The Amazing Spider-Man

As lifelong fans of Sam Raimi we were filled with excitement upon hearing he was a the head of a spiderman movie. Unfortunately Raimi’s portrayal of the web slinging hero in red and blue left s disapointed. The almost fatal miscasting of Toby Maguire and then a spree of poor choices lead the series of films in a steadily worsening direction. After that first attempt therefore we looked upon the reboot of the franchise with a much larger dose of apprehension and fear.

However those feelings were unfounded the new portrayal “Amazing Spiderman” not only caught the essence of the comic books we read as a child but also stood up as a film in and of itself. Casting, direction and writing were all superb and moved between action, comedy and emotion seamlessly. A large ammount of its success can also be layed at the feet of the two lead’s, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Stone is particularly superb as the beautiful and intelligent Gwen Stacey. Although nothing more than we have come to expect since her appearance in Zombieland.

Changes from the Raimi Spiderman were made in all the right directions(Back to the source material), Web shooter’s being tech designed by Parker instead of biology was particularly gratifying. Rhys Ifans was superb as the villain of the piece and portrayed Curt Connors conflict
well. Another small point of the movie that was done well was the character of Flash Thompson, Although still the tool he has always been he had more dimensions and came across as a real human being rather than just a cardboard cutout Jock.

As a Spidey origins story you do have to relive the death of dear uncle Ben. As always the event is traumatic, heightened by the stellar performances of Sally Field and Martin Sheen as Peter’s aunt and Uncle. Because of this a Spiderman movie could very easily have you crying again, but for good reasons this time. Held back in the shadows of the story you also get you first glimpse of the new iteration of Norman Osborne. The revelation that the machinations of Osborne have shaped the events of this story and the looming threat of his presence leave you gagging to see how they deal with him in future films. Overall this was a fun action packed movie and one of the best comic book adaptations of the last couple of years.