The Amazing Spider-Man

Before we get into things a few clarifications. First, this review will contain spoilers but for the sake of those who have not seen the film yet, I shall keep them to a bare minimum. Second, I will not be comparing this to the original Sam Raimi trilogy, at least not in this review. Sometime later I will be posting a blog comparing the two. For now, all I will say on the matter is that this movie feels like someone saw the first one and said, “Yeah, that was okay, but I can do better.”

I’m not going to lie. I was quite skeptical when this movie was first announced. It just seemed too soon and the origin of Spiderman has pretty much been done to death at this point. I just didn’t see anything new or interesting, and with movies like Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises coming out, this seemed like a flick that would be pretty easy to overlook. I was going back and forth on whether or not to see it until a few days ago a friend of mine texted me telling me to see the film ASAP. As such, I did so and good lord was I impressed. This is not only the first Spiderman done better, but it is also Spiderman how I would have written it. Nearly everything in this movie is in keeping with how I want Spiderman to be.

Peter Parker is as nerdy and awkward as he’s always been, but he’s also very believable. One thing in fiction I’ve grown to dislike is the stereotype of the nerd as being an un-relatable, social outcast who is incapable of fitting in with so-called normal people and cannot attract the opposite sex. That stereotype is frankly a bit played out. (For the record, I make an exception for Sheldon from Big Bang Theory because that show is awesome) I consider myself a nerd and I often get funny looks from others when I tell them I like comic books or Star Trek or what have you. There’s this negative stigma on such things that many people are turned off by and as such the negative stereotype of the “nerd” was created. In this flick however, Peter is a bit a dork to be sure, but he’s still a normal kid. He likes skateboarding, he has girls who think he’s cute, he has movie posters in his room. He’s a normal person who just happens to be a nerd. I really dig that. I also like him as Spiderman. His quirky humor is perfect, especially in that small knife scene from the previews. Andrew Garfield is a great actor and I look forward to seeing him in more movies in the future. This was the perfect actor to play the Spiderman I grew up with. I can totally see this guy becoming a teacher later in life, which is the profession I’ve always preferred for Spiderman.

The Supporting cast ain’t half bad either. Emman Stone is a fine Gwen Stacy, Martin Sheen Sally field made for a perfect Uncle Ben and Aunt May and I could go on, but there are two characters in particular that I’d like to spotlight. First there’s Flash Thompson. This a character that gets written off quite a bit by people who are only familiar with the movies or the TV shows as the generic 2-dimensional bully. Those people would be surprised to know that the current incarnation of Flash is not only a soldier with a purple heart, but also the current Venom. Sure he’s not the main character, but he has more layers to him than most people think. The Flash Thompson in this movie is a bully to start, but he’s not a two dimensional asshole. He torments Peter in the beginning of the film but once Uncle Ben dies he actually tries to comfort him. It’s a brief scene but goes a long way toward character development even for such a minor character. The second is George Stacy played by Dennis Leary. (True story: I went to high school with Dennis Leary’s Daughter) This character doesn’t so much steal the show as grab it by the throat and shoot it up several times with a shotgun. Leary switches constantly between awkward friendly dad and badass cop, but it’s never forced. I like how once he learns Peter’s identity he’s willing to listen to reason when his daughter’s life is at stake even though up until that point he was the man most fixated on bringing in Spiderman. It’s really a shame that he dies in the end, which may or may not be a spoiler as it happened in the comics albeit differently, because I would have loved to see more of him in the sequel I hope they make.

Now let’s discuss the villain. I wasn’t sure if the Lizard could have carried this movie and believed that he was only being used to appease those people who kept demanding to see him in the Raimi films. However, once I saw the movie, I realized what they’re going for here and it’s something I’m glad to be seeing implemented more and more. I like to call it the Chris Nolan approach. I think the success of The Dark Knight and by extension the Nolan Batman films can be attributed to the order of the villains in the films. The first one featured Ra’s Al Ghul, a character with a personal connection to the hero and can carry a film but not necessarily one that everyone knows, the next one had the Joker, the most recognizable villain of the series who had been foreshadowed in the last film and the next one will have Bane, a character who represent a type of ultimate threat. My point is, Nolan didn’t play his trump card with the villains right away like so many superhero films do. Instead he did the origin story with a strong, but still lesser villain while getting the origin story out of the way so in the next movie we can spend more time with the main villain. Speaking of which, Norman Osbourne was foreshadowed but never shown, well played movie, well played. Anyway, let’s talk about the Lizard, who was most excellent. I was worried for many reasons but I think they got him pretty perfect. My main concern was that they were going to make Connors the unabashed villain, but fortunately the kind-hearted and well meaning nature of Connors outside of the Lizard personality. What I like about the lizard is that even though he is a villain in one personality, in his human form he serves as a friend and ally to Spiderman. I really like how this character is done, he and Peter have good on screen chemistry, the effect of his monster form is excellent, and he’s fairly accurate to the comics, all around, a great villain for a great movie.

All that having been said, I do have one complaint. And that’s the fact that this guy wasn’t in it.

Rest in Peace Macho Man, I miss you.

I could go on and on about all the things I love about this flick, but frankly I think this review is long enough already and it is currently very late at night where I am, so I’ll just say this, see the film, it is worth every penny. I simply cannot say anything bad about it.