July 8, 2012

​

This is a reboot of the Spider-Man series. And it's darker and delves more into Peter Parker's (Andrew Garfield) parents, who disappeared when he was 4 years old. This film also starts where the comics started with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) as Parker's first love and Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), Parker's father's former partner.



As a brief summary, the film starts out with a 4-year-old Park discovering his father's study broken into. Immediately, his father gathers all of his important documents on his research and they head to Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May's (Sally Field). They leave Parker with his aunt and uncle and are never heard from again. Fast forward to Parker in high school, as a sort of loner taking pictures of Stacy from afar and getting into fights with the popular kids.



After finding his father's old research in the basement, Parker heads to Oscorp seeking out Dr. Connors to get answers about his past and his parents. He joins a tour with interns, lead by Stacy, and after impressing Connors with his knowledge of the research, he wanders off into a room filled with spiders. One gets on him and bites him, and well, you know what happens next. With his newfound 'power' and strength, Parker has a lot of fun getting back at the bullies, but in the process he shirks his responsibilities with his aunt and uncle. One night, he gets in an argument with Uncle Ben and leaves. As Ben searches for him, Parker heads into a store and is a few cents short. After he goes to leave, someone robs the store and he does nothing but look on and then walk away. The robber gets away and runs into Ben on the street and after a struggle, Ben is shot and lays dying in Parker's arms on the street.



Parker vows from that moment to use his new power to search for Ben's killer and avenge his uncle's death. He starts crime-fighting, searching for that same robber. Of course, the police think this 'Spider-Man' is not all that good.



In the meantime, Connors is working on a special formula to combine the DNA of different species to re-generate limbs, etc. With the help of Parker, they solve the formula, but as with all new serums, it still needs to be tested. However, Norman Osborn wants it immediately. So, Dr. Rajit Ratha, who works for Osborn, fires Connors and decides to take the formula to test on humans. In a panic, Connors injects himself with the formula and he turns into The Lizard, heading straight to the bridge where Ratha is, to take back the formula. This is where Spider-Man first meets The Lizard, realizes it's Connors and decides to seek him out and stop him.

After a battle in the sewer, where Connors has constructed a lab for more experiments on himself, he realizes Parker is Spider-Man and attacks him at the high school. Parker learns that Connors plans to release this formula into the air from the Oscorp Tower to infect the entire city. Parker then sends Stacy to the lab to create an antidote to reverse the affects.



And then there is the ultimate battle scene in the last half hour, as the entire city, which now realizes that Spider-Man is good, pitches in to help him get to the Tower to stop The Lizard, who has already infected some people with the formula. Parker heads to the top of the Tower, as Stacy's father, Capt. George Stacy (Dennis Leary), gets the antidote from Stacy to try and help Parker. While battling The Lizard together, he gets injured. Luckily Parker makes it to the machine in time and saves the city. As the antidote reverses the formula, Parker heads to Capt. Stacy, where the police captain makes Parker promise to stay away from Stacy to protect her, as he takes his last breath.



The film ends with Parker trying hard to avoid Stacy, but he just can't stay away. And as the credits roll, Connors is greeted by Osborn himself in jail, where he tells Osborn to leave Parker alone.



This film was great all around. After the horrible last film with Tobey Maguire, I was worried the series would just end. But Garfield and Stone make a great pair and give this series the kickstart it needed. I will say that it did take a while to retell the story of how Parker becomes Spider-Man, but I think I was bored because I knew the story already. But I did think the set-up was well done and did the comics justice. I also saw it in IMAX 3D, which made the entire last half hour amazing. Please see this film in the theater this summer, you will not be disappointed. While it is no Avengers, it is still an amazing film (no pun intended).

​

3.5 stars.