The Amazing Spiderman (2012)

It's hard to imagine, for a person of 25 years, that it was 10 years ago that I saw the first installment of Sam Raimi's Spiderman (2002) - that was, like, half-my-life ago. The original Spiderman also came at a very distinct period in my life, and I still hold my experience around the movie dearly (though not necessarily the movie itself, which I thought was so-so). Still, when I heard of Marc Webb's The Amazing Spiderman reboot, I thought, "Okay, let's see." Perhaps this was because Christopher Nolan's Batman success.

In any case, I saw The Amazing Spiderman with an open mind, and came out with a singular annoyance that the movie itself was strikingly uneven. This was exactly the way I felt when I saw Quantum of Solace (2008). I was constantly asking, "Why did he do that? How did he get here? Why do I felt like I can't get in with this movie?"

It was a peculiar way to dislike a movie as it wasn't at all bad or stupid, but then it (the movie/the filmmakers/the movie characters) continually, repeatedly made bad and stupid decisions. I wonder if they filmed with a finished script. The dialog certainly left much to be desired. This is the kind of movie where jokes were cringingly unfunny and out-of-character; and there were quite a lot of science-talk which were cursed with being both laborious and nonsensical.

Was this then a trial ground of an untested director? Marc Webb's only feature was 2009's "500 Days of Summer", an indie. This could account for the unevenness of the picture: half the movie is meticulously inspired, the other half tedious humdrum. Peter and Gwen as Romeo and Juliet a la John Hughes (good); Peter being suddenly petulant (not). Spiderman finding the limits to his web-prowess (good); Spiderman going around sewers with neither reason nor resolution (not). Getting Martin Sheen and Sally Fields as Uncle Ben and Aunt May (Great), killing off uncle Ben without any follow through (not really).

And that's a big one. Honestly, I was NOT expecting them to kill off Uncle Ben. I thought that this was an opportunity to have a fresh take on the subject matter: how cool would it be if Uncle Ben lives to see Spiderman's early days, and then perhaps kill him off in a sequel as an important plot milestone. Or else don't have Uncle Ben at all. But why kill off your most interesting supporting character, and your best chance to differentiate this series from its predecessor?

Andrew Garfield, I thought, makes a more-than-acceptable Peter Parker, lanky and boyish enough as a teenager, and he does have the physical make-up of a human insect. Emma Stone was given a few moments to shine. Consider the scene where she learnt that Peter was Spiderman - a million thoughts registered on her face and in body language. Rhys Ifans was okay... I suppose; his character was undeveloped and he didn't overcome it.

The Amazing Spiderman is far from amazing. But there are moments that shine so bright in telling us (enticing us) of hope of the future of this franchise (Sony has declared this to be a new trilogy). A few genuinely thrilling moments don't quite make up for lost opportunities and poor judgment.