The Amazing Spiderman

The Amazing Spiderman - PG-13 (Columbia Pictures)

Where to start, where to start? I was incredibly excited for this movie and I guess the real sign that it was a success was that it truly exceeded my expectations. The story line is incredible and leaves a great cliffhanger. The acting was equally great; and best of all the action scenes were clear and well done. 


One of my favorite things about this film was that it stayed closer to the comic books than Sam Raimi's Spiderman did and honestly if you don't stay close to the comics, the story really isn't Spiderman. This Spiderman did a great job of appealing to a large audience, but also staying consistent with the overall, original story of Spiderman. I was a little worried that a great Spiderman wouldn't come around after Sam Raimi pretty much destroyed the Spiderman franchise. But, similar to Cristopher Nolan bringing back Batman after Schumacher gave him nips, Marc Webb does an excellent job of delivering a fresh story that isn't only entertaining if you've read the comic books. What really pushed this film to a greater level for me was that the action side of the story was equally as good as the dramatic side of the story. If you separated the two aspects, each could equally stand on its own; and for me, that is always a big plus with superhero films. Webb also did a great job of leaving the story open for future films that I hope will come out quickly. 


I was hesitant toward the film when I heard that Andrew Garfield, a British actor, would be playing the American hero. However, he did not disappoint. I always hear how Tobey Maguire did an incredible job of playing Peter Parker because he looked the part and was able to really sell Peter's geek aspect. I do think that Maguire did a good job with Spiderman's more reserved side, however I think he really lacked when he was supposed to be Spiderman. Andrew Garfield did a great job of both sides of Spiderman. He was not only believable as Peter Parker, but was also really great at being the self-confident, almost cocky Spiderman. He was, in my opinion, better than Tobey Maguire ever was as the hero. Now, if anyone reading this knows me personally, he or she will know that I absolutely love Emma Stone in anything she's in, so when I heard that she was going to be Gwen Stacy, I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed in her performance. Needless to say, she did live up to my expectations and even surpassed them. Even before I knew she was cast, the fact that they were going to exclude Mary Jane Watson and include Gwen Stacy made the film already great to me. Very few people realize that Mary Jane did not even appear in the comics until over a hundred editions into the series. Gwen came before Mary Jane and the fact that they chose to include Gwen really excited me. Emma Stone did an incredible job with developing her character all the way to the end of the movie; she was simply great. All the other supporting cast members were fantastic as well and did a great job embodying their characters. Rhys Ifans did a particularly good job as Dr. Curtis Connors as well as Denis Leary doing a great job as Captain George Stacy. The one thing that I was really disappointed with was that Uncle Ben does not say his famous line of "With great power comes great responsibility," which is really at the core of Spiderman, but that really isn't the  actors fault. All actors really did a great job with their characters and really drove and pushed the story to the best it could be.


One of the biggest problems you seem to run into with action movies is when the action is going on, directors try to use these innovative filming techniques that just end up looking confusing and making you dizzy. This was, fortunately, not the case with The Amazing Spiderman. The action sequences were great because they were complex and believable, but not so complex that the camera keeps switching to different angles and you start to get confused over what exactly you're looking at and what is happening. You really were able to understand what was happening, who was hitting who, and where they were, which is always a plus for action movies, especially for movies in 3D where things can really get muddled together. 


So, in conclusion, I thought this movie was incredibly well done and developed. The plot was good and was left open just enough to leave a cliffhanger, but not enough to leave you disappointed. The acting was phenomenal and all the actors did a great job of developing their characters and following through all the way throughout the film. The action was great and, best of all, it was clear. All-in-all, I would definitely recommend that everyone go and see this film if you want to know what the real, original Spiderman is all about, because, even though some aspects of the original comics were left out that the previous franchise did include, out of the two franchises, this one is, in my opinion, the better one.


Rating:
***** out of 5
Trailer for The Amazing Spiderman