THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN has had critics ever since the announcement was made that a director other than Sam Raimi would be helming an adventure featuring the friendly neighborhood webslinger. Marc Webb, Andrew Garfield, and Emma Stone set out to create a more gritty and DARK KNIGHT-esque superhero film while also creating a darker and more conspiracy-centric origin for Peter Parker’s superpowers. The results were box office gold while fans were lukewarm on the film. But, with the announcement that this summer’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 will be followed by two more sequels and a slew of villain-focused spin-offs, fans began to worry that Sony would be oversaturating the market with Spider-man.
Then, the trailers came out showcasing a much brighter, looser, and CGI-friendly adventure in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. Gone is the gritty realism in favor of brightly colored comic book hues and tons of villains. But, will it work? Star Andrew Garfield thinks so and also has some choice words regarding the film. In an interview with IGN, Andrew Garfield addressed how they approached making THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 after rebooting the series just a few years ago.
In the first movie we were obligated to retreading the origin story which Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi did so beautifully. But now that that’s done, we get to own the character as filmmakers and we get to own it as Peter. There is a life imitating art kind of thing going on, I think. So, I am super excited because [THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2] was more fun to make. Because of that, I think when I put on that suit I felt freer, I felt like, you know, I can’t think of a word to use that is not the F-word, but like screw the critics, screw the scrutiny. And, you know, that is the motto for life as well.”
Garfield explains it that, like Peter, the filmmakers decided to forget what everyone thought and just make this movie their own because you can only make the movie you want to make. While movies are made for their audiences, there is something to be said for not becoming bogged down in the criticism that pervades the Internet and setting out just to make the best movie you can.
I was a fan of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, but the sequel already looks a hell of a lot more like Sam Raimi‘s trilogy. The picture is brighter, the action is over the top and fun, and I will venture to say that Andrew Garfield looks and sounds a lot more like the comic book character than Tobey Maguire ever did. It remains to be seen if that holds true outside of the trailers, but consider me along for the ride.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 hits theaters on May 2, 2014.