Twelve for 2012 Part Six: The Amazing Spider-Man


After setting off last Thursday with The Hunger Games, reaching base camp with Avengers Assemble last Friday, navigating a narrow path called Men in Black 3 last Saturday, being dragged down the mountain by Snow White and the Huntsman on Sunday, and being given a helping hand by Prometheus on Monday (there ain’t no mountain high enough…), we’re now at a distinctly familiar steep section called The Amazing Spider-Man, and it’s time for part six of Twelve for 2012. Beginning the second half (well, not really a half…) of the feature, it’s the one with the spandex, the mutant, and the untold story. Part six, The Amazing Spider-Man!

THE GOOD STUFF

Admit it. You thought that the second trailer, released early last month, was pretty awesome. Maybe you didn’t. Maybe you’re looking for more explosions (explosion count in second trailer: none). In that case, go watch the trailer for Battleship, which I have pointedly ignored on this list, because (a it looks awful, and (b the guys who made it admire Micheal Bay and love the recent Transformers movies. Go figure. Anyway, I digress. The second trailer packed Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone showing off their on-screen chemistry, the mechanical web-shooters in action, loads of Lizard action, and, wait for it… SPIDER-MAN’S IDENTITY REVEALED ALREADY! BY COPS!

Well, it’s got Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man/Peter Parker. If you’ve seen The Social Network (where he played Mark Zuckerburg’s best friend, Eduardo), you’ll know that he’s a really, really good actor. And not only that, he’s a comic book fan. And not only THAT, he’s a fan of the Spider-Man comics in particular. Spider-Man was who he identified with as a teenager. And when he slipped on the spandex for the first time, he actually shed a tear, which shows that he really is a proper fan. And because of this, he should be really good. Fingers crossed.

I haven’t picked up a comic book in my life, but I do know a fair bit about them. Such as the mechanical web-shooters, Gwen Stacy, and the quips. All of which didn’t feature in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, (aside from Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3) and do feature in this movie. This should please the comic-book fans, and this means… more MONEY. Yes, it’s MONEY again. And even I would like something that ties in to the comic books, and as I’ve said, I’ve never read one.

Good release date: July 3. Protected from the titan of The Dark Knight Rises, so it’ll hopefully thrive in its early summer holiday slot. Good call, Columbia, good call.

THE BAD STUFF

This isn’t a problem for me, at all, but it’s a problem for a helluva lot of people. You can probably guess what I’m about to say: it’s a reboot, with the same origin story that was seen 10 years ago. You can bring in a new love interest, change the web-shooters, bring in a new villain and put more emphasis on an untold story, but you cannot cover yourself completely. Cynics will simply ignore this movie. Fans of Raimi’s trilogy won’t go. The viewer who’s old enough to be at a reasonable age to have seen the first Raimi movie might not bother. I’m not annoyed, because I was three when the first Raimi movie came out, and I’ve never seen the origin story on the big screen (although I have seen all three films at least twice. I do like them, quite a lot.), but the cynicism could damage the box-office profits.

And one more con: there simply aren’t any, and you’re going to see this crop up again in a future part very soon indeed. I am really very excited about this movie, and because of that, there aren’t any more negatives to tell you, really. At least for me.

Spider-Man Begins?

Will it be good? I’ve answered this question already in the pros/cons, but just for the record: yes. Yes, it will be good.

How much money will it make? With a great release date and the chance to bring in a legion of new fans (I can proudly say that I was here before them), no reboot cynicism will stop this from being a hit. I reckon just below Raimi levels, so about $700 million.

Next time: I face Twelve for 2012’s ugly duckling, as fourquel Ice Age: Continental Drift drifts under my microscope for a spot of battering.