Back in 2002, Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi helped make Spider-Man and superhero movies for that matter the phenomenon it is today. It was followed up by a successful sequel in Spider-Man 2 and the letdown that was Spider-Man 3. The movie studios took some time off from the series and eventually scrapped Spider-Man 4 and decided to completely reboot the series with a younger cast, giving us The Amazing Spider-Man.
The Amazing Spider-Man gives us a little bit of a different take that what we have seen before. This time we get a little more back story on Peter's father and his work before being killed, which seems like we will find out more and more as this newly rebooted series continues. But like before, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is kind of a nerdy high school loner who lives with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). The movie starts off with some high school bullying which attracts the attention of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), who just happens to be Peter's high school crush. But the story really starts back home, while Peter is cleaning out the attic stumbles across an old briefcase of his dad's. He finds research about cross-species interbreeding and a picture taken of his dad with a colleague of his named Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans). Peter goes to Oscorp to see Connors, who is working on a serum to cure the head of Oscorp Norman Osbourn as well as himself. Peter gets bitten by a spider and begins to develop spider-like attributes as he stops crime and looks for Uncle Ben's killer (spoilers).
The Amazing Spider-Man was fun, but does have a bit more drama in this reboot. With over a 2 hour running time, the movie does drag a bit in the beginning. This movie is supposed to be the first of three acts, so as most origins stories go they usually aren't the most exciting. The villain is decent and the story is good but it's the cast here that I really like. Ever since he was first announced as Peter Parker, I knew Andrew Garfield was perfectly cast and he did not let me down. I like Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and I believed in the chemistry between Garfield and Stone. Martin Sheen and Sally Field were great in there roles as well. The movie is dark and more dramatic (similar to The Dark Knight), but I wish we could have had a little more action. The good thing though is that the action and visuals we do get are quite stunning. So for me this rebooted series is already off to a better start than the previous trilogy and I look forward to what's to come.
...AND SIMPLY PUT THIS REBOOT IS GOOD AND WORTH WATCHING. B+
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Dennis Leary
Director: Marc Webb
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of action and violence
The Amazing Spider-Man is Now Available on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, and DVD.
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