I read last week’s Amazing Spider-Man feature in Entertainment Weekly last week and was excited to read what director Marc Webb was aiming for in terms of the tone of the film. Sure, we’re talking about a kid who gets bit by a radioactive spider—but Webb seems interested in presenting a story with one foot firmly planted in reality.
And I get that sense in the trailer which was released today by Sony. There’s something more epic feeling about the story that relaunches the franchise next year. I was surprised to see that Richard and Mary Parker (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz, respectively) were not only featured in the trailer, but their mysterious fate appears to be a key element of the plot.
And we were worried that Webb was going down familiar territory too soon. I was pretty shocked and excited by this. I appreciate an adaptation that doesn’t feel forced to slavishly recreate the beloved source material. All I’m looking for is something that is respectful to the book’s classic characters and maintains the spirit of the comics—there is a reason people have been reading them for 50 years Ms. Taymor.
In the Entertainment Weekly article Webb says the following about immersing the audience in 3-D: “You’re going to see the world through his eyes.” This is clear in the teaser in which Spidey climbs walls and soars across the New York skyline. “I wanted the audience to feel what it’s like to be Spider-Man.”
This is the only part of the trailer that doesn’t feel right for me. I’m going to chalk it up to incomplete effects (the film recently finished principal photography and is now beginning several months of special effects work). However, I tend to not like these types of scenes because I feel like I’m watching someone play a video game. Other than this minor quibble, I’m incredibly excited for this new reboot. Spider-Man deserves a long and healthy celluloid life.
The Amazing Spider-Man swings into theater on July 3, 2012.
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