The Amazing Spiderman Review

Has This Movie Set a Higher Mark Than the Others?

The Amazing Spiderman hit theaters everywhere on July 3; an exciting moment for Spiderman fans everywhere! But a new face was now under the mask; 28 year old actor Andrew Garfield. He’s best known for his roles in the shows Sugar Rush and Doctor Who. He replaced 34 year old actor Tobey Maguire who had played the role of Spiderman in the previous 3 movies. But when the script for Spiderman 4 was revealed and showed the character Peter Parker going spiderman castback to High School, him, the director Sam Raimi, and Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane) all decided to quit the movie. So with new director Marc Webb, Andrew Garfield(Peter Parker), and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) The Amazing Spiderman was created.

But was the movie better than the masterpieces that preceded it?

The Amazing Spiderman followed a little closer to the Spiderman comics which pleased many of the webslinger’s fans. And bringing in Peter Parker’s true first love, Gwen Stacy, instead of Mary Jane was a definite plus. The movie parkerportrayed some of the young Peter Parker’s anger for revenge that the first Spiderman movie kind of botched up. Sure he was angry and wanted revenge for the death of his Uncle Ben, but the rage of a youthful teen wasn’t fully there like it was in the comics.  And Andrew Garfield did a better job of showing the vengeful wrath of Peter Parker that Tobey Maguire missed.  The villain of the movie, Dr. Conners a.k.a Lizardman, was great as well.  A want to help the world turned vile was a great plot line for the movie.

But even with the good parts of the movie, I failed to think it was better than the ones before. Yes, Peter Parker was an awkward high school student but Andrew Garfield made me think he was perhaps a little TOO awkward. His acting in the role of Peter Parker upset me at multiple points throughout the movie.  Yes, Tobey Maquire made the role awkward as well, but after he became Spiderman in the movie he started to become a bit more normal with his new sense of confidence. I believe that was a good choice of acting.

Certain moments just didn’t seem right in the movie. For instance, the scene where the radioactive spider lands on Peter Parker. In the first Spiderman movie done by Sam Raimi, the spider lands on Peter Parker while he is taking photos on a class trip to the laboratory. In the new movie by Marc Webb, Peter Parker sneaks into a top secret part of the laboratory and is bombarded by a bunch of radioactive spiders but only gets bit by one of them. A little too much if you ask me. What teenager sneaks into a top secret room without getting noticed? What??

When Peter Parker discovers his powers, he is on a subway where he wakes up and accidentally sexually assaults one person and beats up everyone else.  A little more exciting than the scene in the first Spiderman movie, but still just seems like a really unreal moment.  It could’ve  been done much better.

Tobey Macquire did a better job at playing the role of Spiderman, even though Andrew Garfield did a decent job. The acting in the movie altogether was better in Sam Raimi’s movies. The Amazing Spiderman was a good attempt at something new however.  The plot line was well done and how close it followed the actual comics was good. But it could not overcome the masterpieces Sam Raimi had already erected.

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