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'Amazing Spider-Man' trailer shows a dark story

The new 'Amazing Spider-Man' trailer depicts hero Peter Parker trying to discover the truth about his parents.

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Jaimie Trueblood/Columbia Sony Pictures/AP
In the new 'Amazing Spider-Man' trailer, Peter Parker seems like more of a modern-day, average teenager than the portrayal actor Tobey Maguire brought to the superhero in the first trilogy of films.
  • By Sandy Schaefer Screen Rant

Not about to be outdone by the theatrical release of Marvel’s The Avengers (read our review) – with Warner Bros.’ third Dark Knight Rises trailer tagging along – Sony has gone ahead and unveiled a third (and final?) trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man, a controversial revamping of the webslinger movie franchise.

The latest theatrical promo for Andrew Garfield’s debut as Peter Parker will also be attached to Avengers prints. But even armed with some fantastic 3D effects, plus a potpourri of classic and modernized elements from the comics, can this Spider-Man reboot really go toe-to-toe with this summer’s superhero movie juggernauts?

Judging by this latest trailer: Amazing Spider-Man should at least put up a pretty dang good fight, as far as justifying Sony’s decision to reboot the franchise goes.

The darker color palette and 3D visuals shown here look overall quite crisp, even without the benefit of the big screen – though, much like the latest Dark Knight Rises trailer, this Amazing Spider-Man footage will clearly benefit from being viewed in a theater (especially in 3D). Much of that also holds true for the film’s version of The Lizard, who comes off as a pretty solid CGI/motion-capture creation.

Similarly, it’s fun to see Garfield playing a version of Peter Parker that feels truer to the character so many comic book readers have fallen in love with over the years – be it his mad science skills, trash-talking his foes when he dons the Spidey costume, or seeming more like a genuine modern-day teenager when spending time with his girl Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and her family.

What new hints are provided of the film’s “untold story” (re: the disappearance of Pete’s biological parents and their connection to Oscorp) are not only intriguing, but also allude to a greater mythology than can be covered in one movie.

Considering that Sony already has an Amazing Spider-Man sequel in the works, that could be read as a sign of confidence in the final product – though, admittedly, previous superhero movies have suffered by getting ahead of themselves like that (Green Lantern, looking at you).

Overall, this new footage continues to give us reason to think that Amazing Spider-Man could actually be a pretty great addition to the superhero movie pantheon, on its own. Whether or not it will suffer from being sandwiched between two comic book movie “events” this summer, that’s another matter…

Sandy Schaefer blogs at Screen Rant.

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