Review: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man/Peter Parker: Andrew Garfield
Gwen Stacey: Emma Stone
Dr. Curt Connors: Rhys Ifans
Captain Stacey: Dennis Leary
Uncle Ben: Martin Sheen
Aunt May: Sally Field
Rajit Ratha: Irrfan Khan

Directed by: Marc Webb
Written By: James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves
Running Time: 137 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for sequences of action and violence)

Before I start, this writer needs to make a confession: I was one of the critics who thought it was too soon to reboot Spider-Man so soon after the last series ended. But the more I read about the new film, hearing about the direction the script and storyline took, such as doing Spider-Man’s girlfriends in the correct order this time for example… I became more and more interested. When I heard there was finally going to be a movie with the Lizard as the villian, I became more and more excited to see this movie. While I did check out the filk in 3D, it’s not the effect that make this movie the amazing picture it is. The cast, the writing and especially the storyline propell this movie to being one of the best movies of the summer.

Comic fans will love this movie because it’s ten times more loyal to the original storyline than Sam Raimi’s movies ever were. In the original trilogy, Spider-Man seems to zip through highschool and jump into the freelance photo almost at the speed of the flash, where as this reboot decided not to rush anything. Parker doesn’t even graduate from highschool in this movie, let alone go out into the workforce. J. Jonah Jamieson isn’t even in this film. Even though J. Jonah is one of my favorite characters, I am glad they chose not to slam him into this film where he would have seems out of place. I like the pace they are taking with these movies, and I am sure it will be more fun to see Jonah in the sequel when it’s more appropreiate to the storyline.

What made this movie the best it could possibly be was the cast. Andrew Garfield while looking a little old for the role was still convincing as Peter Parker, the reluctant hero who gets the powers to do good in the world and stand up for the little guy. Emma Stone was a scene stealer as Gwen Stacey, and watching her and Dennis Leary as her father was quite amusing. Leary managed to do very as Captain Stacey, being a pivotal part of the story rather than just the background here I am apperance that was wasted in the previous series. Martin Sheen and Sally Field were great choices for Aunt May and Uncle Ben, who are in my opinion two of the most important characters in this hero’s tale. They did their roles wonderfully and it makes a true difference when we all can see Peter’s caregivers as he does. This story was told so well, we even felt bad for the movies villian, rather than hate him for becoming this huge green monster. The sign of a truly well penned script.

Overall, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is everything Same Raimi’s first Spider-Man film should have been. Why Raimi would chose to skip who I personally think is Spider-Man’s best villian with the best background story is beyond me. This Spiderman reboot definitely delivered as it was far more loyal to the comic books and the original material. Fans of the comic will enjoy this as it’s done right this time around and follows the timeline correctly, uses the real webshooters and creates a great storyline that I can’t wait to see in future sequels. This movie was everything I had been watiting for in a Spider-Man movie and then some. While I was skeptical going in that Andrew Garfield could pull it off with big shoes to fill left by Toby Maguire, he did well with the role and made us believe that he was Peter Parker. Not only did the film exceed my expectations, but it made me eager to see more. If you are a fan of the previous films and especially the original comics, you will adore this movie. Clearly one of the best of the summer.

Rating: 9 (Out of 10)