The Amazing Spider-Man

Let's get something straight.  I was completely against this film from the beginning.  For whatever reason, when I first saw Spider-Man 2, I loved it.  It was probably one of my top three superhero movies for quite some time.  It probably spent time at number one.  As such, it didn't seem right to be clearing the slate and starting over again already.  This is not to say that I didn't think Spider-Man would need to be redone.  After the mess that was Spider-Man 3, there was no going back with that cast, with that crew.  I get that, but that doesn't mean a reboot was already warranted when the most recent trilogy was not all bad.

Sometimes, Hollywood proves me wrong.

While I went into the Amazing Spider-Man completely uninterested, the film won me over.  I had no desire to see the movie, but I went.  I tend to like superhero movies, and while I was annoyed at the audacity, I respected their right to try again.  I'm glad I went.

For the filmmakers, the first step they took in the right direction was landing a great cast.  Andrew Garfield plays Spider-Man beautifully.  I can watch Emma Stone do pretty much anything, so her awesomeness was a given.  Even though I felt his talent was a bit under-utilized, Ryhs Ifans is a great actor.  As much as I like Dennis Leary, he felt a bit stale to me.

Much of the film felt less than fresh, but that's to be expected when you're covering the same ground that was so recently explored.  What's nice is that they tried to make it their own without being untrue to the source material, at least as I understand it.  While I kept waiting for that classic Uncle Ben line, they chose to approach it differently.  While some could be annoyed at that omission, I felt it was a good move.  They didn't want to just re-hash what we so recently saw.

My main complaint comes regarding some of the special effects and character design.  The Spider-Man suit re-design is solid, but the Lizard design is the unholy offspring of Voldemort and a goomba from the Mario Bros. movie.  That's not a pretty picture.  For every well done and splendidly choreographed fight scene, there was a poorly CGI'd lizard or spider.  If those were not CGI, I owe the animal kingdom an apology, but they looked pretty off to me.

A large amount of the time, I felt that the Lizard didn't look particularly real.  As with any fantastical creature they try to portray in the real world, there is going to be some natural dissonance.  I shouldn't compare this to another superhero movie, but the Hulk felt more real in the Avengers than the Lizard did here.  It could just be character design that is the issue.  Either way, the Lizard needed a bit more work.

The dialogue and over-all story arc were quite good.  The film moved at a good pace but didn't feel rushed.  There was no push to get to the costume.  There was no rush to have a confrontation between Spider-Man and the Lizard.  It felt organic.  Action beats happened when they were supposed to, which just happened to be when they were needed.  Also, any film that manages to fit in three montages without seeming obvious about it deserves a high five where we all jump in the air and freeze frame.

As I am tired, here are some other thoughts on the film, in no particular order:

• There was once scene in particular that arachnophobic individuals will struggle with.  I don't have an unusual aversion to spiders, and it creeped me out.*
• There was no need to have a horror movie moment starring Gwen Stacy.  You guys are better than that.
• The Spider-Man Jesus pose at the end made me laugh.
• So did the birds.
• I never did figure out why Spider-Man didn't use the Lizard's tail to overcome the damage reduction.  It works in pretty much every other movie.
• Martin Sheen is a wonderful actor, but he looked like an old lady in this film.
• Peter Parker....or Peter Parkour?
• I don't like heights, and I don't like being up high.

Don't be like me and assume this movie is unneeded and a bad idea.  The filmmakers have put together something great here.  It doesn't lessen the first two Spider-Man films.  It does something different and should be respected as such.  It's a lot of fun.

*I'll bet Tara knows which scene I'm referring to...