The Not So Amazing Spider Man

Rating: 4/10 (16 August 2012)

As a long time fan of the Spider Man movies and comic books alike, I was eagerly awaiting to see this reboot. I had high hopes for the film as being a fan of Marc Webb's work also. I was sure that the film was in good hands. So as I sat in the cinema with my buddies waiting for the film to begin, I was expecting a reboot to show us more about Peter's parents and a better back story.
And boy, was I disappointed.
The Sam Raimi films had fantastic action, humour, heart and soul, which this film showed a great lack off. I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I was! What we get out of this movie is barely any action and A lot of romance, Parker constantly unmasking himself (I thought the whole point of Spider Mans secret identity was to, I don't know, KEEP IT A SECRET?) We had the Lizard, which had to be the most disappointing villain in super hero movie history, and the fact that it didn't follow much from the comic books at all.
The casting was alright enough, Emma Stone made a decent enough Gwen Stacey, and I hope that she will break into her character more in the sequels. Andrew Garfield didn't suit Spider Man at all. He didn't look nerdy like Toby Maguire did in the originals and I didn't really see him portray the character as he should have done. Plus, Peter Parker never used to skateboard, did he? No, I didn't think so. Sally Field as Aunt May didn't work at all, and Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben actually turned out okay... Even though he was in 3 scenes total... The trio of Toby, Kirsten and James made a better cast then this lot. Plus, the lack of Harry and J Jonah Jameson was defiantly missed.
Now, back when I mentioned that the Raimi trilogy had heart and soul, it was a shock to see that this film had very little of it. When Uncle Ben died in the 2002 movie, it was a really sad scene, because you actually cared about him, and it tugged our heart strings (or at least mine) to see Uncle Ben die. And that Peter showed genuine sadness and heart ache after Uncle Ben's death. With this, Uncle Ben is killed and it's sad for all about two minutes. Peter showed no sadness or emotion after his Uncles death, and the goodbye scene as Peter watches him die just seems awkward and the two didn't really connect all that well.
The Lizard however, seemed like a suitable villain to start this re- booted series of. The Lizard is an interesting character, and this movie could have handled it really well, except it didn't. The Lizard looked like a Godzilla rip off and there seemed to be no humanity in the character at all. Shouldn't it have shown a tormented Dr. Curt Conner's as he is going through these changes? And after the big fight at the end, the Lizards story is quickly wrapped up by a news report saying he was arrested. Now, in the end of every Sam Raimi Spider Man, there was humanity in each of the villains before they died/ or left. The Green Goblin showed his human side to Peter when they were both unmasked, right before his glider impaled him; Doc Ock showed that he still had goodness in him by sacrificing himself to save the city; and also, Sandman even had a moment with Peter that showed his still had goodness in him. The Lizard? Oh no, they just made him a ridiculous dinosaur for Spider Man to fight and defeat.
Also, why the hell did they make Gwen Stacey know Peter is Spider Man in this film? Gwen Stacey NEVER knew who Spider Man was in the comics, as she blamed Spider Man for the death of her father. With this movie they screwed all that up and made Gwen a more ballsy character than she should have been. And why were there so many spiders??? There was meant to be ONE special spider that bites Peter, not God knows how many that were shown. Plus, I'm pretty sure if you get shot in the leg you CANT keep running.
The only redeeming factor in this movie was Spider Man had a great sense of humour, and the web slinging scenes (beside the last one) were also well done. Not a fan of the new suit though. In summary, The Amazing Spider Man was a big disappointment. I'm still standing by the Raimi originals, and I hope that they make an improvement with The Amazing Spider Man 2.