The Amazing Spiderman [Review]
Peter Parker finds a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young. His path puts him on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father’s former partner.
-IMDB
Plot
By this point we all know the story of spider man through countless cartoons comics movies and so on. There is not much they can surprise us with at this point. In this film the focus is on Peter Parker’s faint memory of his parents. A stormy night when someone had broken into the Parker residence no doubtingly to steal the work Richard Parker. Richard and Mary Parker leave there home immediately after with their young son Peter. Visibly frightened for their family and in a moment of desperation they leave Peter with his Aunt and Uncle Peter not knowing if he will see his parents again.
Fast forward to the present day peter is a young teenager in high-school facing regular bullying and public ridicule. The only light at the end of the tunnel is his infatuation with the beautiful Gwen Stacy who takes a liking to Peter after he helps a student from a face full of vegetables. Peter later finds himself at home with his Aunt and Uncle and stumbles upon a briefcase in the basement, recognizing the briefcase Peter brings it up to examine its contents. Peters Aunt & Uncle immediately recognize the briefcase and go on to tell Peter that it was his fathers who had bought the briefcase from his mother and that was how they met.
Peter looking for answers finds only a picture of his father with a man in a lab coat his aunt and uncle clueless to who the man is. Later peter finds a side pocket with files from Oscorp and a interesting formula put together by his father. This leads Peter to Oscorp the next day where he unexpectedly runs into Gwen Stacy on a tour who works there as a lab assistant. Peter also runs into the man he was searching for Dr. Curt Conners and manages to impress him briefly in a Q&A. Later peter seeks out Connors at his home revealing that he is Richard Parker’s son Peter.
Direction
The Amazing Spiderman was directed by Marc Webb who’s only really triumphs in film have been 500 Days of Summer. It makes sense that the blossoming relationship between Parker and Gwen was portrayed so well, being that Webb has proven to be a master of unraveling a relationship before. My only problem was the not so Spidey version of Spiderman that I experienced in the film. Spiderman looked great but his character didn’t shine through as much as i would’ve liked. Despite my problems with this film I feel it will mature as the trilogy continues and we will most definitely be in for a treat when we get to see Peter Parker fall for the love of his life Mary Jane Parker.
Performances
I found the roles of Peters Aunt and Uncle to be a bit shallow it seemed like the film was trying way too hard to solidify the loving Aunt May & Uncle Ben. Their lackluster performance inevitably led to a somewhat lackluster death of Peters Uncle Ben. Now the big one which I’m sure everyone is wondering about is Andrew Garfield Is he a better Spiderman then Toby McGuire? As far as Peter Parker goes yes he plays the younger years of Parker very well capturing his dorky side and kind hearted nature. My gripe comes from his portrayal of Spiderman the man in the suit.
He was nowhere near as witty and believable as Toby McGuire’s version. A huge part of Spiderman has always been his banter while he’s in the suit always coming up with clever quips especially so when engaged with a villain. This Spiderman was lacking that completely. The scene where he discovers his powers in a subway was especially cringe-worthy. Now I must point out this comic book series is especially known for its campy quirky demeanor and that’s part of the reason why Spiderman has always been such a beloved character in the comic book realm but there is a fine line you must walk to execute it well. This movie was able to grasp it briefly throughout the film but overall it fell short of what Spiderman 1 & 2 achieved.
Emma Stones portrayal of Gwen Stacy was right on the money blowing away Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane performance and overall leading to a great dynamic between her and Peter Parker. The way their relationship played out was perfect with plenty of tastefully done awkwardness included. As for the villain of this movie The Lizzard played by Rhys Ifans, it was a forgettable performance and I really couldn’t find empathy for him when the movie grasped for it towards the end. I may be alone in this but I loved the portrayal of Doctor Octavius in Spiderman 2 because I actually felt for the character when the movie called for it.
Visual Effects
The effects in this film were done well, the previous Spiderman’s failed with their destructive use of CGI overall leading to an unnatural looking Spidey. This film had none of those problems the way Spidey moved was great thanks to the fact that the majority of the shots were all shots of the actor in costume. Come to think of it I don’t think I recognized any CGI for Spiderman in this feature. The Lizzard looked surprisingly good even if I couldn’t get over the fact that he looked very similar to the Goomba’s in Super Mario Brothers The Movie. The effects in this movie never took me out of the experience which is a very important part of using them. By far the most beautiful scene in the movie is at the end when a cloud of anti serum rains down on New York City and Spiderman and The Lizzard plummet below.
The Good
- Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
- Captures the essence of Peter Parker’s youth brilliantly
- Great visual effects & costume design
- captivating portrayal of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy’s romance
The Bad
- Dr. Curt Connors lack of character development
- weak performances by Aunt May and Uncle Ben
- Spiderman lacked the character that we’ve come to expect from the web slinger
