I expected certain things - and it was so much more

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2012)

This movie arrived in the mail; my wife had chosen it from Blockbuster. I had not been aware there was a new one, so when I saw it I thought it might be a blu-ray of the Tobey Maguire movie, which we own.
I realized right away it was a fresh production; but I kept seeing the new and remembering the Tobey Maguire versions. So, here he falls for Gwen Stacy instead of Mary-Jane Watson; Gwen's father, Captain Stacy of NYPD instead of Mr. Osborn of Oscorp.
In a character-by-character match the new is simply the old retouched; but this is certainly its own movie. I guess the biggest thing to me is surprise that, if Marvel is doing another thing with Spider-Man, they did not use Tobey Maguire. Then again, he may be too old to be believed.
I wanted to express something on humor. I believe Stan Lee's cameo was planned in a way to make clear we do see him, with a very soothing music in his completely enclosed head-set, which makes the character completely oblivious to the violent and noisy play behind him, like when the man in True Lies finishes cleaning a room, exits and closes the door, and then Schwarzenegger's aircraft errantly breaks into the spotless room and makes a mess of things. It's a terrific moment, which I am certain was a cause of great laughter in more than just my viewing.