Director Mark Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, opened at theaters nationwide last night at midnight. And while reviews have been generally favorable, it seems like audiences and critics are suffering from Spider-fatigue. After all, it was only five years ago that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire took the wall-crawler for a spin. A new take on the franchise so soon after the last is practically getting into sequel territory in terms of timing (and, in fact, Amazing went into production shortly after Spider-Man 4 was axed in early 2010). In perusing the negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, it becomes apparent that the new film’s major weakness is in being a retread.
We’re getting another origin story almost exactly a decade after the first (ten years, two months, to the day). And by a director who is best known for a drama/comedy/romance about hipsters dating.
And yet.
I still want to see it. Badly.
Why? I loved the first two Raimi films. Raimi built a colorful, believable world that was nonetheless faithful to the comics, while injecting a very real humanity into the hero and his villains. Tobey Maguire did a fantastic job of playing Peter Parker.
Ah, but there’s the issue. Maguire played Peter Parker. Spider-Man was clearly secondary to him as an actor.
In this interview from the European press tour in 2002, Maguire explains what he found interesting about the role:
“I think the character is a very relatable character. There’s a lot to do there, there’s a lot to research and work on and bring to life. He’s a superhero, but, as you said, he’s a normal, kind of ordinary kid who’s an underdog. I love underdogs… And then he gets bitten by the genetically enhanced spider, and he gets superpowers and has to grow up and learn how to take responsibility for himself and his life and his actions… He’s a complicated character with different aspects and he’s struggling to find his way as most human beings are. I feel that he’s rooted in a reality and an honesty that I appreciate in filmmaking.”
In watching interviews with Maguire about the films and the character, I feel like there’s a certain clinical detachment. He approached the film from a craft perspective. Maguire was a dramatic actor looking for an interesting dramatic role. This one just happened to involve superpowers.
The key moment of the interview happens at 1:52 in the video above.
“Q: Are you a fan of Spider-Man? Did you grow up with the comic?”
“Maguire: I did not. I never read comics as a kid.”
“Q: Not at all?”
“Maguire: Never, no.”
He leaves it at that. That’s the actor’s final word on the comics and the character. He had no intrinsic love for Spider-Man and it showed in the films. While he was great in the role, it always seemed like he was at his best when playing Peter, and especially when Peter was not having a good time.
Andrew Garfield, on the other hand, has worn his heart on his sleeve since day one. For many fans, he won us over around this time last year, during the Amazing Spider-Man panel ad San Diego Comic-Con.
In the vast, cavernous space of the San Diego Convention Center’s Hall H, a lanky kid in a cheap, store-bought Spider-Man costume and fanny pack walks up to the mic at the beginning of Sony’s presentation, and insists on being heard. He reveals himself to be actor Andrew Garfield, standing out among the audience. And while this may have been staged, the giddiness, the emotion in his voice as it cracks while he reads from the loose pages in his shaking hands – that feels so genuine it’s heart-breaking.
“You have no idea how much this means to me… Stan Lee says that the reason why Spidey is so popular is because all of us can relate to him, and I agree. I needed Spidey in my life, when I was a kid, and he gave me hope. Every comic I read, he was living out my, and every skinny boy’s, fantasy…of being stronger, of being free of the body I was born into, and that swinging sensation of flight. And, upon receiving his power, unlike most, who become corrupted, he used it for good. And I think we all wish that we had the courage to stick up for ourselves more… to stick up for our loved ones more, or even a stranger you see being mistreated. And Peter Parker has inspired me to feel stronger. He made me, Andrew, braver, he reassured me that, by doing the right thing, it’s worth it, it’s worth the struggle, worth the pain, it’s worth even the tears, the bruises and the blood. And I wouldn’t be able to stand here, in front of you guys right now without feeling like Spider-Man was here with his reassuring hand on my shoulder, making sure I don’t fall over and concuss myself. And he has inspired countless people, girls, boys, men, women, all of us. And he has saved lives. He saved my life. And I owe Web-Head a lot, and I owe Stan the Man a lot. And I am humbled to be here like you do not know, to share the work that we’ve done with all of you. This is my first Comic Con and… this is definitely the coolest moment of my life. Thank you for being here and sharing it with me.”
And that’s why I want to see The Amazing Spider-Man. It’s not because of the story. I’ve seen this story hundreds of times. It’s not because of a visionary director – I have The Dark Night Rises for that. It’s not even that this is a Spider-Man who seems genuinely funny and snarky and fun. The Avengers gave us an excellent superhero story that was full of genuine warmth and humor amid all the world-threatening chaos.
It’s because of the love. Because I can’t watch that clip without tearing up at how sincere and happy Garfield is. I will pay my ticket to watch a fellow fan live out his dream, a geek expressing his love in the best way he knows how, and who knows it will never get better than this.
