May 23rd, 2012 
Justin Proper 
Under The Gun is continuing our efforts to bring you more original and engaging content with REASONABLE REMAKES. Written by film-nerd Justin Proper, this column aims to highlight Hollywood’s forgotten gems and spark debate.
You see, we’ve grown tired of Hollywood rehashing ideas we’re old enough to remember. Why remake something the majority of the planet still remembers and loves deeply when there are tons of films that deserve a chance to be as great as modern technology and skill can make them? If you agree, this column is for you.
Ever since it was announced The Amazing Spider-Man was met with mixed reactions. One opinion kept coming up every time the movie was discussed around me though: “Why?”. For most of the public this remake seems to be way too close on the heels of Spider-Man 3. Everyone still remembers the Spider-Man trilogy that just came out a few years earlier. From the minute I saw the first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man I was sold, and I’m going to enlighten you as to why.
The first thing that struck me about the new Spider-Man was that it seems to be more true to the comics in some aspects. In this version Peter Parker designed the web shooters, they are not just part of his powers. This was something that really bugged (ha, get it?) a lot of fans with the first trilogy. By having Spidey design his web shooters it helps establish how smart Peter Parker really is. Now I am not saying that Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man was dumb by any means, but he was not portrayed nearly as smart as he should have been. Another thing is the inclusion of Gwen Stacy in the new movie. This is huge. Mary Jane was in no way Peter Parker’s first love, it was always Gwen. Including her in the new movie as the love interest is a very smart move, plus Emma Stone is totally hot.
Let's all pretend she's not playing a high school student so this isn't creepy, ok?
Some people are upset about the new movie because they feel that Tobey Maguire will always be the best Spider-Man, I am going to have to disagree. Having only seen the trailers for the new film I still like Andrew Garfield better, and a lot of that is probably due to the script. Macguire was great, but something was missing. Spider-Man did not seem to have the right kind of personality. He still made jokes, but they did not feel like classic Spidey banter. In the new movie Spidey makes fun of the bad guys the way he does in the comics. It sounds almost perfect compared to the last Spider-Man, which is the way it should be.
"You found my weakness! It's small knives!"
Getting past all the nerdy comic book reasons I like the new Spider-Man, we still have some tech things that make me favor The Amazing Spider-Man over the Spider-Man trilogy. I know a lot of you caught the trailer and thought “Oh great, another movie in 3D, like we need that!”. Well slow down, you need to understand something. The Amazing Spider-Man was SHOT in 3D. This is not just your typical crappy post production shit show. When movies are shot in 3D it makes the experience magical instead of tedious. Remember how great the newest Harold and Kumar was in theaters? That is because it was shot in 3D, with 3D being the plan all along. The minute I saw the first-person web slinging sequence in The Amazing Spider-Man trailer I was sold. That sequence made my stomach jump when I saw it in the best way.
Aside from all those goodies, the new Spider-Man movie also boasts a far more established cast. Sure, Peter Parker is played by a relatively unknown actor, but his family is not. Martin Sheen and Sally Field are playing Uncle Ben and Aunt May. I can not imagine a better Aunt May than Sally Field. In addition to that we have Denis Leary as Captain Stacy (Gwen’s father and police captain). Dennis Leary is the perfect actor to be the public antagonist speaking out against the vigilante Spider-Man.
There will never be a better asshole than Denis Leary.
The bottom line is The Amazing Spider-Man is not just a remake of the original Spider-Man movies. It is a darker, more traditional, tale of the web slinger that has taken a whole new angle on the story. With its comic roots, great cast, and amazing 3D this movie promises to be much more than its predecessor. If nothing else at least these guys have not ruined Venom yet…
"I love how they made Venom in Spider-Man 3!" -Nobody
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Denis Leary stole the role of Captain Stacy from Bill Hicks!
I don’t understand why people hated number 3 so much. I enjoyed it at the time but I’ll be the first to admit it wasn’t perfect by any means. It had its flaws, but the way fan boys go on you’d think it was Batman and Robin.
Judging by the trailers, this version of Spider Man won’t be too bad of a movie for a large screen video game designed for audiences to watch rather than play.
I have to agree completely with this article. And to max, you have a point on some level. When I first watched when I was 16, I thought it was the best Spider-Man movie ever. Now I’m an adult and found so many things about the movie to be just bad though. I realized that even as a movie goer and not a Spider_man fan, it was just okay, but as a hardcore Spider-Man fan it’s horrible. I’m not trying to discredit your opinion, it’s just my thoughts on the matter.
Back to the article: I agree in every way, and love how they decided to keep to the comic roots more closely. Raimi’s films did so too, very closely, but from a different perspective and omitted a lot of material as well. That’s what’s got people freaked out. Marc Webb is trying to show us a new take but with mixed roots of the Ultimate comics and Amazing comics which I respect, and on top of that we SEEM to be getting a more down to earth cast and story. Raimi’s films seems very fairytale like, or rather what a Spider-Man movie from the 80’s would be like if the technology was available.
When I say all that though, I don’t mean to sound like the Raimi films were horrible. On the contrary. I actually love Sam Raimi’s films, and love his style of horror and just the way he directs. I just feel that now that he’s gone, we can get to a Spider-Man that feels more like it’s placed in New York and that it could maybe happen. And like Justin said in the article, I’m happy about the webshooters MOST of all. It dramatizes Peter’s intelligence to a whole new level unlike the Raimi films. A lot of people hate this and thinks this as unbelievable that a high school student can do this, but to be fair, as an example, a lot of people LOVE the Iron Man films and can believe that a singular man can create these suits of armor and miniature arc reactors that have immense power. Meanwhile the government and misc. companies can’t come even close. ( I love Iron Man, just using him as an example :P)
If there’s ONE THING I DON’T LIKE about the reboot is the skateboard. Peter was never meant for a skateboard in any continuity even if it’s after he got his powers. If he has it before he gets his powers, I’ll still be pissed. But regardless, I’m also a big fan of Andrew Garfield and think that he’ll do an amazing job. I really believe him to be Peter Parker. I also think he’ll do Spidey’s wisecracking some real justice.
NOW WE HAVE SOMETHING TO COMPAR IT TO AND THINK ABOUT BEFORE YOU DID HAVE TO DO THAT AND THAT IS WHY YOU LIKE IT WITH THE THREE MOVIES THATS ALL YOU NEW AT THE TIME YOU SAW THEM AND YOU WOULD THINK THEIR BE A TIME WHEN YOU WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO COMPAR THEM WITH OR THINK ABOUT IT MAY HELP YOU LIKE IT FOR A DIFFERT RESON ALL TOGETHER OR SEEING IT TO AND WHAT YOU READ ON TOP OF THEIS PAGE TO. WILL HELP THE MOVIE TO BECOME HIT IN THE END