We finally have our first look at the Spider-Man Reboot. If you've missed it, or want a second look, here it is.
Right of the bat I noticed something different from previous installments of Spider-Man. (Intallments I've seen anyway) The first big one is the inclusion of Peter's parents. Usually his parents, though they might have been mentioned, aren't the most prominent parent figures in his life; Uncle Ben and Aunt May are. It looks like his real parents, though, play an important role in this movie, and I suspect there's something else at work here.
Peter's personal life also seems a little different. He appears to be a bit of a recluse in high school, kind of shy and in the background, and less of a nerd. This kind of ties in to the parents element, and is one of the reasons I think something else is at play here. I think this trailer is trying to call forth memories of Batman Begins.
I had the same issue with the first Green Lantern Trailer feeling too much like Iron Man. In that case it was the "irresponsible guy who has to save the world" feel that they were trying to capture. In this case it's the "guy with leftover angst from the death of his parents who is driven to save the world" feel. Nothing wrong with either of them, but, in Spider-Man's case, is it really appropriate?
Take the first moment of the trailer. The shot of the city and the accompanying sound immediately made me think of similar first shots in the Batman trailers, and in my book that isn't a good thing. It then goes on to the scene with his parents and his angst, during which a shot of Peter against the city reminds me of an early shot in Batman Begins. The problem is Peter is not Bruce Wayne, and shouldn't need him to advertise his movie. I don't have a problem with darker storylines than we've had, but to me Spider-Man has never been as dark as Batman, and shouldn't be. There's always a lighter element, which this trailer is lacking.
Article comments
1 - dave
This sucks
2 - Cam-nog
I attended the big Sony Pictures panel this weekend in San Diego at Comic Con 2011 and I have to say wait until you see more. We watched about 10 min of "raw" footage in various scenes total. I totally get what they're doing. They're trying to pique your interest in these weird background elements the first film didn't explore, but the comics did. The footage shows a much more humorous fun Spider-man and a bit of a goofy, awkward Peter. The spectrum that Garfield shows in only a few of those minutes far exceeds what we saw from Tobey in the first 3 films. That's no disrespect to the first two because they were awesome flicks and were totally necessary to get the world ready for a film like this. I thought it was pretty cool!
3 - Jason Richard
Cam-Nog. That's certainly interesting to know, it's just that the trailer doesn't seem to capture the fun you mention. I'd like to see more of that myself. That being said I'm glad you like what you've seen from the footage; it's actually a bit more reassuring than the trailer itself :)