Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

This has been a good year for Superheroes. At least for me. I didn't see Thor or Captain America in the theaters last year, I saw them this year on video. Then came Avengers. I saw it twice in the theater. Great movie. And The Dark Knight Rises opens soon.

Even though I didn't particularly like the last two Spider-Man movies as much as I liked the first Spider-Man, I was looking forward to seeing The Amazing Spider-Man, particularly because I liked Andrew Garfield in The Social Network, and I like Emma Stone. It's interesting how the actors in a movie can determine whether or not you will want to see a film.

The plot is very simple. Peter loses his parents. Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider. Peter discovers his spidey abilities. A villain threatens New York. Peter uses his spidey strength to fight the villain.

The strength of the film is in the development of the characters. Many action movies dwell most on the action and CGI. I was impressed with how much I felt for the struggles that Peter went through, as well as the struggles of the other characters, even the villain. I liked how the majority of the film was spent in developing Peter's character and exploring his relationships with those around him. The film had a great balance of action, suspense, humor, and emotional scenes.

Andrew Garfield has a perfect combination of nerdiness, boyish charm, and spidery strength. He brings an innocence to Peter Parker that I never felt with Tobey Maguire. I also like how Andrew brings a vulnerability to Spider-Man. He shows that Spider-Man is not indestructible. The relationship we see with Peter and his Aunt and Uncle tells us a lot about Peter and the struggles he is going through, as a high school teenager, a boy who grew up without his parents, and as a boy whose new powers have forced him to place great responsibilities on himself.

I don't know what is is about Emma Stone that makes me like her so much. People talk about star power and having "it". Emma has "it" in spades. She brings a humor and quirkiness to her roles that is so endearing. I've never read the Spider-Man comics, so I don't know much about Gwen Stacy or how well Emma portrays her. However, I have to say I'll take Gwen Stacy over Mary Jane any day.

Rhys Ifans is well cast as Dr. Connors (a.k.a. The Lizard). His motivation to do what he does that causes him to turn into The Lizard is believable. My only question is if he was a good man to begin with, why does his transformation turn him into a bad lizard? Peter's transformation doesn't change his personality, so why do everybody else's transformations change their personalities and turn them into villains?

On a side note: It's hard sometimes to remember that Rhys was Hugh Grant's crazy roommate in Notting Hill. Now, that's great acting.

I have to say that I did like Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson as Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Sam Raimi's version of Spider-Man better. However, Sally Field and Martin Sheen fill those roles well in The Amazing Spider-Man. They seem more age-appropriate for the roles than Rosemary and Cliff did, simply because it's more believable that Martin could be Peter's father's brother more than Cliff (Cliff just felt a little too old). Sally is a great actress, and I liked her relationship with Andrew.

The special effects were very good. Watching spidey swinging through the myriad of skyscrapers in New York was quintessential Spider-Man, and it was done well. I especially enjoyed the climax of the movie and seeing how an act of heroism on Spidey's part earlier in the film resulted in his being able to go on and save the day when he is at his weakest.

Stan Lee has had cameos in many of the Marvel superhero films, and his cameo in this film is Hi. Larry. Us. I won't give it away; I'll just say one word. Headphones.

I would like to see The Amazing Spider-Man, again, and I have to say I'm looking forward to the sequel, because we know there will be one or two.