I'm a Spider-Man fan from way back, let's get that on deck right now. I've been following the character on and off from the early 70s. In fact, although he is my second favorite superhero, behind Superman, one of his 70s era issues, where he punched it up with a villain called the Smasher, I had my Dad read to me until he was tired of it and until the book was battered and falling apart. The Spidey segments on the PBS show, The Electric Company... remember those?
So, my web is layered deep and I consider it a blessing to be living in an age to see adaptations of beloved characters like Spider-man come to the screen in glorious life. Sure, the corporate machinations in the background can tarnish the gold of this golden age, but better than nothing. Such as those who complain that the Amazing series is too soon a reboot after Sam Raimi's run. Well..maybe. Two thirds of Raimi's run on adapting the adventures of the wall crawler was great. And even his third film had great parts. But...Sony knows they have a popular character in Spidey and though many would like to see the rights go over to Disney/Marvel, I personally would rather see his adventures go on than have him lie fallow. Like I always say, I only ask one thing in any adaptation.
Make it good.
So now, a new series with Mark Webb. The first Amazing was a retelling of the familiar origin story of Spidey, which you know the deal, radioactive spider, wall clinging, Uncle Ben/Aunt May, Great Power, etc. But it altered the mix a bit, with mixed results, with the mystery of Peter Parker's parents, the increased machinations of Oscorp and the like.
Now, Sony, inspired/worried by the success of Disney/Marvel's cinematic universe, want to try to build their own mini-verse. Can that be done? Is that wise? Well...consider this. Spider-Man, being one of Marvel's more popular properties, has often supported more than one title at a time. He does have a rather large and complicated mythology at that point. So the precedence has been set, this CAN be done. If done right.
So...did AS2 do this right? Well...what they did right was the characterization. Although I do enjoy Tobey Hooper's performance as the character, I think Andrew Garfield has brought out more the joy and FUN of being Spider-Man. His Peter Parker is still an everyman, but less awkward. He is still deeply caring and concerned about the effect of his deeds upon his loved ones, but he finds those moments not only for fun, but his love for the people, especially of his city. We also have gotten an intro to J Jonah Jameson, whom I suspect will play a bigger role in the Amazing Spider-verse, cinematic style.
What did it do "wrong"? Well, it did the same thing that the third Raimi film did, trying to shove ten pounds of sausage into a five pound casing. Tons of characters, tons of plot points, tons of attempted connections. And while it was overstuffed, it didn't feel as irrelevant as some of the flailings in Spider-Man III. Also, though some of the character intros were rushed, none of them were handled as remotely badly as Venom in SMIII. Electro was well handled, though altered quite a bit from his comic origins. Rhino, though the screen time was small, still liked. And Green Goblin? Was kinda iffy on the costume, but liked the portrayal. Also, we saw hints at much, much more to come.
So...more Amazing...bring on the Sinister Six. So far...still on board.
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