Totally enjoyable competent and been there before...

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2012)

The Amazing Spiderman (2012)
What do you do with a movie that's impeccably well made, acted to the pitch required of a superhero movie with realistic themes, and filled with really fluid wow factors? I mean, this is a really compelling movie on some levels. And if you like these kinds of movies (and there is no shortage of them every year) this is one of the best, technically, and from the point of view of unaffected acting.
What no one wants to say or hear in this context is that the movie isn't everything it could be. Or even worse, it's everything that other movies have already been, including earlier Spiderman movies. Marc Webb isn't at fault--he directs with aplomb, and gets the most from the series of action scenes. It's the writers, and the producers who are guiding the writers, who have to take some rap in presenting another movie about the same kind of thing we've seen too too many times. Or at least too too many times for me, for singing praises.
But if you don't mind the formula again, you'll be in for a treat. I know I enjoyed it all even so. The swinging through space, the life or death fights with a hugely powerful monster, the last minute race to stop the doomsday device (with a timer to let us know exactly how much suspense lies ahead), the girl who is smart and pretty and actually pretty capable, too. All of this is in place, and well done.
Well done. Is that enough? Up to you. It's hardly the kind of movie the invites deep thinking or parsing out the components. It's more the kind of movie to just rush in headlong and enjoy, and drive home thinking about something else.