Amazing Spider-Man

As I have said before, I was not all that excited about seeing this film.  Some previews looked really good and others looked pretty bad.  Well last night at midnight, I decided to give it a shot.  I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was.  I just watched the original Spider-Man the other day and I want to say that this one is not at the same level, but just a notch below.  There are probably some spoilers in here.

I really thought I was going to hate Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, but instead I actually liked him.  He pulled off the science geek very well, plus he was pretty funny as Spider-Man.  I liked how they decided to update his origin and tweak it a little bit.  Instead of him being a complete loser, he is just the nerdy outsider.

The movie started off showing how Peter was incredibly smart.  I liked this more than in the Raimi film.  Peter explains to Uncle Ben what is causing the basement to flood, he also built himself a computer operated robotic door look.  When he helps Dr. Connors with the equation his father created, it is actually believable.

It must seem like I had no real problems with the movie, but that is definitely not the case.  I hated that when Peter was at Oscorp, he was able to watch the guy enter his password and copy it exactly.  Also, would a high security facility use a cell-phone security swipe function as it’s security code?

Maybe I missed it, but did they ever mention why Oscorp still had the spiders that Peter’s father invented?  Seems really weird that they just had them there for over ten years. 

I also feel like they took the bridge scene from Raimi’s film (where the citizens throw stuff at Green Goblin) and tried to replicate it with the crane scene.  It was kind of lame actually.  I thought the final fight with Lizard was actually a bit of a letdown. 

Here are some other minor things I liked/disliked:
-Flash Thompson actually had a little depth in this film.  At first he is the jerk who beats up Peter.  Then Peter humiliates him (which, after seeing the scene in context was not as bad as the clip made it seem).  After Uncle Ben is murdered, Flash tries to console Peter, and by the end of the film, it seems like they might be friends.

-Gwen and Peter were pretty good.  I am glad they did not introduce MJ yet.  If they make a second one, will that be when Gwen dies? 

-I wonder why they changed the classic “With great power, comes great responsibility” line?  Uncle Ben’s line was a little more cumbersome, but it still worked.  I guess when you think about it, why would you ever say to someone that old line?  Uncle Ben’s telling of Richard’s philosophy of having a moral obligation to help those in need if you have the means is a little more appropriate to real life.

-Did the casting director have a connection to Royal Pains?  Richard Parker was played by Boris and the receptionist was played by Jill.  Just thought it was interesting.

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B/B+

Author: Ngewo