Refreshing, entertaining, and engaging all throughout!

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2012)

First, the thing that most impressed me about The Amazing Spider-man was its storytelling. If you think about it, it is actually pretty simple, but I thought that it was very effective nonetheless. The characters and sequence of events including the action sequences as well as emotional ones were what made up most of it.
Second, the characters had more than enough depth and most of them were not your typical stereotypes. Andrew Garfield made for one interesting Peter Parker/Spider-man. He was great at bringing him out. He made for one weird Spider-man which was something refreshing. Awkward all around, yet decisive, agile, and funny. Unknowingly helping the villain, then obtaining his powers, and a little time later trying to stop him; all the while experiencing and dealing with human emotions. From the comments I have read, this is the Spider-man from the comic books. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy was refreshing to see as well. I liked that this time around the love interest got more involved in helping the hero stop the villain. It made the story more layered and interesting. She was appealing and charming. The chemistry between them, by the way, was great. Probably the best chemistry I have seen between a hero and his love interest. Dr. Connors made for a great villain. Evil, but at the same time being able to show and keep his human side. The rest of the actors, Denis Leary as Captain Stacy, Sally Field as aunt May, and Martin Sheen as uncle Ben did awesome jobs as well. Even though they did not get as much screen time, they were great supporting actors who made the film more interesting and entertaining.
Third, if you were expecting for the film to surpass the previous one, you will most-likely, at least, be satisfied. Like 99.9% most-likely. The Spider-man character was different, but without a doubt better. The love interest, Gwen Stacy this time, was definitely better also. In one phrase, she totally kicks MJ's butt, at least in the movies. I would not know about it in the comic books. The villain, Dr. Connors a.k.a. The Lizard, did not surpass the Green Goblin in his evilness, but it made for a more complicated and exciting plot and challenge for Spider-man. Other things like the visuals, directing, and special effects, especially thanks to the 3D, were better as well this time around. Story-wise, this time it was more complicated and layered, but executed with simplicity, which only helped the film in making it more engaging and entertaining. So years ago when Peter Parker was only a child, his parents went away and left him in the care of his aunt May and uncle Ben. A briefcase which Peter's dad left behind is discovered. It includes sensitive information about a biological project involving splicing reptile DNA and its properties with human one, which works to regenerate the human body; Dr. Connors is mentioned within it. Later Peter discovers that Gwen is working with Dr. Connors in his lab, and he also finds out that Dr. Connors is still trying to solve part of the project to finalize it. Then Peter sees that the solution is among the papers in the briefcase, and he shares the solution with Dr. Connors. Unfortunately Dr. Connors uses it on himself without enough research and trails, bringing side effects to himself such as super-strength, physical deformation, and a distorted state of mind. It is a temporal thing, working only as long as the regenerative effects last, but, after experiencing the strength and its power, he can not let it go, and convinces himself that this this is the perfect state for humans. So he starts this by trying to make all of the city like him. After Peter sees him and what he is capable of, he takes responsibility of it, thinking that he should because he helped to solve the project, and thus helped turn Dr. Connors into The Lizard. During the same time Gwen and Peter become closer, more than just friends. And she also becomes closely involved in trying to stop The Lizard from transforming all of the city. While this is happening Peter has also to deal trying to hide his secret from his aunt and uncle, and escaping from the police who have branded him a criminal, especially Gwen's dad, Captain Stacy.
The film seemed a little slow at times, and when it was done it felt like a short movie, which is totally inaccurate as the film runs a little over two hours. For me this just means that the film was so good it kept me engaged all throughout it, so I did not think about the time.
If you analyze it, It might not be the most packed and intense action superhero movie out there, however, not having the most intense in those things does not necessarily make it boring or bad. When there is no action to make it intense, the film is still very entertaining and interesting. Plus, for me characters and story lines are more important. The reason is that when there is no intense action on screen is when the story and characters develop. So when the action does happen it is made more intense not because it is actually intense, but because you are more engrossed in the story and because you care more about the characters due to those times in the film when there is no action. And this is exactly what The Amazing Spider- man does.