Review: The Amazing Spiderman
Last week I posted my review of the previous Spiderman Trilogy. Now I bring my thoughts about the reboot. First off, there will be some spoiler material, so please scroll down to the last paragraph if you just want my rating. Here is the breakdown.
The casting was outstanding. Not once did I feel that any of these actors didn’t do their jobs. My only concern was the role of Peter Parker. I think Andrew Garfield played the part well, but I’m not sure if I totally buy him as Parker. He’s a bit over the top with cockiness. Emma Stone would have made a perfect Mary Jane Watson in a future movie, but her portrayal of Gwenn Stacey was perfect. All of the other actors (and I don’t need to list the names) I can say were just well done for casting. Aunt May could have been a little older, but I like where they are going with Sally Field in that role.
The Plot. This is where the movie fails in my opinion. Was the plot good? Yes, in fact it was great. It was even better than the first Tobey Maguire Spiderman movie. So why does this fail? Well, it WAS the first Tobey Maguire movie. We really didn’t need the origin story again. The villain was scripted out in almost the same way, and the new elements that they included seemed to be shadowed by the “Damn, I already saw this movie” feeling. IF Spiderman hadn’t been done before, then this movie would have been great! They should have made it a sequel, not a reboot. Here’s to hoping they correct that mistake in the future.
Visual effects were amazing. I didn’t get to see it in 3D, but I could see where parts of the film would have been cool in that format. The web swinging and action felt more natural than the previous trilogy. I would have liked it to be a little less dark and more daytime, but I can’t complain about how it looked otherwise, because that was the directors call.
Continuity with the comics. I don’t know much about the Ultimate Spiderman comics, as I was a huge fan of the original growing up. That being said, I am familiar with certain aspects. Web shooters being in this movie were a fanboy’s dream come true. How and where he was bitten by the spider, eh… I can get past that. After all it is someone else’s interpretation. Most of the elements were done in the same way. The only REAL problem I had with the continuity was the Lizard’s look. I don’t mind the way he looked, but wish that by the third time he injected himself, some kind of snout would have formed. In fact, my wife turned to me mid movie and said, “If he is a lizard, they should have given him a snout.” Okay, my wife never knew what the Lizard looked like in the comics, but she knows her animals. Therefore, common sense would tell anyone that the decision might have been slightly subpar.
Direction and use of characters: Marc Webb really did bring the Amazing into the title. As I said earlier, this would have been the best spiderman movie to date IF IF IF it hadn’t been done already. I wanted to see a new story. All I got was a new villain and a too cocky peter parker. I DO love that we didn’t get a repeat villain though, and I hope it remains this way. The addition of the mid credits scene was cool too. My thoughts on who that was? Well Webb announced who it wasn’t, so I will narrow it down to two villains who could appear and disappear like that. Villain for TASM2 will be either Electro or Mysterio based on that scene.
Acting as I said was superb, and worked on every level. My criticism of Andrew Garfield wasn’t on his acting ability. He just had to work with the script he was given. His emotional scenes felt real, he looked as though he was in pain, and you really felt for him in his time of struggles.
The music was perfect for the picking too. The only scene where music didn’t feel right to me was when he was skating through the halls of his school. Even that wasn’t too out of place.
The audience could relate to what the protagonists had to endure emotionally, and there was enough in there to set up other stories. I really want to see what happened to Richard and Mary Parker in this version. I hope they don’t forget that either. When I was a kid, I remember when he found out his parents were alive. It was an emotional roller coaster, and I think they could play this out well for the next endeavor and the following one. The genetics stuff and hints at Norman Osborn, really make me think that he wasn’t “sick” as they said. I think he is building an army to do his bidding. Perhaps there are six of them and quite sinister at that… (sorry, always wanted to see that on the screen). I could see it now. The Amazing Spiderman vs. The Sinister Six.
All in all, I have to give this movie two ratings. The first rating is what the movie is worth in my book. For that I give it a 9 out of 10. My second rating is because it was the same stuff seen on a different day. and for that I give it a 7 out of 10. Just as a reference, the original Tobey Maguire Spiderman movie was given my 8 of 10 rating, so I guess this incarnation tied for that spot. I think we are in for a good ride to come, and can’t wait until the next chapter.
sCrypt Publishing 