The Amazing Spiderman

I remember when I was about 10 years old and I got to see the trailer for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. It was a great heist scene at a bank but as the burglars tried to escape in a helicopter they get caught in a gigantic web between two buildings (fun film fact that trailer was shot before 9/11 and afterwards the teaser was pulled). Nevertheless I was so excited and stoked to finally see my favorite comic book character on the big screen! Then it finally came out! and it was AMAZING! I LOVED it! Green Goblin was awesome, Spider-Man was badass and hilarious, and Franco and Dunst didn't do a half bad job. I was so happy with the output and watched it 4 times in theaters. Then we got a sequel and just when I thought things couldn't get better, Spider-Man 2 blew my expectations by being even better! Doc Ock was INCREDIBLE! The story great and the film the best so far. Then we got the 3rd one and it was awful, I mean horrible. There was no excuse but I blame the studio's pressure and control on the film for that one. It seemed that hope was lost and the ride was over. Then Amazing Spider-Man was announced and while I did have my doubts it did seem possible. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone seemed perfect casting and I was a HUGE fan of (500) Days Of Summer so I had faith in Marc Webb. While I wasn't excited for The Lizard or the fact that it was a reboot but I still hoped that it was going to be at least somewhat decent. So what did I think of The Amazing Spider-Man? Read on to find out...

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, a teenage nerd living with aunt and uncle after his parents disappeared at an early age, who is trying to reconnect with the mysteries connected with his parent's life. This trail brings him to Oscorp where he meets Curt Conners, one of his father's co-workers. While at Oscorp Peter does some sneaking on his own and accidentally gets bitten by a spider. This is no ordinary spider though as Peter immediately begins to feel the changes inside of him as he gains the powers of a spider. As Peter tries to get a grip on his new power while also trying to balance his life, his Uncle Ben is shot by a burglar. Peter goes out to seek the murderer for justice and along the way dons the costume and names himself Spider-Man. At the same time Curt Conners is being cut off by Oscorp and in a desperate move injects himself with a new serum, thanks to the help of Peter, and changes into the gigantic Lizard. All the while Gwen Stacy has come into Peter's life as a love interest. So Peter must find a way to accept his new role of protector all while stopping the Lizard before he can harm any more people.

This is going to be a more lengthy review than my usual ones because this movie had some great potential. It could've been a starting point for a new trilogy and bring a fresh new take on Spider-Man to the big screen. Unfortunately this movie fails on almost anything and only succeeds at a few things and in the end leaves an awful taste in your mouth. I rarely get this disappointed and angry at movies but this was plain bullshit and as a HUGE Spider-Man fan who has read the comic books and collected them for years I felt this was a big insult to the face and couldn't seem to enjoy it. I really wanted to enjoy this movie too! With Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Andrew Garfield as Peter I thought that this movie at its worst would still be entertaining. Sadly its not even at that level and I felt that this was shameful to the Spider-Man name especially after Sam Raimi's treatment of it.

Let me get the good stuff about the movie out of the way before I get to my ranting. First thing is that the visuals and direction are actually pretty awesome and I was a big fan of them. I adored the Point Of View shots to see what Spider-Man see while he is swinging around Manhattan. I also think they got some shot of Spider-Man swinging around and making some bad-ass poses, especially the last one. Not only that but the action sequences are amazing! The fights were intense and I was a big fan. Marc Webb was brilliant in utilizing ALL of Spider-Man's abilities and powers, ach fight felt unique and you could see as Peter was getting used to his powers and how to use them. Along with these the Stan Lee cameo was pretty funny and well placed.

Now let's get into my problems with this film. The first and biggest problem is that this movie forgot that Peter Parker is a nerd, a big one at that. One of the thing that makes Peter Parker so relatable to people is that he isn't rich or powerful at first but an average Joe who is just trying to get through high school and learn as much as he can. This movie showed Peter as a skateboarding loner who seems to not care a lot about school. The movie makes almost no attempts to show that he is a nerd and cares about school. Then along with that there is no reason for the audience to think that Peter is a loner and outcast. If your going to cast Andrew Garfield as Peter then you need to give us some reasoning that he is an outcast. Lastly, Peter Parker does not skateboard. I wouldn't even point this out if the rest of the movie is good but it feels completely useless and unnecessary. There was no reason to add it to the film nevertheless focus on it so much. It is out of his character and brings almost nothing to the story. That's a big problem is that most of this could have been easily avoided. Just a scene where Peter is studying hard or something would've been enough. Unfortunately the movie expects you to assume everything and forget that there is no justification for it.

