Most of us were a bit disappointed to hear Sam Raimi's Spider-Man saga was ending and the franchise was being rebooted, but mostly because the film geek community tends to abhor remakes. And yet, with Spider-Man 3 being the wreck that it was, the relaunch isn't nearly as contentious as it should be. Marc Webb's new take on the webslinger, The Amazing Spider-Man swings into theaters on July 3rd, and we finally have a trailer that gives us a look at not only some Spidey (Andrew Garfield) action sequences but the Lizard (Rhys Ifans) as well. The trailer debuted online at midnight last night, and it's quite promising.
As long as the internet, film geeks, and superhero films coexist, every trailer of every superhero film will be picked to pieces, and each of those pieces will then be analyzed to see if there's some hidden bonus that most people overlooked. We're happy to leave that to more dedicated individuals, but we couldn't help but notice a few things that gave us pause.
- The sum of the Lizard seems less than the parts: When the camera shows only portions of the Lizard (just a hand, tail, etc.) it's everything you'd want to see from the villain in a major motion picture. But when the camera gives us a full body shot, the effect is significantly less impressive, and almost awkward looking. Maybe they're still touching up the Lizard special effects in the months leading up to July, but if not, moments like Spider-man swinging toward the Lizard atop a tower are going to be less impressive than those when just a giant scaly hand or tail pop into the frame.
- Denis Leary might actually be able to tone down his personality: I laughed a bit when I heard Denis Leary was cast as the stern Police Chief Stacy, because let's face it, though it may still be New York and a little bit of sarcasm is expected from our legal protectors, it seemed hard to conceive of Leary dialing back. After all, he's usually cast specifically because of his ever-present snark. The trailer suggests he just might be acting in The Amazing Spider-Man, with his sarcasm only penetrating at certain moments.
- Oscorp & Peter Parker's Papa's Past: There are many hints to a deeper paternal story lurking beneath the very familiar story of Peter Parker living with his aunt and uncle, and they've even managed to tie it, somehow, into Oscorp. Fans of Spider-Man lore know Oscorp to be the launching point for Norman Osborne as the original Green Goblin, and then many other Goblins to follow. Does this imply that should Webb's version perform well and Sony keeps this new franchise going that we'll inevitably be seeing another Green Goblin on the screen?
- Spider-man taunting: The scene in the cab where Spidey berates a thief for thinking he's a cop suggests we might see a Spider-Man with a mouth, but few of the other scenes really hint at that. If anything, most of the combat scenes have him doing breathless stunts that are considerably less bright and smooth (in how practiced they seem) than Raimi's. That fits though for a Spider-Man film where the hero is supposed to be a teenager somewhat out of his depth and struggling to adapt to his new abilities (vs Raimi's where Spidey's crime fighting finesse seemed to kick in almost immediately).
There's plenty more subtle clues to be found in there, like what could be an extended battle in a sewer between the Lizard and Spidey, but overall the action looks promising and webbing method looks much cooler.
Here's hoping for a reboot that lasts longer than three movies.
