Better Than the Sam Raimi Movies Even!

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2012)

The Amazing Spider-Man is a reboot of the Spider-Man movie franchise. It's mostly the same story of Peter Parker, a high school nerd, who gets bitten by a genetically enhanced spider and gains super-reflexes, strength and the ability to climb on anything. He develops a web- shooting device and becomes the amazing Spider-Man.
I am a huge fan of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies. His interpretation is just brilliant. The first movie is a bit outdated today, but it is still a fun action movie. The second movie took it to a whole new level, and we actually cared more about Peter Parker than Spider-Man, but that was also because Spidey only had about 30 - 40 minutes of screen-time throughout the entire movie. And finally the third movie, which is my favorite, balanced the screen-time of Parker and Spidey, while also having some of the best superhero action of all time, and some of most emotional scenes in superhero movies to date. So with a superhero trilogy this good, of course I was skeptical about a reboot. Especially since it's only been 5 years since Spider-Man 3, and because originally it was supposed to be Spider-Man 4, but it got canceled and turned into a reboot instead. I just didn't see how a brand new Spider-Man movie starting from scratch could top anything like the Sam Raimi trilogy. But I was wrong.
The Amazing Spider-Man is the best Spider-Man movie to-date! And that's saying a lot. Even if this movie doesn't have the charm of the first and second movie, and the emotion and action of the third movie, it still somehow manages to be more enjoyable. Or at least better.
It's very hard to explain how The Amazing Spider-Man is better than Spider-Man 3, but it has to be because the characters are introduced better than they were in the first Sam Raimi movie. In the first Sam Raimi movie, we didn't really get to know any of the characters too well. It wasn't until the second movie came along that we finally hit home with Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May and all these wonderful characters. But with this start of a new trilogy, it's done much better. With Sam Raimi's movies, it wasn't until the third movie that I cared enough about the characters to almost tear up in some of the scenes. But in the new movie, however, I was very touched by what happened to the characters, even if this is the first time I've been introduced to them. The main character is much more relatable, because he isn't as awkward as the Tobey Maguire Peter, who didn't really even out until the second movie. The only character who they didn't improve on was Aunt May. Rosemary Harris as Aunt May in the Sam Raimi trilogy has to be one of the best characters, as she led some of the most emotionally powerful scenes in those movies. In The Amazing Spider-Man one, she is younger and not as warm-hearted. But of course, the same went for Aunt May in the first Sam Raimi movie, and then she became your favorite relief character in the second movie.
There is so much to talk about when it comes to the characters in The Amazing Spider-Man, because nearly all of them are so fleshed-out and improved from the Sam Raimi movies, even though it's only the first movie in the now on-going trilogy. The last character I wanna talk about is the new villain: Lizard. Dr. Connors was a character in the Sam Raimi movies. He didn't have much screen-time in the second movie, but was there none-the-less. It wasn't until the third movie where he actually had a relevance to the plot, where he explained to Peter what the symbiot was. But in this one, he turns into Lizard. He is very similar to Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man 2: He is working on a ground-breaking invention, but it's not ready for testing. He testes it on himself, crap goes wrong, he turns mad and decides to harness the potential of his invention and take it out on the entire city of New York. See, just like Doc Oc. The only significant difference is that he is not as over-confident about testing his creation as Octopus is. Anyways, I really liked this villain, and he was better than Green Goblin from the first movie. He was just as good as Dr. Octopus, but personally not as good as Sandman or Venom. Sure, more developed, but not as enjoyable to watch.
As I think I mildly stated, the story is much better. It's much more well-paced and interesting. And the action and special effects are MUCH better! Let's face it, the original Spider-Man looks like crap now-a-days, and this new movie makes even the second and third movies look bad in comparison! Some of the action is so intense and exciting, that I was on the edge of my seat many times! The scene on the bridge is just so spectacularly suspenseful. I love it!
As a Spider-Man movie to start a new trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man is incredible, and makes the first Sam Raimi movie look like a high school project (granted a very good high school project, but still). And as a Spider-Man movie, it's also very, very good! Some people complain that this movie was just made so that Sony could claim their rights to the character of Spider-Man, but since the movie turned out to be this good, I don't see how that's a problem. The Amazing Spider-Man is an awesome movie! While it may not have the charm of the Sam Raimi movies, and it may be a bit too long, it succeeds on everything else and I can't wait to see the sequels.
P.S: Bring Venom and Dr. Octopus back for one of the sequels, please!