Meet Peter swing fellow

Sunday 1 July 2012

Ten years ago director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man paved the way for a new wave of superhero movies – from Batman Begins to Avengers Assemble – which have given the genre some credibility to go with the popcorn appeal.

Andrew Garfield brings a new vulnerability and edginess to the suited hero in The Amazing Spider-Man, which fails to escape its comic book back story

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FILMS OF THE WEEK: The Amazing Spider-Man (12A) Killer Joe (18) Your Sister’s Sister (15) Reviewed by Demetrios Matheou

So when Raimi and his star Tobey Maguire decided to call time on their collaboration, Marvel might have seen fit to let Spidey put his many feet up, and to quit while they were ahead.

Sadly, the comic book publisher-turned-film studio just couldn't help itself. Not only do we have a new, recast Spider-Man adventure, but The Amazing Spider-Man (in cinemas on Tuesday) goes right back to the beginning, with another "origin" story. It's as if Marvel is relying on our collective amnesia in its desperate bid to keep its cash cow alive. Neither the cynicism, nor the overall result, deserve your tickets. Up-and-coming British actor Andrew Garfield, who was last seen in The Social Network, replaces Maguire as Peter Parker, the nerdy orphan brought up by his aunt and uncle, who on a visit to a laboratory is bitten by a radioactive spider, with surprising results. To make this back story a little different, we're briefly taken to Peter's childhood, where we learn that it is his own father's experiments with spiders – before his sudden abandonment of his son and mysterious death – that will ultimately change Peter's life.This prologue lends a little more psychological depth to the teenager's alienation, while Garfield brings a new vulnerability and edginess to the role. Peter meets the discovery of his newly adhesive hands and superstrength (revealed in a scene of comic mayhem on a subway train) with the glee of a drug-induced high; his reaction to the kindly interventions of his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) has the jittery angst of James Dean. There's some of Dean's bashfulness, too, in the tentative romance with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). "I've been bitten," Peter tells her, in an effort to come clean, only to be understandably misunderstood as she answers: "So have I." Gwen's father happens to be the police chief who is hunting the city's red-masked vigilante, namely Peter. The cop is played by Denis Leary, your go-to guy for blue-collar scepticism. "Thirty-eight of New York's finest, and one guy in a leotard," he bemoans, as they fail to capture him, though he is soon distracted by the real villain of the piece, The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Director Marc Webb, whose first film was the romantic comedy 500 Days Of Summer, is more confident with the actors and their comic interludes than with the action and special effects, which don't exactly take the breath away. Two films more deserving of attention this week have already had Scottish premieres, Your Sister's Sister opening the Glasgow Film Festival and Killer Joe its Edinburgh counterpart. If you missed those screenings, do take advantage of a second chance. Based on the acclaimed play by Tracy Letts, Killer Joe is an extremely dark comedy of family dysfunction and murder in the American south, directed by William Friedkin – of The Exorcist fame – who relishes the horror of everyday trailer-trash behaviour. Small-time drug dealer Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) decides to murder his mother for her insurance policy. He gets the agreement of his father (Thomas Haden Church), who has remarried, and together they approach the eponymous contract killer (Matthew McConaughey) to do the deed. Without the necessary advance, the pair offer Chris's sister Dottie (Juno Temple) to Joe as a "retainer". For their nonchalant pimping of the vulnerable girl they will get their deserved comeuppance, but it's impossible to second-guess how that will arrive, as Dottie and Joe strike up an unexpected bond.After a shaky start (the Smiths' hysterical mode of conversation takes some getting used to) this becomes quite the red-blooded ride – funny, violent, perverted and very surprising. At the heart of it is McConaughey, whose Joe is impeccably mannered, well-spoken and quite terrifying. Whether he's mad or just bad is an interesting question; either way McConaughey makes him mesmerising. The rest of the cast keeps pace, including Gina Gershon, who features in a scene that may make lovers of Kentucky Fried Chicken think again.With the wonderful Humpday, in 2009, Seattle director Lynn Shelton proved that you could still find original storylines for comedy. She's done it again, with Your Sister's Sister. A year after his brother's death, Jack (Mark Duplass) remains in a gloomy rut. His best friend Iris (Emily Blunt) sends him off to her family's remote island cabin to recharge, not knowing that her sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) is already there. Jack and Hannah sleep together and, when Iris turns up unannounced, they have to decide whether to tell her. To complicate matters, Jack and Iris finally begin to realise their true feelings for each other. It's a real pleasure to observe this messy love triangle, acted out by three very different performers – Blunt here is soft and winning, DeWitt spiky, Duplass bumbling. While the improvisations don't work as well as those in Humpday, the emotions ring truer. And there are glorious one-liners, as when Iris repels a painful confrontation: "I really think your face is going to annoy me right now."

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Meet Peter swing fellow

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