Like a lot of people, I like Spider-Man. I grew up with the comic books and with the 1990's animated series. When they announced a film was being made, I was excited. I went to see all three of the previous run of Spider-Man movies at the theatre. I enjoyed all of them, but like a lot of people, I was disappointed with the third. They tried to do too much in there, some of the choices they made baffled me, and I didn't enjoy it near as much as the first two.
Fast-forward to the present day, and we have another Spider-Man film on the way. The Amazing Spider-Man will be hitting cinema screens soon, and once again I'm excited. But I'm even more excited for this one than I was for the previous ones. From the trailers, and the press releases and so on, there's some things that really get my fanboy juices flowing. These are five reasons I think The Amazing Spider-Man is going to be an amazing film.
Gwen Stacy
Don't get me wrong, I like Mary-Jane as much as the next guy, but I've always had a soft spot for Gwen. Apart from featuring in one of the most memorable and tragic events of the Spider-Man comics, she was also a good character and an important part of the Spider-Man story. It was a shame to see her ousted in favour of MJ in the previous films, and I'll be glad to see her get her time to shine in this film. It also opens up possibilities for a future film focusing on her final, and most famous storyline. Not to mention that whereas I'm not a fan of Kirsten Dunst, whereas I think Emma Stone is a great actress.
Crackin' Wise
As I said, I grew up with the Spidey from the comics and the 90's cartoon. If there's one thing that Spidey did a LOT of in those, it was talk. He'd always be taunting and teasing his enemies in and out of fights. He was sarcastic, very flippant, and very funny. They captured that a little bit in the previous films, but not that much. From everything I've seen of the trailers of this one, that's not the case this time. Spidey looks like he's every bit as capable of slinging quips as webs this time around.
Amazingly Ultimate
Some elements of this movie have definitely been influenced by the Ultimate Spider-Man line of comics. From story elements, and elements of design. But plenty has also come from the Amazing Spider-Man line too. When the last line of films was in production, the Ultimate line of comics was only in its very early issues. I really like the Ultimate Spider-Man series, as well as the Amazing Spider-Man series, and I feel having both to draw on is something that gives this film a deeper pool from which to pull influences, and that if it's done right, which it seems like it's going to be, that will benefit the film.
Real Stunts
The previous films used a lot of CG for scenes involving Spidey swinging around. They looked great, and it was completely understandable for them to go that way. But this film isn't. This film has gone to great expense and effort to try and incorporate as much physical stuntwork as possible. They built huge rigs, and had guys actually swinging around. I'm always a fan of film-makers actually doing things rather than using CG where it's possible, so I'm really looking forward to the acrobatics and action scenes in this iteration of the Spidey franchise.
The Lizard
As a character, and in terms of story, Marvel's, and Spider-Man's specifically, strengths have always lain in their ability to make the characters feel very real. It's not just black and white morality, it's not simply moustache twirling villains and square jawed two-fisted action heroes. And of all Spidey's rogue's gallery, I feel the Lizard is the best to show this. Sure, Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and others have elements of tragedy to their past. But Doctor Connors' transformation into The Lizard has always struck me as perhaps the most tragic. It'll be great to see if they do it justice in this movie.
So there we have some of the reasons why I think this film is going to be great. If you're still not convinced, I'd just like to point out that the director of the film is called Mark Webb. Mark WEBB. It has GOT to be a sign!
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