Read my review of The Amazing Spider-Man now

The Amazing Spider-Man

 

                           

 

There has been plenty of talk of whether or not the Spider-Man franchise really needed a reboot just five years after Spiderman 3. Personaly I felt Spiderman needed to start again after the utterly terrible 3rd Tobey Maquire Spiderman that ruined the first two very good and promising movies in the trilogy. For me, Spiderman needed a fresh start with a deeper and more intriguing story. And that's what we got with The Amazing Spider-Man.  

Directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as Peter Parker/Spiderman, Emma Stone (The Help) as Peter's first love Gwen Stacey and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Kurt Connors/The Lizard, The Amazing Spiderman mixes drama, intensity and young love very well. Our new Spiderman saga centres around Peter Parker and the secrets about his father who abandoned him as a boy that have been kept from him since childhood. These secrets come in the shape of an old briefcase that Peter finds in the basement of his Aunt and Uncle's house, Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) The contents of the briefcase leads him to a pharmaceutical company named Oscorp and more precisely the lab of Dr. Kurt Connors, the former work colleague of Peter's Father. Here, Peter is sent on a collison course with Connor's alter-ego, The Lizard. On top of all this, Peter is also trying to find his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy. The story mixes all these elements very well and also leaves us with an inevitable sequal to mull over.

Gwen Stacey's father is chief of police who is hunting down "The Masked Vigilante" I felt this gave Emma Stone's character more substance.

With big blockbusters like this, it comes with flaws. The humour element in the movie is just a touch too much but some would say the humour is understandable because our Spiderman is a teenager. Also, I did not like the design of the lizard. I felt the Lizard's head was too robotic and didn't look as realistic as it should of been. What I did find impressive about the lizard was it's affects eg: it's eerie breathing and growling.

When we first encounter teenager Peter, we immediately see similarities to Tobey Maquire's clumsy and awkward Peter Parker. What set Garfield's Parker apart from Maquire's however, was his on screen chemistry with Emma Stone. You could see real romance between the on and offscreen couple.

The action sequences are at times brilliant. The best one being Spiderman saving a young boy from a burning car about to drop into The Hudson River.

Like most Marvel movies, Stan Lee makes an appearence in quite brilliant fashion.

Another element of the movie that I was looking forward to was the 3D. I had a feeling Spiderman was the perfect type of movie to really show how good 3D can be. Unfortuanately, I was wrong. Although there is some exciting shots that the 3D does make an appearance but like all the 3D movies that have gone before it, you hardly notice it.

In my opinion, the most important component to a good movie is the storyline. This is where a movie succeeds or fails. After looking at various trailers and cast interviews, I was very excited for The Amazing Spider-Man. Thankfully, It didn't let me down on storyline. It had near perfect balance between it's many themes and subplots. The Amazing Spiderman's deep and intriguing story has the ability to keep us excited for sequals and re-watches for many years to come.

There were small elemets to the movie that I found very satisfactory. The familiar Marvel comic book intro was one that I was hoping for. Also, the fact that Peter manufactured his own web spinning device for his spiderman suit instead of the webs randomly coming out of his wrists was good to see.

Many reviews of this movie mention the fact that it was enjoyable but not amazing in which the title suggests. The Amazing Spider-Man is based on the comic of the same title so I wouldn't base your opinions of the movie on the title.

After getting very excited for The Amazing Spiderman I just pray that Spiderman isn't tied into The Avengers. Spiderman's story was too well told/set up for it to be just dumped into an already hollow Avengers story.

One thing is for sure, the debate between the fans who preferred this Spiderman to those who prefer the original trilogy will rage on and on.

NOTE: Wait five minutes until you leave the cinema.

There is something more than just credits at the end.