A fun take on the Spider-Man story

Rating: 5/10 (15 July 2012)

I enjoyed this movie. I thought it was fun and mostly well-written. I liked the casting and the visuals. They took many of the familiar elements of Spidey's origin and did two main things differently: they went further back into his childhood, involving his parents (particularly his father), and they set the story very firmly in the present. The scenes that take place in the school felt especially contemporary, as did the science lab. The equipment and technology were some of the better visual elements, showing colorful touchscreens and three-dimensional projections that are not yet in use, but felt like they might not be far off. I liked the character of Curt Conners, and I liked Emma Stone's Gwen Stacey. I felt like the movie got fairly formulaic in the last act, when the hero has to save the city in a battle on top of a skyscraper before the bomb goes off. But the first 3/4 of the movie were different. It didn't feel tired or clichéd, and it didn't feel like they took any shortcuts in the story, so it was a good setup. I would look forward to another installment by the same cast and filmmakers.