The Amazing Spider-Man - Truly Amazing

Rating: 9/10 (28 June 2012)

When I heard there was a reboot of Spider-Man, I sort of rolled my eyes and thought, "Great, another money-maker." But after watching The Amazing Spider-Man, I can really see the relevance of it and why it's okay. I will start by saying that this movie was simply fantastic.
Sure, you've got your expected scenes of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) bitten by a spider, getting powers and all that, but it's how they delve into the character and his backstory that really makes this film shine.
This movie really focuses the attention on Peter's desire to be with his parents, and his curiosity as to why they aren't around. Peter has to deal with so many issues colliding into him at once that it seems a bit overbearing for him. It's inevitable that people are going to compare The Amazing Spider-man to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man from 2002. I will say that this one is just darker and takes on a much more serious tone.
The acting in this movie is superb. You couldn't have cast a better Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). He makes his character so real and relatable. Andrew Garfield too was witty and his emotions felt genuine. You could really see the pain in his face when certain events took place.
There are a few things about this movie that are subtle, but really make the movie better than any of the others. I like that throughout the movie, Peter Parker looks like he got the crap beaten out of him when he's finished patrolling or going after bad guys. He has black eyes and bruises almost the entire movie and that makes it a lot more realistic. Also, his costume stays ripped and torn, because, well, he didn't have time to fix it. Go figure!
I also really liked how Parker used his webbing in the story. It's so smart. He wasn't just using them to swing from one place to another, but to actually try to figure out things, like where the lizard was hiding. It's hard to explain without giving away too much, but it was a nice touch. It was refreshing for Spider-Man to have a different love interest and Emma Stone did very well at portraying Gwen Stacy.
Now, the reason I see the relevance of a reboot is this: In the past Spider-Man movies, there were no smart phones, Facebook, and few people used the Internet like they do today. I read about this in another article and I completely agree. We live in a much different world than we did even 5 years ago. Smartphones didn't even exist when we started Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. It really changes how things are done today and it was nice to see all of this in action.
There's also a very touching scene that really shows that the common man too can be a hero. When you watch the movie, just remember crane operators. This was a great movie experience and I would recommend it to anyone.
The McDandy Rating: A MUST SEE
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