Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

Hey guys~

April here.

Danielle and I went to see Amazing Spider-Man, this past weekend, and wanted to share our thoughts!

 

First off, you must understand, Danielle is a HUGE Spider-Man fan. She followed many of the Amazing Spider-Man comics, from the 9/11 issue to Brand New Day arc (which she claims to be disgusting, and when she quit). So from her comic background, they got a ton wrong. However, for what they did do, they did very well.

“The history for tying in the Parker family to Dr. Connors seemed convoluted and a bit of a stretch. First ten minutes of the film filled me with terror, and I was assured that this film would ruin Spider-man in horrid ways. I was willing to go with it, at least give it a chance, and once you get past that first assumption, there are really not too many complaints.

I’m super happy with Gwen Stacy in place of M.J., because it opens up some of my favorite plot arcs. (Which I doubt they’ll actually get to, but the hope is there.) Plus the Gwen/Peter interaction make my inner fangirl squee with joy.

Beyond the intro, the other thing they strayed from in the comics was the death of Uncle Ben, the costumes’ origin and a few small related things. I’ve got mixed feelings here. Normally I would cry blasphemy for not sticking to the story. Though taking an honest look at it, I think they made the story flow better with the changes they made. Peter’s development was a lot stronger, the need for a mask became more real, and just overall streamlining the backstory while making it fun.

Speaking of fun: Spider-man finally moves like a ninja. Unlike the prior movies, where Spidey feels rubber and bulky, in Amazing Spider-man he feels agile and light. They do a fantastic job of making Spidey fight like a spider. The combat is interesting and a blast to watch, and of course I was so pleased they remembered Spidey’s motormouth this time.

Lastly, I have to talk about Dr. Connors. This movie did a fantastic job of making him a great sympathetic villain. I really liked the Lizard’s design and the SFX pulled everything off well. (Save for the mutated mouse which was really bad.) All in all, I was really pleased with his development as well. If not for my long love affair for Spidey, Dr. Connors would be my favorite character of the movie.” -Danielle

So that’s what Danielle thought. Now, it’s my turn.

I have to admit, I was skeptical about going to see it at first after the last three Spider-man movies did so despicably horrible, but once I found myself settled into the theater I could relax a little. I wasn’t like Danielle, with the huge Spidey background, but I do still harbor a love for him.

That said, I was tremendously relieved when Tobey Maguire did not step onto the screen (Though I believe just about everyone was. x3). I liked the new actor (Andrew Garfield), and I found Gwen Stacy very refreshing from a movie go-ers perspective. The pace was a little fast (having to cram all of the backstory as well as a story arc for Lizard into one movie), but once they got past the initial history lesson on how Parker became spidey, and the death of Ben, it was a much steadier ride. Overall, I really liked Dr. Connor’s character, and thought his relationship with his mutation was well handled. The plot was enjoyable, aside from a few minor details that I need to analyze further before deciding my position on them.

I need to see it again.
Wanna come?

-April :D