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