Three stars. Rated PG-13, for plenty of silly action violence
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 5.2.14
Spidey’s losing his snap.
I was no fan of Sony’s numb-nuts
decision to re-boot this franchise, which the studio announced shortly after
the 2007 release of the previous trilogy’s final installment; it seemed the
height of lunacy. Our interest is such characters derives, in part, from the
way in which they respond — positively or negatively — to an ever-expanding
series of events and adventures; look at the brilliantly interwoven strands
that have made all the other Marvel characters (Iron Man, Thor, Captain
America) so much more interesting on the big screen.
 |
| Young gazillionaire Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), stricken with a hereditary disease that will disfigure and then kill him, begs Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) for a blood transfusion. But although the man beneath the mask regards Harry as a longtime friend, Peter genuinely believes that complying with this request could kill Harry much faster ... or do something even worse. |
It’s no fun to see a character
taken only so far — adolescent steps into a developing superhero career — and
then slammed back into infancy.
The folks behind James Bond
waited 44 years before re-telling his origin story, in 2006’s Casino Royale. Even characters as venerable and popular as Dumas’ D’Artagnan and his fellow
musketeers are gathered anew, with fresh young casts, only once per generation
... if that.
But only a decade later, as was
the case between Tobey Maguire’s debut outing as Spidey in 2002, and Andrew
Garfield’s introduction in 2012? Madness.
On top of which, Maguire set the
bar VERY high with his second outing; I still rank 2004’s Spider-Man 2 as the
best modern superhero epic yet made (yes, even better than The Avengers).
Granted, there’s an obvious
problem when it comes to the way Peter Parker is time-locked somewhere between
high school and college ... but if Sony had thought that one through, they
wouldn’t have started with 27-year-old Maguire in the first place.
Come to think of it, starting
anew with 29-year-old Garfield suggests that Sony hasn’t learned its lesson.
But OK; all this aside,
individual films should be judged on their own merits, even when part of an
ongoing series. And, in fairness, Garfield’s debut outing as the unwitting
victim of a radioactive spider bite was quite entertaining. His take on the
character is captivating in a slightly different way; he’s more of a klutzy
nerd than Maguire’s insecure, angst-ridden nebbish.
Plus, Garfield had the benefit of
an excellent supporting cast. Emma Stone’s blond and effervescent Gwen Stacy is
a reasonable substitute for Kirsten Dunst’s red-headed Mary Jane Watson
(although the latter will be immortalized forever, thanks to her sweet, sexy, rain-drenched,
upside-down kiss with Spidey in that series’ first entry).
Sally Field was — and is —
terrific as Peter’s Aunt May; Martin Sheen was just right as Uncle Ben, and
Denis Leary was properly stern and intelligent as Gwen’s father. And while the
Lizard wasn’t my idea of a proper origin-story villain, scripters James
Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves — the latter two being Hollywood
veterans with plenty of intelligent screenplays between them — delivered a
thoroughly engrossing tale.
Which, for the most part,
director Marc Webb managed not to screw up.
The same cannot be said for his
handling of this overblown sequel.
