Alex Reviews...

The Amazing Spiderman

I'm going to quickly list the good parts of this film, just to get it out of the way. Don't worry, it won't take long. Firstly; the acting is pretty solid, despite the somewhat questionable material - Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Michael Sheen and Rhys Ifans to name a few stars. Secondly; there are some funny moments. Not many, but a couple. Thirdly; when you do see Spiderman, he's pretty sweet, his fight scenes work well and are exciting enough. Other than that, I honestly can say I'm not entirely sure why this film was made (other than to obviously allow Spiderman to enter The Avengers at some point? Maybe?) and I don't know why anyone would choose to see it over the Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi editions that weren't made long enough ago to justify a reboot. X-Men: First Class was good because it offered something new that made sense in regard to the previous films. The Amazing Spiderman is a re-boot, and so it re-tells the story of Spiderman and reintroduces the characters. The problem is, it doesn't have the heart of the previous Spiderman films, and if you have already seen those original films then you will find the 'Amazing' version diluted in comparison. 

So where does The Amazing Spiderman go wrong? The original Spiderman films were great because you really cared about the characters and the struggles that come with being the masked superhero for Peter Parker. The Spiderman character was, at least in the first two films, a character you were really rooting for. But Amazing doesn't have the same heart. Andrew Garfield is a great actor, but his Peter Parker just seems like a ass-hat teenager, with none of the awkwardness or innocence that Tobey Maguire managed to convey. I have to stress that this isn't Garfield's fault, just the material that he was given. Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacey brilliantly, but her relationship with Peter Parker seems rushed with none of the sweetness and torment that was found with Mary-Jane. There is barely a relationship with Aunt May, and although Uncle Ben's inevitable demise is just as depressing as any other rendition, the relationship he had with his nephew just wasn't as tight. I won't talk about the villain as that could be seen as a spoiler, but their intentions and character are weak. The main character is of course, Spiderman, the alter-ego of Peter Parker. And again, he's just not that amazing. We barely have any chance to see Spidey fighting crime, and for goodness sakes, the guy just won't keep his mask on. Seriously, the amount of stuff Peter Parker seems to do with his face fully on show is ridiculous. There's a point where Spiderman is asked to identify himself by a cop, and retorts something along the lines of "you guy's really aren't understanding the point of the mask" - yet he reveals himself to Gwen Stacy, swings around in plain clothes and attacks criminals with nothing other than a hat. Spiderman was always meant to struggle with keeping his big secret, and it was a big deal when villains found out his true identity. The way this villain finds out is...urgh.

So the characters aren't as approachable and you won't care as much about them or their relationships with each other. What else? The plot isn't particularly complex which is fine, but it seems to take too long to arrive at the important parts and as a result rushes and squashes a lot into the last half an hour. I don't know much about direction, but there were certain shots where you can view from Spiderman's perspective, which although interesting at first, gets boring and jarring on the third or fourth time. The music, at points, seems completely out of place - I never thought I'd miss Danny Elfman. There are too many odd "what the hell, really?" moments - too many "yeah that doesn't quite work" moments, even for a superhero film. The CGI effects and what-not are commendable, and although I don't like the general look of the main villain, they do a good job of bringing them to life. Everything else falls flat.

So, I really wasn't convinced by this web-slinging romp. Long, not boring but not as exhilarating as the other superhero films out at the moment, and severely pales in comparison to the other Spiderman and Marvel films.

BUT

Emma Stone