Movie review - The Amazing Spiderman

Did the Spiderman series need a reboot? It seems not so long ago that the Tobey Maguire/Kirsten Dunst movies came out. Or I'm old. 


Orphan Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is an awkward high school student who lives with his Aunt and Uncle (Sally Field and Martin Sheen). He attends a *Science High School* where his crush is Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and despite his nerdiness, we see him standing up to bullies even when it means he gets beaten up. Things change when he discovers his (scientist) father's old briefcase and decides to get to know his father's old research partner, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) and learn more about the genetic modification work they were doing...


So what can I say? My initial feeling upon walking out was that, in contrast to one of my companions who said it was terrible, was that it actually wasn't bad. Certainly the casting choice of Garfield was inspired as he not only looks like an awkward teen, despite being 28 (!!!), but also does a great job showing aspects of Parker ranging from teen insecurity and cockiness to a person who realises that the path he has chosen is a lonely one. Also, I was intrigued that in contrast to Mary Jane (Dunst) who fell in love with Spiderman and didn't make the connection to Parker, Gwen Stacy falls first for Parker and accepts the Spidey side of him. And this I think is key - this movie is about Parker less so than Spidey, and it makes the film feel somewhat less *superhero action-ey*. This is not a bad thing in my eyes because I liked that they showed that Parker's/Spidey's powers come from his intelligence rather than acquired from the spider bite. I also liked that despite his newfound powers, all the fighting and rescuing physically hurts him. 

But by the same token, some things were very weak. Connors transforms very quickly from a (somewhat) rational scientist to an evil villain VERY quickly, to say nothing of the character design of The Lizard. Actually one key criticism I have is that things are brought up, discussed as though they are important, and then passed over. What's the point in bringing up the mystery of Parker's parent's death and then not addressing it? What about Ratha's appearance and his cryptic references to *he*? It's clearly all (annoying) sequel baiting. Also, because I like to criticise poor lab practice whenever I see science in movies (cough cough, Avatar), in the scene where Connors and Parker conduct an animal experiment, well, you'd only handle a mouse like that...IF YOU WANT TO GET BITTEN AND MISS THE INJECTION SITE!!!


So in conclusion, this is by no means a bad movie. If you're walking in expecting another gangbusters Avenger's style bombast, this is not it. But I think it's a fair movie showing how the transformation of an ordinary teen to a superhero affects him and the people in his life. Oh yeah, Garfield also has great hair. And in that suit, great ass!
6.5-7/10