Webb of Spider-Man doesn't go full throttle

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2012)

It's hard for me to write a good review about a movie for which I'm highly anticipated for. I'm a fan of Spider-Man, watched the cartoons when I was just a kid, love the previous Spider-Man movies and today I went to see the Amazing Spider-Man.
I found the final version somewhere between Great and Amazing. Usually with stories starting with origins it takes time to get into the superhero bit.
Andrew Garfield plays a heck of a Peter Parker, and I also loved the bits of humor when he's Spider-Man, that I kinda missed on the Raimi-movies. And his growing relationship with Gwen Stacy is nice to see.
The downside of the Amazing Spider-Man are the action sequences, which I found very short in my opinion. Also, the impact of Uncle Ben's death was less present as in the Raimi-version, it felt rushed. As you all know, it's his death that changes Peter into Spider-Man... With great power comes great responsibility. Peter realizes later that into the movie.
Another downside is I felt there were parts missing. The scene on the bridge where he 'catches' cars with his webs... You only see him do that once, but when you get the overall picture, there are multiple cars hanging on a thread. Things like that make me feel parts are missing, which is a shame in an action sequence. There's also another thing in the final act which has to do with gas and a SWAT team.
An upside was I felt the rush during his web slinging, which were really great. Also, the realistic style of the movie also feels good.
I couldn't believe at first, but I found Peter's abilities to use his wits at science quite believable.
We can expect a sequel in 2014, and I hope that Part 2 goes full throttle, because I felt that director Marc Webb was holding the brakes in this one. I'm also intrigued about what's to come about Peter's parents, because of what we saw is just a tip of the iceberg (I read somewhere that they're gonna delve deeper into that in the sequel).
Still, I give this movie an 8 for the realistic style, the story and how they portrayed Spider-Man's personality, and the score by James Horner.