Amazing Spider-Man (4 Stars)

I decided to watch this film today in preparation for going to see the sequel in the cinema this afternoon. After giving it five stars in my last two reviews I had to down-rate it this time. It's the most superfluous reboot ever. Totally unnecessary. Even if Tobey Maguire was no longer available to play Spider-Man the studio could have continued with "Spider-Man 4". Changing an actor mid-series can be an unfortunate necessity, but if it's done well it's not too unpleasant. It's best to pick a new actor who looks similar to the previous actor, but look at the James Bond films. The departure of Sean Connery, then Roger Moore, then all the others was relatively painless.

Instead of this the new guy, Marc Webb, decided to start again from the beginning and do everything differently. Peter Parker's father plays an important role in the story, even though he was hardly ever mentioned in the comics. OsCorp has become an all-powerful corporate entity in New York, responsible not only for Spider-Man but for all the super-villains. Spider-Man's origin was simplified. There are some similarities between Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" and "The Amazing Spider-Man", but whenever they differ Sam Raimi's version was better and closer to the original comics. Maybe with one exception: the reboot follows the comics and makes the web shooters mechanical, not organic as in Sam Raimi's version.

The trouble is that Marc Webb was -- and still is? -- a beginner. Before this film he had only directed one other film. Maybe if he had waited another ten years he would have honed his skills and been able to make a better Spider-Man film. This project was way too big for him.

On the other hand, if the Spider-Man film franchise really had to be rebooted, it could have been done better. We could have seen Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man at 15, the right age. By choosing the right actor -- definitely not Andrew Garfield -- we could have kept him in school for a few films. We could have seen his rivalry with Flash Thompson develop, as well as his relationship with Liz Allan and other schoolmates. Oh well, it's too late now. Maybe that's an idea for the next reboot.