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User Reviews for: The Amazing Spider-Man

TinyTinkerBell9
7/10  3 years ago
This was the first movie I bought on Blu Ray (yes, I stuck to my old DVD player as long as possible).

I recently rewatched the movie, because of the new "No Way Home" Trailer and I still enjoy it immensely.

And I know some people think it’s blasphemy to say this, but I prefer this one by miles over the Raimi Spider-Man.

As someone who grew up on the comics and 90s animated show, Tobey Maguire never captured Peter Parker for me, Andrew Garfield however was a huge step up.

Was he perfect? No (we wouldn’t get a perfect live action adaptation until Tom Holland) but he captured the essence of Spider-Man so well and was funny and likeable while still managing to be slightly awkward. I also bought the "mad genius" aspect way more here, because his Peter is actually shown to be smart and innovative (show don’t tell, people). Also, thank God the organic web shooters are gone.

I get the criticism of Garfield‘s Parker being too "hypsterish“ or more of a "cool skater dude" than the nerdy underdog, but for the film it worked. And more than that, he made for an excellent Spider-Man. He had fun as a superhero, taunted criminals and was embracing his new status instead of feeling tortured by it.

Andrew Garfield is also just overall a fantastic actor and always a joy to watch.

Speaking of casting, overall it’s excellent. Sally Field and Martin Sheen make for a likeable Aunt May and Uncle Ben duo and Rhys Ifans is good as Doctor Connors aks The Lizard.

I am not the biggest fan of the Lizard‘s design or that they went a bit copy and paste with the Green Goblin‘s split personality, but as a character he overall works just fine. Too bad they cut out the scene about his wife and daughter, which would have made his motivation a bit more personal and plausible.

One of the biggest treasures however is Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. The Raimi trilogy put a lot of emphasis on the romance between Peter and Mary Jane, but unfortunately it ended up being a never ending melodrama without much chemistry. Here, the romance is suddenly one of the best and most intriguing aspects of the movie.

Stone and Garfield ooze chemistry and the courtship between Peter and Gwen is believable, awkward and sweet. It never feels overdone and it never takes over the plot too much.

There’s also the fact that Gwen is allowed to be a character outside of being a love interest. She is smart, she is interested in science, has her own connection to Connors and is the person responsible for the lizard antidote that saves the day. It was also a genius move to have Peter tell her right away about being Spider-Man to avoid all the boring and cliched secret identity hijinks.

The action scenes are well done as well and I especially appreciate Garfield‘s movements as Spider-Man.

I also have such a soft spot for the crane scene, as cheesy as it might be.

The movie also still has my favorite Stan Lee cameo.

What probably bring it down a bit, and that’s something the MCU thankfully avoided, is that we have seen a lot parts of this origin story as well and some aspects feel like "been there done that." The biggest hook of the film is "the untold story" aspect, involving a mystery surrounding Peter’s parents and their connection to Oscorp, but that mostly just stays as a sequel hook and nothing more.
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