, and he just ignored them: Peter lived with his aunt and uncle, his parents are gone/dead/whatever, and that's that. So far so good. But not this film, which will tell us more about his parents, though it will deviate completely from the 'secret agent' history in the comics: orginally Richard and Mary were agents involved with SHIELD who were lost on a mission against the Marvel super villain the Red Skull, but that's definitely not gonna happen. After all, the copyright involving both SHIELD and the Red Skull is not in the hands of Sony Pictures who own the Spider-Man movie rights at present. Both names have already been heavily featurd in other recent Marvel movies, and will be again for sure (need I say Avengers here?).

Judging from the trailer, it's likely the movie will turn towards the Ultimate Marvel Universe some more and will feature Peter's parents, or at least his father Richard, as scientists working on sleazy genetic experiments under the employ of Oscorp. What this will mean for Peter and Spidey's origins remains to be seen, but it's possible his father messed with his genes in this movie as well, and Connors could be involved. The trailer establishes Richard and Connors being colleagues, which would also help to set up a personal relationship between Peter and Connors that is completely different from the one in the previous films. Plus, it could mean Richard was partially responsible for the creation of Lizard. The trailer clearly states that Peter himself definitely will be somehow, considering the shots in the trailer of Peter and Connors talking physics together, indicating Peter will provide Connors with the formula that will turn him into that big ol' reptile creature, thus once again making Spidey feel bad and having his excessively strong sense of responsibility leading him on a quest to set things right again before people start dying, given the line 'I gotta stop him because I created him'. As for who's responsible for Spider-Man's existence, it seems Connors knows something: ''If you want the truth, Peter, come and get it', he says in the trailer. What exactly the truth is, we won't know for sure until the movie hits theatres, but judging from the teaser, there at least is a genuine spider involved.

Besides his parents, Peter's aunt and uncle are naturally back, and it seems their role as Peter's moral compass hasn't changed much, though it hasn't yet been established how Uncle Ben will die, which he will of course, since this is basically the event that defined Peter's role as Spider-Man. If Ben lives, 'shenanigans' says I.

So there you have it: a lof of old stuff in a new form, and this is just from the trailer! It seems the director has his job cut out for him making a comprehensive feature film out of a character mess like this without turning people off about what they think they know about who Spider-Man is supposed to be. If we go solely with a 'nomen est omen' attitude, Marc Webb will surely create an action-packed blockbuster funfest of a movie worthy to compete with the celebrated “original trilogy” (though the third movie sadly did little to merit such a description). This first trailer shows that at this point it can go either way: it might be a brooding, character-driven 'Spider-Man Begins' with enough humour to convince audiences Spidey is still that fun webslinging crime fighter with his usual merry attitude, or it might be 'Spider-Man Rising', with too much emphasis placed on the shady parts of the Parker family legacy, re-explaining the already overly familiar origin story by adding extra baggage to it and ultimately failing to find the right mix of fun and drama to capture audience sympathy (which would be Spider-Man 3's problem in a nutshell). Mr. Webb surely must remember that with a great budget also comes great responsibility., and with a great character come great expectations...

And if you haven't yet, you can watch the trailer(s) for the Amazing Spider-Man here:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/theamazingspiderman/