Reviews

The Amazing Spider-Man

Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field
Directed by Marc Webb
Rating: M

The Amazing Spider-Man Director Mark Webb and writers James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves have put together a unique film that brilliantly explores the emotional and physical struggle of Peter Parker as he tries to cope with his everyday unfortunate teenage life as well as the difficult journey of becoming, and understanding what it takes to be, Spider-Man.

Following the same concept as the original 2002 hit movie Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man explores in much more detail the life of Peter Parker, played by The Social Network star Andrew Garfield, as he discovers his alter ego Spider-Man, and the challenging journey he undertakes in becoming a hero.

Abandoned by his parents and left to be raised by his Aunt May (Field) and Uncle Ben (Sheen), Peter Parker lives life as an outcast. This does not make his life easy, especially when it comes to pursuing his crush, Gwen Stacey (Stone).

Upon finding a briefcase that once belonged to his father, Peter finds a clue that leads him to OsCorp, where he meets Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans) and receives a spider bite that transforms him into Spider-Man. To cut a long story short, Connors becomes a humanoid talking lizard due to a failed experiment, which leads him to wanting to destroy the city, and only Spider-Man can save the day.

With an all-star cast including the incredibly powerful acting talents of Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans, The Amazing Spider-Man delivers more than just action - it also delivers an emotional and moving display of acting.

The excitement is consistent throughout the film. The up-close first-person camera angles capturing Spider-Man's acrobatics are amazing and make you feel a part of the movie.

Parker's technical genius is explored in detail, as you see him invent creations that help harness his abilities, as well as help him fight crime easily, which is just brilliant.

Even though I am a fan of the original movie, I would have to say this is the best Spider-Man experience I have witnessed, in terms of acting and exploration. This adaption went into more detail, exploring more of Peter Parker's potential, which the original failed to do.

It was also more convincing and realistic, as every time Peter came home he’d be scratched, beaten and bruised, whereas in the original there'd be hardly any scratches on Tobey Maguire.

It was unsatisfying to see that even though Peter’s parents were revealed and even though it was explained who they were, the movie didn’t go into detail about what happened to them. I was also left wondering what made them decide to leave Peter with his uncle and aunt.

Regardless, The Amazing Spider-Man never ceased to amaze me and always lived up to its title. From nifty gadgets to amazing acrobatic web-slinging stunts and trying to rescue the city of Manhattan from an extremely oversized muscular, smart, humanoid, walking, talking lizard, Spider-Man is a hero who will always deliver amazing results.

4 out of 5.

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