The Amazing Spider-Man

Movie Reviews

The Amazing Spider-Man

Megat Redzuan / Reviewed on: July 6 2012

Right off the bat, The Amazing Spider-Man is the best out of all four Spider-Man movies released so far. The key positive aspect of Mark Webb's reboot and what Sam Raimi failed to achieve with his franchise is remain faithful to the comic books. All of Peter Parker's iconic moments is still intact, the inevitable spider bite, uncle Ben's death, the first time he dons the realistic-lookingsuit, it's covered in greater detail and the “Is this scene necessary? We've already seen this” issues are absent. Some of the scenes were directly transferred from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics straight onto the screen, the artificial web shooters invented by Peter himself, is finally restored to the on-screen mythology in favour of the natural ability to shoot organic webs from his wrists, Gwen Stacy has also been re-established as Peter's first love.

In Andrew Garfield, we finally have the perfect Peter Parker and Spider-Man. His portrayal of the likable geeky high-school nerd with a crush on Emma Stone's equally goofy Gwen Stacy is really sweet and it's fun to watch their budding romance under the watchful and disapproving eyes of her father Denis Leary's Police Captain George Stacy. Their teenage romance subplot will undoubtedly be compared to Mr Webb's (500) Days of Summer. But Garfield's take on the “masked vigilante” is the real high point. The wow-he's-really-Spider-man-moment is a playful scene involving a carjacker and Spidey's infamous witty wisecracks and humor directed at said carjacker and the men in blue. 

If you really want to enjoy all the first person shots of Spider-Man acrobatically swinging from rooftops, the easy to follow action sequences and the climatic battle/battles with Dr Curt Connors' the Lizard in the sewers, at Midtown High School, and on top of the skyscraper that is Oscorp tower try and catch it in IMAX 3D. And as an added bonus, I'm sure there's a scene near the end between Peter and Dr. Connors paying homage to a scene in Batman Begins. The loud and fast-paced action sequences provide the obligatory wow moments that a blockbuster summer movie should have but what sets The Amazing Spider-Man apart are the quiet intimate aww-inducing moments in between. And true to his music video director roots, Mark Webb manages to fit a Coldplay song in perfectly too. But you do get a sense that a lot has been sacrificed in terms of tying up loose ends for the apparent new Spider-Man trilogy. Stay for the traditional Marvel mid-credits scene teasing the next villain.