Very good characterization, but off at other points

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2012)

First off I gotta say that I liked this version of Spidey better than the Raimi movies, although they could've done a lot better. It seems like nobody's really able to get it THE right way, but then again, what comic adaption can provide that (I mean, not even Nolan's Batman movies are what I would consider THE right way).
I really enjoyed the buildup of The Amazing Spider-Man, they took their time introducing all the characters and developing the story, but the problem with retelling an origin story is - wait for it - that it has already been told (duh). So you got to change it as much as not to be repetitive and not too much to be able to stay true to the original. The outcome then is basically the same motives and action with just the outer story elements changed slightly. You could really see how they, at some points, desperately tried to avoid to sound too much the same as Raimi's Spider-Man; take for example the scene where Uncle Ben dies: I think they already did a great job telling it in the previous Spider-Man movies, so this just seemed a little bit like a worse version.
Although I thought the cast was very I good, I couldn't quite fit Emma Stone in the character of Gwen Stacy at first, but in the end I couldn't deny that she was a superb choice. Unlike Andrew Garfield, who was an as good - if not to say better - Peter Parker/Spidey than Toby Maguire. I could've used a bit more wise-cracking from Spidey (yeah, the car thief joke was good, but apart from that...). He even managed to do a better job in ripping his mask of at every opportunity... I mean, seriously guys, you just overdid it there, after the second time it was just plain ridiculous.
Speaking of masks the suit looked cool in its own way, but I would've gone with a more comic-like look. In making it look more "dark" and "realistic" the designers managed to actually make it look less realistic, because which teenager can sew this suit on his own? Regular spandex would've been more realistic, but okay, that's a problem every superhero with a costume has, I guess. Overall I think they overdid it a little with wanting the movie a darker and more adult look, it all seemed a bit forced.
Nonetheless they mostly managed to stick to the comics where it made sense (I couldn't stand watching Toby Maguire swinging through town without having to use webshooters) and thus generated the right atmosphere to have fun with this movie. The Lizard was the right choice for a villain, even if by his look he appeared to be more of a bad Killer Croc rip-off than a lizard (by the way I liked how they let him wear a scientists cloak at two points as a homage to the comic's version). Another thing that just personally bothered me with this version of the Dr. Connors/Lizard is that he's not depicted as this Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde kind of character, but rather as a bad person overall after injecting the serum, but people not that familiar with the original character may not be concerned with this.
Writing was slightly off at some points, meaning things were made too easy for the characters with obvious clues (i.e. lizards crawling towards New York sewers; "Property of Peter Parker") and also everything came across just a whit too interconnected and planned out, but that was just in the back of my head when watching the movie.
I don't know who they hired for the score of The Amazing Spider-Man and I honestly couldn't care less for his name, but I just hope they won't give him another job. Because the music in this movie was just too damn average, if not to say awful in some scenes. I mean, Spidey fighting the Lizard in school to crappy epic/heroic skirmish... what were they thinking? All in all I guess the reboot is enjoyable not only for fans of the comic, but also for the casual movie-goer. I for my part had a lot of fun during it. Storytelling concerning Peter's background was very good and you could really feel for the characters. Overall they did a lot of things right, but it definitely needs a little polish around the edges. I hope they will solve some problems with the sequel (especially introducing some of the typical Spidey characters). I'm looking forward to it.