The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Review – “Well, He’s Pretty Amazing, I Guess.”

Yell! Magazine Review:

(Yeesh, again with the 3D, here.)

So, it’s been a full 5 years since Spider-Man 3 graced theatres ‘round the world, and it’s time again to reboot another franchise, seemingly for a common good. Without sticking the Spider-Man name onto another blockbuster every so often, Sony Pictures will lose the rights to their precious meal ticket, and they’ll have to enslave somebody else’s table scraps. That’s the source of all the suspicion, and frankly – it’s well warranted.

But you know what?

I liked it.

Soulless economic benefits aside, The Amazing Spider-Man might just be able to get by its own pretense as an ass-covering maneuver by the powers that be. It’s sleek, it’s intimate (or at least looks like it is) and is by all means entertaining.

To some, that’ll fit the description of a good movie going experience, so who am I to complain? Somehow, everyone fitted into the new cast manages to pull it off, just fine. They’re likeable, and they do their best with the written material.

But the changes – how do those go over?

Well, see for your friggin’ self.

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is a pensive dweeb who’s got no idea who he is or where he came from. His parents are dead, he’s got no friends, and he spends most of his time taking photos of his unknowing crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Following a trail that might lead him to some answers about his father, he finds himself at Oscorp, face to face with the revered Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans). Sleuthing his way into the animal testing lab, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider, and decides to fight crime. Meanwhile, Curt Connors struggles with a fast approaching deadline, and no human subjects to test his SUPER serum on. He syringes himself with abandon, turns into a big-ass lizard, and decides to become evil and such.

Same old spidey, new-school style. Dark-lit set pieces and dialogue that seems like it’s ad-libbed. Peter Parker rides a skateboard now, and likes to tinker around with gadgets. He doesn’t wise-crack and snark villains so much as he trolls them, but it all goes down smooth.

Spidey’s new look, complete with less-distracting bulge.

Also, we get more than one scene wherein Spider-Man’s talking on his cell phone, fully clad in his suit. I’m not really sure whether or not you’re supposed to take this seriously in the later scenes, but I laughed my ass off.

Sitting there in the theatre, there’s no doubt that it’s a fun ride. A few laughs here, and some good action there, but in retrospect, you can see the gaps in the writing.

Continue reading The Amazing Spider-Man review on the jump…