The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Directed by Marc Webb. Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans. IMDB says: “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.
I’m not sure where this movie is going to fit with audiences but The Amazing Spider Man essentially met all of my expectations. That could be a very positive statement if my expectations for the film didn’t consist of wholehearted mediocrity. I have seen a Spider-man movie before, I liked it and I have absolutely zero interest in seeing it again, no matter how many Andrew Garfields or Emma Stones you throw at me. Especially since Emma Stones might hurt if you throw them. GET IT LOL HA! That really lame joke sort of works a decent segue in this review because I can affirm viewers that they are in for a lot of the same brand of humor.
First off, I’d like to note that if you have any prior knowledge of Spider-man or the Spider-man movies, I have no reason to delve into any plot points here. I’ll make an ass out of you and me and assume that most readers fall into one of those categories. The Amazing Spider-Man is marketed as a new face of the story, the story we haven’t heard, but it quite obviously isn’t. Not only does the movie run through similar plot points, but the characters also face simliar situations and deal with the exact same moral conundrums. I’m not going to dismiss the themes in the film or write off this story because it’s obviously a universal concept that has connected with fans since the dawn of the comic. I will however say that as someone who is not dying to see Spider-man reborn, this movie doesn’t offer anything new. It’s sort of like watching the Let The Right One In remake Let Me In except that movie actually displayed a scene or two of brilliance. In The Amazing Spider-Man I’m treated to the same set pieces and jokes that seem out of place with the film’s need to be a more Dark Knight-y version of Spidey.
Adding clarification to the ‘humor’ element I touched on above, I found the corny dialouge and cliche-riddled script to be by far the most off putting element of the film. At first, I thought some of the remarks might have just bothered me because I wasn’t classified in the film’s main demographic (a group of which seated directly behind me didn’t seem to mind.) But as the film progressed, the more the trite stuff became hard for me to ignore. I made faces and groaned at a few scenes. All of this is not to say that there are a few jokes that are down right hilarious in the film, and the audience was a good gauge of when those hit. The jokes that didn’t land and the serious moments turned ‘insert exact line I’ve heard in 14,000 other movies before’ are the ones that really took me away from the story.
What continued to draw me back in was undoubtedly the actors. Everyone here can be marked as a solid casting choice, a fact that seemed overt to me from the get go. Garfield has a great career ahead of him and makes for an adorable, believable Peter Parker. Emma Stone is great as well and really impressed me with her ability to play a more subdued character than she is accustomed to. She is the girl guys want and girls want to me. She is likeable in a way we haven’t seen yet in her other performances and ultimately she gets to do more than just be a nice set of stems. Rhys Ifans is also doing his thang like usual, although he doesn’t get to become as cool of a character as I would have liked to see. OH and it was nice to see Martian Sheen for a little while.
Overall I feel like this movie was soley made to profit off the core fan base which -by all means- why should I care? You guys and gals are gonna go see it anyway amiright? It’s just a shame that all the comic book camp that was on firm ground in the Sam Raimi’s Spider-man seems so out of place here. This new Spidey film just gave off the impression that it was scared to make the jump into a full on serious film. But for anyone on the fence about this one, wait for home release. I would comment on the 3D IMAX experience but it’s honestly becoming exhausting trying to decide where on the scale of ‘I have a Migraine’ to ‘I just watched Avatar’ a film fits in. I guess like most other issues with The Amazing Spider-Man, this one falls somewhere in the middle.
FTS SCORE:
70%
The Amazing Spider-Man opens in theaters July 3rd.