The Not-So-Amazing Spiderman

In 2001, came the very first Spiderman movie. Toby Maguire, played Peter Parker/Spiderman. It was a blockbuster, and thus came the 2 sequels. 11 years hence, director Marc Webb has cast Andrew Garfield as the AMAZING Spiderman! Garfield played Eduardo Saverin, in 2010's The Social network.

Andrew Garfiled played Eduardo Saverin in "The Social Network" (2010)

While Maguire appeared to be a bit overgrown for a school going teenager, Garfield's look perfectly matches with his role.

What remains the same?

The origin remains the same: the accursed spider-bite, in the comics it was a radioactive one, in the 1994 cartoon series it was again a radioactive spider only charged with radiation from a Neogenic Recombinator, in the 2001 movie it was a genetically enhanced spider and here we have another genetically enhanced spider (developed by Peter's own father! Wait for the "What's new?" section) which bites him and leaves him with a spider like agility, wall crawling (and annoyingly sticking to everything) ability along with the PROPORTIONATE strength of a spider! Uncle Ben, does die owing to Peter's own irresponsible behavior very much like Stan Lee's original story back in 1961. Flash Thompson is yet again a jerk who bullies other students, only that we see a milder version than that from the 2001 movie. And, lastly Spiderman's creator Stan Lee does a cameo, like all the other Marvel Comics movies. (except for The Blade, and Punisher maybe? No.. wait.. Ghost Rider too!)
Now, the whole Spider-bite thing, isn't it a bit too cliche? They could've come up with a rather more innovative origin for Spiderman. A freak gene splicing accident maybe, or maybe the use of a neogenic recombinator?

What's new?

Peter Parker here, is the son of a brilliant biochemist Richard Parker, who along with his friend/colleague Dr. Curtis Connors develops an effective gene splicing technique to transfer one species' traits to another. The very first scene shows a very young Peter being dropped in at his Uncle's place, where his parents leave him under Ben and Mary's supervision. Fast Forward: 15 years. Peter is a high schooler, a great photographer and an electronics whiz with a prowess in robotics as well. In the 2001 series Spiderman had an organic webbing, but this time round Parker develops his own uber-cool LASER-GUIDED web shooters!! (thwipp)

Killer Croc: A recurring foe of Batman

I definitely missed J.Jonah Jameson, but Captain George Stacy stepped into the foul mouthed publisher's shoes by playing an equally obnoxious part, and prejudiced Spiderman for being a two-bit criminal. Stacy, also turns out to be Gwen Stacy's father, Peter's love interest. Speaking of Gwen, everyone's favorite red-head Mary Jane Watson was not featured in the movie. Although, a cameo role from Irfan Khan, and a mention of Norman Osborn along with the mysterious plane crash killing Peter's parents suggest a sequel! And, hopefully we will see JJJ and MJ both in the sequel.

Curt Connors is a good doctor by day and a lizard mutate by night. Mutated into the LIZARD pursuing his obsession to grow back his amputated arm after splicing his DNA with the reptilian DNA, he is stopped by Spiderman, who helps him revert back to normal. Also, the lizard character largely resembles the Killer Croc from the DC Universe, and not even remotely resembling Marvel's Lizard, except for the regenerating tail!

The Costume

Ben Reilly's Spidey outfit

The costume is loosely based on the newer outfit designed by Ben Riley (a clone of Spiderman, a very looooooong and confusing story! Leave it for some other blogpost) during the brief time he donned the mantle of Spiderman. It is kinda good, and fairly realistic, but I simply hate the VISORS in his mask!!

Sequel: If any?

I have a very strong feeling regarding the production of a sequel. Many questions remain unanswered, Irfan's role, Osborn's mysterious illness and the deaths of the Parkers under suspicious circumstances.

Verdict

A one time watch, I watched Maximum a couple of days ago. The Amazing Spiderman, is not as amazing as the name suggests, but waaay better than Maximum! And, I was quite disappointed with the plot. Being, a devout Spiderman fan, it was a little awkward to see Peter Parker without his usual caustic humor. Surprisingly, Ben Parker never utters those lines which have immortalized him in the comic book history! Need I remind you? Oh C'mon!

"With Great Power..

Comes Great Responsibilty"

Also, the screenplay stands nowhere compared to the 2001 series. I sincerely hope that if they make a sequel, it turns out to be better. Needless to say I am waiting for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!