Review: The Amazing Spiderman

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Too soon?

The answer is yes. When I first heard there was going to be a Spiderman reboot, only a few years since the last installment, I was immediately against it. Then they started casting actors I loved, like Andrew Garfeild, Denis Leary and Emma Stone. So I figured I would give it a chance.

Garfeild's Peter is a stuttering, more arrogant version of the Peter Tobey Maguire gave us years ago. With his skateboard in tow, he searches for answers regarding his parents, who left mysteriously one night. This leads him to Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) who worked closely with Peter's father trying to combine human and animal genes. A test gone wrong turns Dr. Connors into the film's villain: Lizard. Peter's love interest this time around is Gwen Stacy, (Emma Stone) who's father (Denis Leary) is the captain of the police force searching for Spiderman.

I went into the film with mediocre expectations. Most of the reviews I read were negative and Steve Kloves had a hand in the screenplay, so I wasn't expecting anything special, but I was definitely expecting something that wasn't so damn boring. The Amazing Spiderman moved at a snail's pace. I understand the reboot needs to start from scratch, because we are supposed to pretend Sam Raimi's didn't exist, but that movie was only made 10 years ago and it's impossible to not think about. The end result? I was getting impatient for the movie to get to the point. When I saw the first Spiderman, I remember being amazed by Spidey swinging through NYC. This movie had a few different opportunities to capture that magic, and it didn't. The only thing I can really give this version credit for was the score. I thought it was pretty amazing.  I'm really torn on whether this is worse than Spiderman 3. Spiderman 3 had a LOT of problems, but pacing wasn't one of them. And I think a boring film is far worse than an overloaded film.

Recommended: No

Grade: C

Memorable Quote: "Do I look like the mayor of Tokyo to you?" - Captain Stacy (Denis Leary)

Comments

  1. Candice FrederickJuly 11, 2012 at 8:22 PM

    agreed. you hit it right on the head--this movie just really lost a lot of the magic. and the characters were so underdeveloped. real shame.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JoshJuly 11, 2012 at 9:32 PM

    I felt like Garfield and Stone totally misinterpreted their characters. While I wasn't bored with the film, I was definitely underwhelmed. Also, I didn't like the score at all. I was hoping for something more memorable from Horner, but I've already forgotten it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. asrap virtuosoJuly 12, 2012 at 4:35 AM

    I think the memorable quote you chose for this film pretty much sums everything up.... it pales when compared to Raimi's versions. The original had so many memorable lines and scenes.

    ReplyDelete

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