With Avengers Assemble being the superhero film to beat this year, everyone else has got a lot of work to do. Well the main trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man has just swung in and with a few weeks to go before it hits the big screen what can we learn?
It’s been clear from the start that Webb’s version was always going to have a darker tone that the Raimi incarnations. Consequently all the clips we’ve seen so far have a murkier colour palette. With the darkening that 3D glasses add to the experience, it seems it might be difficult to make out anything at all. But that’s not all, with great power apparently comes great angst and Webb appears to be playing that up with a greater focus on Spider-Man’s lost parents (the tacit understanding in the Spidey universe is that Peter Parker was raised by his Uncle and Aunt).
It’s an interesting angle to take though. Marvel have so far been about bright and colourful characters and left the moodiness to Chris Nolan and the Batman franchise. Can Spider-Man pull it off too?
Why does every superhero gain the uncanny ability to sew when they receive their powers? Not really sure what we think of the textured effect on the suit. It looks good in stills but moving about, Peter does look a bit like the world’s most agile condom. Ribbed for her pleasure? Eeeew.
It’s also the first time we get a look at the Lizard who…uh…frankly just looks indistinguishable from Killer Croc. That doesn’t bode well for a captivated villain although I have to say it does look better than the first Spider-Man’s Green Goblin.
The city does look impressive though. Eschewing Raimi’s brownstone aesthetic, Webb has instead gone for an ultra-modern look which looks spectacular – all shiny glass and night-time neon lights.
Spidey’s going to be using his traditional mechanical web-shooters that he had in the comics but they looks like glorified children’s toys. Frankly, I never saw a problem with the biological ones in the first place – surely that was a sensible retcon for something the original writers forgot to write in in the first place? Ah well, look forward to those being in all good toys shops not long after the release.
Anyway, enough griping. There’s actually some rather impressive action set pieces – a vertiginious skyscraper chase with the lizard, Spidey dangling a burning car off a bridge. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.
