Spidey senses

In theaters Friday: The Dark Knight Rises, The Queen of Versailles
New on Blu-ray: Casa de mi Padre, Friends with Kids

Like Christopher Nolan’s similarly successful comic series do-over, 2005’s Batman Begins—that series comes to a conclusion this Friday with The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man is a promising new chapter in the Spidey legacy because it focuses squarely on a flawed, often reluctant, tragedy-strewn hero’s journey, the first wobbly steps to finding a new identity and a new purpose as a symbol; one that isn’t orphaned or outcast, but inevitably misunderstood.

Starring Andrew Garfield as a science wiz and shutterbug (whose feet are perpetually attached to a beat-up skateboard in this iteration), and Emma Stone and the sweet, brainy valedictorian-type who sees in him what the bullies and the popular kids miss, director Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man justifies its existence based on the care and consummate detail placed on these central characters alone.

Raised by this aging Aunt May and Uncle Ben after his parents mysteriously disappeared when he was a child, Parker is a teen who just doesn’t fit in anywhere. Not at school where he’s smarter and more introverted than everyone else, and not at home either, where the vacuum left by his parents absence threatens to consume him and the tender relationship he has with his well-meaning aunt and uncle.

But, like any good hero’s journey, a chance discovery sets our loveable loner on a path to discover who his father really was, connect with girl of his dreams and face a dark enemy of his own making. Powerful, iconic struggles all around, but ones never overcooked, even for a film focused on a theme of responsibility. Multiple actors use the word at least a handful of times: out of frustration, for inspiration, for spite.

The strength of this version is the grounded drama of so many relationships under strain. The first electric tug of romance, the torturous and grateful mixed emotions that come with father- and mother-figures but not fathers and mothers, the fight-or-flight anxiety over a bully.

That’s not to say this Spider-Man is all woeful teen angst and tear-jerking drama. An underground throw-down with The Lizard, the film’s mad scientist-turned-mutant—and the breathless rescue of a young boy dangling in a car off of a bridge under attack offer tense thrills and remind audiences of the power computer generated action can have when used properly and precisely instead of in gross numbers.

The supporting cast is excellent, from Denis Leary as by-the-books Capt. Stacy, to heartfelt readings by Sally Field and Martin Sheen as Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

With the slimmest material of all the leads, Rhys Ifans plays Dr. Curt Connors with nuance—or at least as subtle as a giant walking lizard has any right to be on screen. This isn’t a great film for villainous scene chewing, thankfully. This is Peter Parker’s story, and what we see of Connors and The Lizard is just how they fit into that story.

Garfield and Stone are perfectly cast, both in their roles and for each other. Whether scripted or improved—and there were a few moments of improvisation—the chemistry between them remains the cornerstone of the film, unlike the previous Spider-Man outings that saw Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, both talents in there own right, often appear to be acting in separate movies all together.

Garfield won the role in part because after auditioning he sent a photo to director Marc Webb of himself as a child sporting a Spider-Man suit. With his wirey frame, quick wit and the ability to project an awkward intellect on screen, Garfield seems to have been born for this role.

And what a role it is. This Parker gets shot, pounded to a pulp (both inside his suit and out of it), delivers emotional daggers into the hearts of the only adults who love him unconditionally—his beloved Aunt May and Uncle Ben. His emotions run deeper than Maguire’s did, slashing through and bubbling up in unexpected ways and inopportune times. He is, after all, a teenager.

In 2007, after an overblown and disappointing Spider-Man 3, I thought I was officially done with the web-slinger. If this is the type of pulpy, resonant fare Webb can weave with Garfield and Stone, count me back in.