The Amazing Spider-Man

New Movie Release

Three Words:

I WAS WRONG

I went to see the new Spidey movie last night. And honestly, I need to apologize. 

You see, I am guilty of Spidey bashing.

I have been picking on this film, mainly because the retelling of the Spiderman saga is coming a mere five years from the tail-end of Spiderman 3...which sucked balls, by the way.

But that isn't the reason I need to apologize. 

I am really happy to announce that this is well-made, astounding film that you should see. 

Period.

After a string of disappointments, it feels good to say that with a clear heart.

Now, the first thing I am not going to do is compare this movie in any way to the 2002 version. 

I realized about ten minutes in that Marc Webb's vision for Amazing Spider-Man is completely different than Raimi's earlier version with Tobey McGuire.

Andrew Garfield

The choice of Andrew Garfield was an excellent decision. He - more than anything else on the screen - saves this movie from being an also-ran. Garfield simply brings a lot to the role. 

His love interest is Emma Stone, as Gwen Stacey, who is also a very good casting choice. 

Anybody can Google this movie's plot, so I am going to start a new trend with my reviews right now. 

I'm going to cover the good and the bad.

The good...

Finally, some humor! Garfield quips and smirks, which is a nice change. 

The dialogue is fairly crisp and fast-paced....speaking of fast-paced, I liked the way Garfield acclimated to his powers. He was fully comfortable with web-slinging while shooting off jokes at about 50 minutes in.

The fight scenes with Spider Man, either battling bad guys or the cops, is some of the best I've seen in any movie.

Rhys Ifans plays Dr. Conners...good guy turned bad guy. I cannot believe this is Spike from Notting Hill. Needless to say, he does an excellent job - both as a human and as a lizard. 

Like Bill Nighy as Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean, Ifans is wearing a green-screen suit that allows his facial expressions to be captured.

The over-the-street web-slung flying is kept to a minimum, which seems natural at first....but when Spidey does goes all out, it is over the city at night, and the view is stunning.

Spider Man using his sticky web as a Band-Aid was cool.

The bad....

Okay, let's just get it out of the way. 

Sigh.

We have exchanged Norman Osborn who turns into the Green Goblin for Curt Conners that changes into a lizard-man.

Rhys Ifans

Both are kinda silly.

In the case of Amazing Spider-Man, though, the back-story is fairly muddled. When bad lizard-guy finally makes an appearance at 69 minutes in, I was like WTF?

Also, during a fight scene, Spidey cries, "Can't we talk this out?"

Umm...you and lizard-guy have already wrecked half a school in a full-blown death match. I think the time for talking is long gone.

For a 2012 film, the editing in Amazing Spider-Man is pretty choppy. Weird cuts from scene to scene are what you expect in the 80s, but they have no place here.

The final battle between Spidey and lizard-guy moves too quickly for the eye to track. 

I don't mean it was poorly done....far from it. But the human mind can detect what is possible in physics and what isn't. 

My impression was that objects, namely Spider Man, were moving faster that is normally possible - even in a superhero situation.

Even so...

That's just nit-picking. Go see this movie, you won't be disappointed. And you'll certainly get your money's worth.

I think that's what has been bothering me lately. Not with superhero movies, mind you. 

You usually get your money's worth with them. (I'm looking at you Green Hornet and Green Lantern, you suck-tards)

I am talking about films lately. I went to see Ted the other night, and my first thought walking out of the theater was: "Wow, I just paid 9 bucks to see an episode of Family Guy."

The Amazing Spider-Man is certainly no Green Lantern. As a matter of fact, I feel kinda bad that it's about to be overshadowed by Batman. 


It sorta deserves better.

But at the very least, you will leave the theater happy you went to see it.