The Amazing Spider-Man

Directed by Marc Webb

Is it just irony, or does it mean he was always meant for the job, when a guy named Webb directs a movie about a kid who develops Spider-like super powers?  Well either way I’m a fan of his work, having previously directed one of my favorite movies, 500 Days of Summer.

Everyone knows the story, a geeky young school boy is bitten by a spider and becomes Spider-Man, compelled to fight crime, right wrongs and be a symbol of justice to all around him. Forever haunted by the fact that he could have prevented the death of his uncle Ben, he devotes his life to fighting evil, always plagued by the idea that no one he loves will ever be truly safe.

I’ll admit it was Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man movie that made me a fan of the whole franchise in the first place, but there were many things I liked about The Amazing Spider-Man that I thought were better than the 2002 Spider-Man, such as the handmade web shooters and the inclusion of Gwen Stacey.  The handmade web shooters are a brilliant way to show just how intelligent Peter Parker is.  He uses both his scientific knowledge to create the web fluid and his techno-geek side to come up with the shooters which can change to shoot different types and shapes of webbing. Peter’s love interest, Gwen Stacy, is played by the beautiful Emma Stone and she is faultless as always.  She isn’t just a pretty face but comes across as a real person, an intelligent woman, who isn’t just the damsel in distress, but is a great character who has some depth to her. Another thing that this movie includes which was seriously lacking from the previous movies is the witty banter that just doesn’t let up whenever Spider-Man is taking down the villains.

I couldn’t help chuckling to myself when they desperately wanted to say “With great power comes great responsibility” but didn’t want to sound the same as the old Spidey movie.

The one thing that didn’t come across is that Peter Parker is supposed to be a nerd, a loser at the bottom of the pecking order at school, but he was portrayed as a cool kid with attitude and even his high school nemesis Flash Thompson was trying to be nice to him after the first fight, when Peter stood up to him and was beaten up for it.

The costumes were well done, Gwen looked like she’d stepped off the page of one of the comics and spidey looked great with all the detail in the suit.

I couldn’t help feeling like there was nothing new in the story itself but at the same time I can forgive them for that because this is a reboot and they have to retell the beginning, before going on to other things, so I look forward to seeing where the take us in the coming sequels.

Overall this movie looks great, delivers a few laughs and was entertaining the whole way through.  Definitely one of the better movies of 2012.

Written by Ben Freeman