Only five years have passed since the uncermonious close to Sam Raimi‘s trilogy, but your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will be swinging back into theaters next Friday. In The Amazing Spider-Man, gone is the gee-whiz spectacle and dopey antics of Tobey Maguire, replaced with a darkness du jour that occupies many comic book movies cranked out these days. Andrew Garfield, who made a splash as Mark Zuckerburg’s punching bag in The Social Network, dons the costume as Peter Parker. Directorial duties are being handled by Marc Webb, hired after the studios took note of the way he manuvered through tricky romcom relationship territory in (500) Days of Summer.
So, this time around, Spider-Man will be hewing closer to the comic storyline, but will that make for a better movie? Read on to see what the early critics have had to say so far.
Dave Calhoun of Time Out in a fresh review: “We’re never far from romance or laughs, and at times The Amazing Spider-Man feels like a romcom upgraded to include 3D and industrial cobwebs.”
Nick Curtis of This is London in the film’s sole rotten review so far: “Webb’s film is slow on plot, skimpy on character development.”
Boyd van Hoeij of Variety in a fresh review: “A mostly slick, entertaining and emotionally involving recombination of fresh and familiar elements.”
Jordan Mintzer of Hollywood Reporter in a fresh review: “The Amazing Spider-Man reboots the top grossing Marvel franchise to altogether satisfying results.”
Sounds like so far, so good. Competent and satisfying, if not yet a consensus reached that it’s totally thrilling. For reference, the original Spider-Man was Certified Fresh at 89%, Spider-Man 2 was also Certified Fresh at 93%, and Spider-Man 3 was merely fresh at 63%.
The Amazing Spider-Man is out in theaters July 3rd. Keep an eye on Rotten Tomatoes for the latest reviews, news, pictures, and trailers as the date approaches.