Then we get to the Oscorp scene at the beginning of the movie which is laughable and full of holes. For one why would a big industry like Oscorp not ask for an I.D. or anything when their new interns are coming in? Since these kids are going to be there for a significant amount of time you think they would be more cautious. Instead any stupid ass kid on the street can walk in, pick up a name tag, and become an intern, not to mention how selfish it is of Peter to do that thing to a kid for all we know has dreamed about working there. Plus if the kid pulls out his I.D. and shows it to the girl then Peter will be kicked out of the building, then the movie is over. This is just a sign of lazy writing when something easily could've been set up instead of looking ridiculous. Then we get to Parker's sneaking into the spider room which is completely ridiculous. First off the fact that there are no security cameras to watch one fo the important exports of the company seems stupid and the fact that Peter walks through a coded locked door without knowing the password is illogical. The problem with this stuff is that its completely unnecessary when all you needed was a freak spider that snuck out and let it bite him. The set up and the bad security just feels like bad writing and illogical holes.

Then there was the bridge scene which had its problems itself. For one the scene with the kid was literally UNBEARABLE! Spider-Man has always been a man who protected his identity and there was no reason for him to take his mask off for the kid. I understand that they were trying to say it was to make the kid brave, but Spider-Man is fast enough, strong enough, and have the agility to get in the car and save the kid without all the unnecessary bullshit. In fact he was putting the kid in more danger rather than just taking control of the situation. Plus the movie ignores the fact that the man in the limo slams hard into a car windshield after free-falling a few dozen feet, we don't even know if he survived?! For all we know Spidey could've killed him!

Then we come to the relationship between Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker which feels completely unbelievable. The only reason we can even think that Gwen likes Peter is because he stood up against a bully but for me thats not enough for the basis of a relationship. Gwen seems to all of the sudden fall in love with him, way too deep and way too fast. Even though Emma has some great moments, Garfield is not able to feed off of her and create some genuine chemistry between the two. Plus in their first date Peter reveals he is Spider-Man which is idiotic, stupid, and unlike Peter Parker, or at least the legitimate one. Why they stay together? I don't know. The end is the worst because the movie suggests that one cool, witty quip forgives Peter of abandoning Gwen. I was shocked because I thought for once Gwen actually did something smart and independent like the movie attempts to make her look like but in the end she erases it all.

See most of these are all part of two big problems that the movie constantly runs into. For one the movie is completely rushed and we jump and run from plot line to plot line. The minute we finally get invested in something then it changes directions. We get no time to understand the point of somethings and we lost the heart of the story very easy as we continue to ask "why?". We start with the parents plot line which is what I was most excited for and before we are even half way through the movie the plot has abandoned it and totally forgot about this. Then we come to the Uncle Ben and responsibility story which was probably the best of the whole movie. Martin Sheen does a fantastic job but the plot forgot one thing, Spider-Man never catches the murderer! This is one of the most important parts of the origin story and the movies spends a significant amount of time showing Spidey chasing down the burglar but he never catches him and in fact just forgets about it. Then we come to the Lizard plot line but by the time we finally get here I was exhausted from the other plot lines and wasn't willing to commit to it because who knew how long this was going to last. I cared more about Peter's parents and his Uncle than I ever cared about the Lizard and the movie doesn't even give us clues to the past or anything. I felt cheated and betrayed while I had to watch Andrew try his best to be "awkward" instead of being Peter Parker.

In the end I was disappointed in Garfield and Stone. Garfield has some good humor in the suit but other than that I was not a fan of his portrayal as Peter Parker and it felt like I was watching a man act rather than a character come to life. Gwen was ok and so was Captain Stacy. The real power comes from Martin Sheen who is able to somewhat save the film from being more terrible. Lastly I still liked a lot of the visuals and the fight scenes were fantastic. I give Webb probs for doing a lot of cool things with the camera. Other than that I found this movie to be so full of holes and illogical parts that it was unbearable for me.

Last thing that needs to be said is that the after credits scene is the most insulting piece of movie crap since The Last Airbender. I even somewhat enjoyed the film until I saw this scene. I thought at least they would give us a shot of Norman Osburn but it turned out that it was a HUGE tease that was there to piss on everyone. I was furious after it and it made me see the movie in a worst light because of it. I would not suggest this movie to anyone and as a HUGE Spider-Man fan I felt like this movie was a slap across the face. It is bad and I will never be able to enjoy this movie. It should've been treated better and more carefully. More time should've been devoted to his parents rather than the stupid Lizard.

1/4