A Great Spiderman, But Not Amazing.

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2012)

The Amazing Spiderman is certainly a diverse superhero movie, in the sense of how diverse the public opinion is, with those that love it and those who can't stand it. Me myself when I first saw the trailer, I was unimpressed and thought that rebooting the franchise after only five years after Sam Raimi's Spiderman 3 was a mistake of colossal proportions as it was just too soon. Then when Columbia Pictures advertised the next couple of trailers, I became more excited as there was more in it and I was quite looking forward to the movie, with myself becoming more open minded.
In the end I quite enjoyed The Amazing Spiderman for what it was. I can from my perspective see both sides of how this film has been seen, in why people like it, whilst others despise it. The decision to concentrate on Peter's parents origins was an interesting angle to take I think, and though it is not fully resolved along with Peter wanting to catch the thief who killed Uncle Ben, it will most likely come up in the sequel, so I will not see that as a negative aspect of the film.
Initially it took a while for me to get into the movie as though I knew they were aiming for a more serious and dark tone for the reboot than Sam Raimi's version, it took a while to adjust. Things I did like from the reboot apart from the refreshing angle of Peter's origins was the superb CGI of the Lizard and Spidey Suit. The 3D when it was properly implemented was impressive and the action sequences was terrifically choreographed.
The acting was also up to a good standard. It took me some time to get used to Andrew Garfield as Spiderman, but in the end he acted well and carried the part with enough charisma. Despite that though he just paled in comparison to Toby Maguire, who captured the dopey, awkward teenager who took risks so much better. But that is just my personal opinion. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey was excellent in her scenes (though I felt she was underwritten) as she was adorable and charming. I also liked the fact the writers neatly avoided the stereotypical damsel in distress routine, which became irritatingly prominent with Mary Jane in Raimi's Spiderman. Stacey showed intelligence and seemed like a much more realistic character as a result. Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May carried their scenes with great aplomb as well. Unfortunately Rhys Ifans as the Dr Curt Conners/Lizard fared less well, with though a decent enough performance, was terribly written. The Lizard as a villain wasn't convincing enough for me as a true adversary to Spiderman as he was also underwritten like most of the cast.
This is one of my main problems of The Amazing Spiderman as the film just felt so rushed even though it was longer than Raimi's Spiderman. There is substance throughout the entire movie, but it only scratches the surface with underwritten roles for these characters like Stacey, Aunt May and the Lizard who don't get to flex out their characters enough. In terms of the story itself, like the Lizard's motivation and Peter's parents past and the death of Uncle Ben just felt too quick and patchy. This is not due to the fact you don't find out more about Peter's father or that the thief who murdered Uncle Ben is not apprehended. It's down to that these moments of the film felt so rushed with though there is some emotion, the impact of these events on the characters is not prolonged enough. I felt as though the film was trying to bring style too much to the forefront and not enough substance, which was lacking.
Part of this reason for substance lacking is the main reason why this movie does not stand up to the Raimi's first two Spiderman movies. It lacks an emotional punch, heart and humour (though there is some in TAS, I loved the scene when Spiderman apprehends the car thief) there just wasn't enough and as a result I didn't feel an infinity with these characters or really come to care about them unlike in Raimi's, which gave it more depth in story and character development. I admire director Marc Webb's idea of the reboot and he really does try, but in the end though I love the style of the film and appreciated it's attempt at interesting story arcs and character development, it lacked that real emotional punch and comedy factor, which would have made it even more fun and a superhero people could connect with. Don't get me wrong it was fun, with some also great acting and action, but it wasn't enough for me as it was easily forgettable. By all means do go and see this as it does have some merit and I thoroughly enjoyed all it's 136 minutes. I would go and see the sequel as this film showed great potential, which I hope will be further developed in the sequel. It was a great effort on the whole. But for me this Spiderman didn't quite live up to his title. He was great yes, but just not amazing.