Being a movie theater manager, I decided: “Hey the movie’s content was unlocked a day early, why not use that opportunity to, oh I don’t know, watch it?” Here comes my light-on-the-spoilers review of The Amazing Spider-Man.
Many people began to judge this early whether it was the design of the costume, to Andrew Garfield’s hair, and even the villain’s design. Like always: all of those who judged are put to shame as the movie surpasses those things almost flawlessly. Straight from the get-go I will mention this is NOTHING like Twlight, and the Spidey suit looks great on screen, as do The Lizard.
Pulling inspiration from both the 616 and Ultimate realms, TASM sits nicely between the two. We’re given a nice blend of ‘updated’ Spider-Man mythos that flows decently enough to make it feel real. The origin moves by just fast enough (i.e. it doesn’t feel rushed, nor is it too slow), and because of that this doesn’t ultimately feel like a gigantic origin movie. We’re treated to a modern origin set-up and then a pushed right into the action. Even the way the origin (again no spoilers) is established is great because sometimes stories from the 60’s don’t always fit it correctly in modern day.
Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker perfectly. He embodies the quirky social outcast quite well. I do want to make a pointer here: Remember this isn’t the 60’s any more. Social outcasts or nerds do not dress like they did back then. Of course a kid now-a-days have cell phones or skate boards; it’s all adding to the character when you see it unfold. Andrew has an unprecedented amount of time wearing the mask: I’m actually quite pleased most of his scenes he kept the mask on unlike our last Spider-Man who would constantly lose or remove it. Keep on eye out on Andrew’s acting range- especially how he was the one in the suit for a lot of his stunts.
Rhys Ifran don’s a both fatherly figure and menacing villain in the movie. Although we don’t quite see his mentor form take center stage, it’s well implied that Peter and Connors both are learning and benefiting from each other in the movie. The CGI for the Lizard is done fantastically minus a few moments whether it’s just the movements he made or just lack of CGI perfection, it’s never corny or cheesy. As a matter of fact, the Lizard kind of fit in really well as a ‘realistic’ being.
Tangibility. It’s obvious this movie is kept in a real world which is both fantastic and great for future settings. A lot of people complained that Spidey was only out at night which is true seeing he’s attends school. Worry not there are plenty of daylight scenes to balance the movie. It’s really neat to see the type of Oscorp technology used in the movie, especially when it fits right in with Tony Stark’s holograms in the ‘official’ MCU. If they ever wanted to blend Spider-Man with the MCU- there would be absolutely no issue in doing that. This movie feels like a Marvel Studios movie, though sadly it isn’t.
The action: I’ll go out on the limb here and say this almost rival’s Marvel’s The Avengers in terms of ‘understanding’ the character. This is truly the definitive action we’ve seen in comics- brought to life. My jaw dropped multiple times during fight scenes because Marc Webb KNOWS exactly what Spider-Man is about. The trailers give just a small glimpse at the Web Head’s actions, and I will go on to say ‘you haven’t seen nothing yet.’
The cons: I won’t get into too many details here- I’ll just point things out from other reviews. Irrfan Khan can sometimes be a bit hard to understand- although with the theater’s surround sound and the context of the situation it isn’t too hard to pick up. While Uncle Ben never utters a famous quote (which he never actually said in the comics), there is a similar exchange that feels less forced and more on par with a more grounded tone based on the situation. The movie can feel rushed, but remember for a 2 and a half hour movie, it flies by at a nice pace.
I will bring an honorable mention in the character of Flash Thompson. One of his exchanges with Peter mid way through the movie is actually poignant and shocking. I won’t spoil it, but I was shocked to see it.
In the end, basing The Amazing Spider-Man from a comic fan’s stand point: I give it a 4 out of 5. It’s definitely worth multiple viewings especially with inclusion of Easter Eggs (that I missed sadly). From a normal Joe Public stand point? I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a movie that actually ‘gets’ Spider-man.
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